Every weekend in the fall, thousands of high school football times line up and take their shot at prep glory. The Sunday morning Prep Tracker is your final stop for the names, numbers and scores that mattered to Ohio State's recruiting efforts.
CHRISTIAN KIRK
Christian Kirk is a special football player, as you already know. We've discussed it here for most of the last year-plus. With potentially four games left in his high school career, Kirk is vying to be revered as maybe the best ever in the state of Arizona. Heading into this weekend's game against Marcos De Niza, the Saguaro High School star needed 140 yards receiving and 30 more catches to break a pair of state marks.
As good as Kirk can be, it's going to take a pretty heroic effort to set the mark in receptions, but 140 receiving yards for a player like Kirk? That's a bit more feasible.
The Arizona speedster finished with 192 yards rushing and nice receptions for 125 yards receiving. Good start to the record book chase.
BERRY SHOWCASES SPEED, ATHLETICISM
Rashod Berry continues to impress with his versatility. In Lorain's 32-7 win against Warren G. Harding High School on Friday night. He had a sack on defense to go along with causing general mayhem, and offense? How does a 90-yard touchdown from a 6-foot-5, 245 pound man-ster suit you? It wasn't even a pass play.
"It was not even a pass play," Berry told Eleven Warriors. "The snap was high so the quarterback grabbed the ball in the endzone and turned around and I was there. Once I caught it, it was just a wide open lane. No one was close to catching me and I had my teammates running with me even if they had."
Lorain, 7-3, will advance to the state playoffs starting next week.
LJ SCOTT HAS SMASHING RECORDS
Michigan State 2015 running back commitment LJ Scott had another monster game in Hubbard's 36-13 win against Struthers.
Congrats to @LJ_Scott3 Trumbull County's All Time leading rusher breaking Howland's De'veon Smith mark of 6,619 yards set between 2009-2012.
— Dana Balash (@DanaBalash21) October 31, 2014
Congrats to @LJ_Scott3 with 230 Yards rushing, becoming Trumbull County all time leading rusher with 6763 yards...
— Dana Balash (@DanaBalash21) November 1, 2014
Hubbard's @LJ_Scott3 also set single season rushing record, breaking Shawn Lane's record. Scott with 2103 yards this season.
— Dana Balash (@DanaBalash21) November 1, 2014
With his 6,763 career rushing yards @LJ_Scott3 is currently 8th in career rushing in the state of Ohio.
— Dana Balash (@DanaBalash21) November 1, 2014
With Ohio State commitment George Hill lined up with him, Scott may be a part of the best backfield in high school football.
BETTER TALK ABOUT BURROW
Let's get the obvious out of the way: the football team's that Joe Burrow and Athens High School plays every week aren't great. That said, let's no discount the absurd success of Burrow and his teammates. Burrow, who completed 23-30 for 379 yards and four scores during Friday's decimation of Nelsonville York, has ended the regular season 10-0. They'll look to take the next step as a team and bring a state title to The Plains.
On year, Burrow has thrown 42 touchdown passes, completing 135-180 attempts and only one interception. Last year's Gatorade Player of the Year in Ohio appears to be fighting hard to hold onto his title.
WARD CONTINUES HUGE SEASON
Perhaps the least talked about Ohio State 2015 commitment, Denzel Ward, had another big game for Nordonia as they finished a perfect 10-0 regular season with a 41-7 win against Wadsworth. Ward, excelling once again at wide receiver and defensive back, scored twice on four catches and collected 114 yards.
On the season, Ward has eight interceptions and has scored a conference-leading 15 touchdowns on offense. The success he and his teammates are experiencing this fall are not a surprise to the 5-foot-11, 170-pound defensive back.
