Future Buckeye Roundup: Some Commits Advance, Others Endure Playoff Elimination
Another Friday night, and a lot more action featuring future Ohio State Buckeyes throughout the scene of high school football. Many extended their seasons while a few others unfortunately saw postseason elimination from OHSAA brackets.
We typically begin with 2021 commits, but the 2022 class has been in the news as of late and saw a handful of notable performances/outcomes to begin the weekend:
C.J. Hicks and No. 6 seed Kettering Archbishop Alter (Dayton) advanced to the Division III regional final with another impressive victory, working past second-seeded Hamilton Badin by a final of 20-3. Hicks performed mightily once again on both sides of the ball:
Dasan McCullough and Blue Valley North (Overland Park, Kan.) opened the KHSAA playoffs with a dominant 47-13 victory, leading 47-0 after three quarters. McCullough intercepted a pass and had multiple tackles to help spearhead the stout defense.
Teammates Jyaire Brown (cornerback) and Tegra Tshabola (offensive lineman) suffered a heartbreaking loss with undefeated, and top seed, Lakota West in the Division I Regional Final. Their Firebirds led Cincinnati St. Xavier 7-3 late, and seemed to have momentum after Brown broke up a third-and-goal pass before an ultimate stand on fourth down. But, X got the ball back and Penn State commit Liam Clifford caught the game-winning TD with 27 seconds to go.
Lastly in 2022, Bennett Christian and Allatoona HS down in Georgia stayed perfect (now 6-0) with a 20-10 triumph over Sprayberry. Christian, a tight end, looked sharp in practice the day before:
A pair of 2021 in-state commits, wide receiver Jayden Ballard (Massillon Washington) and linebacker/safety Jaylen Johnson (Cincinnati La Salle) moved one step closer to a potential rematch of last year’s D2 State Championship game…
Massillon led 21-9 at halftime before hanging on to emerge 45-36 over Westerville South. Ballard played both ways, also lining up at defensive back to help cover Penn State commit Kaden Saunders.
La Salle scooted into its own regional final with a 55-30 victory over Anderson, playing mostly without running back and emerging Ohio recruit Gi’Bran Payne.
Jordan Hancock and North Gwinnett dropped a 42-21 game to Collins Hill, although Hancock did make this nice interception on a long ball:
Defensive lineman Michael Hall and Streetsboro endured their first loss of the season, settling at 8-1 after a tough 24-6 loss to Canfield in a Division III regional. Hall, playing through a hand injury, did all he could to culminate his senior season.
Future Buckeye teammate, offensive lineman Zen Michalski, also saw elimination as his Floyd Central (Ind.) team came up just shy in a 35-28 loss to Jeffersonville.
Other commits such as Jakailin Johnson, Jantzen Dunn and Andre Turrentine were also in action, while 2021 products Reid Carrico, Kyle McCord and Marvin Harrison Jr. will be playing on Saturday. Check back tomorrow for more on Turrentine, specifically.
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