"This season hasn't really been a surprise to me because me personally Ive always had a lot of confidence in my game and the way I play," Ward told 11W. "I always knew we had a great team and I feel we all just connect on the field because we've known and played together ever since we were little kids."
| Player | CLASS | Pos | HIGH SCHOOL | OPPONENT | RESULTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOE BURROW | 2015 | QB | Athens (The Plains, OH) | Nelsonville-York (Nelsonville, OH) | Won 48-22. 23-30, 379 yards and four touchdowns. |
| ALEX STUMP | 2015 | WR | St. Edwards (Lakewood, OH) | St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH) | Won 41-10. Did Not Play. Out for season with injured foot. |
| AJ ALEXANDER | 2015 | ATH | Lake Braddock (Burke, VA) | South Country (Lorton, VA) | Won 62-41. Did not play. Out for season with torn ACL. |
| RASHOD BERRY | 2015 | ATH | Digital (Lorain, OH) | Warren G. Harding (Warren, OH) | Won 32-7. Berry had a 90 yard touchdown reception. |
| GRANT SCHMIDT | 2015 | OL | Roosevelt - 03 (Sioux Falls, SD) | Stevens (Rapid City, SD) | Won 49-14. |
| KEVIN FEDER | 2015 | OL | Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ) | Eastside (Paterson, NJ) | Won 56-6. |
| LIAM MCCULLOUGH | 2015 | OL (LS) | Kilbourne (Worthington, OH) | Olentangy Orange (Lewis Center, OH) | Won 42-0. |
| JOSH ALABI | 2015 | DL | Cass Tech (Detroit, MI) | Mott (Warren, MI) | Won 26-7. |
| JASHON CORNELL | 2015 | DL | Cretin Durham Hall (St. Paul, MN) | OFF | Season complete. |
| DRE'MONT JONES | 2015 | DL | St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH) | St. Edward (Lakewood, OH) | Lost 41-10. |
| JEROME BAKER | 2015 | LB | Benedictine (Cleveland, OH) | Archbishop Hoban (Akron, OH) | Won 35-7. Baker found the endzone once on offense and shutdown Hoban's powerful running game. |
| NICK CONNER | 2015 | LB | Scioto (Dublin, OH) | Canal Winchester (Canal WInchester, OH) | Won 45-14. |
| JUSTIN HILLIARD | 2015 | LB | St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) | St. Xavier (Louisville, KY) | Won 24-6. Hilliard had 11 tackles and a sack in the win. |
| CARLTON DAVIS | 2015 | DB | Norland (Miami, FL) | Carol City (Carol City, FL) | Lost 6-0. Davis had a pair of interceptions in defeat. |
| JAMEL DEAN | 2015 | DB | Cocoa (Cocoa, FL) | Jones (Orlando, FL) | Won 40-0. Video highlights |
| TYLER GREEN | 2015 | DB | DeMatha (Hyattesville, MD) | Off Week | DNP. |
| DENZEL WARD | 2015 | DB | Nordonia (Macedonia, OH) | Wadsworth (Wadsworth, OH) | Won 41-7. Ward had two touchdowns and 114 yards on offense. |
| ERIC GLOVER-WILLIAMS | 2015 | ATH | McKinley (Canton, OH) | Washington (Massillon, OH) | Lost 31-21. EGW had 107 yards rushing on 26 carries. |
| TYLER GERALD | 2016 | OL | Sciotoville (Portsmouth, OH) | Notre Dame (Portsmouth, OH) | Won 42-19. Did Not Play. Out for season with broken wrist. |
| KIERRE HAWKINS | 2016 | ATH | Maple Heights (Maple Heights, OH) | Bedford (Bedford, OH) | Lost 35-6. Hawkins struggled to get loose and only had 20 yards rushing. |
| GEORGE HILL | 2016 | RB | Hubbard (Hubbard, OH) | Struthers (Struthers, OH) | Won 36-13. Hill played sparingly because of a bruised bone in his leg. |
| DANNY CLARK | 2017 | QB | Washington (Massillon, OH) | McKinley (Canton, OH) | Won 31-21. |
