Local high school football stars have moved up the stat rankings statewide on both offense and defense, with some familar names gaining on the leaderboard.
Highland’s Dane Nauman remained the No. 2 high school running back in Ohio after a 279-yard performance vs. Galion. Nauman’s 1,858 yards on 225 attempts, for an 8.26 yards-per-carry average and 232.2 yards per game. He gained 85 yards on No. 1-ranked Connor Smith of Gibsonburg – 2,146 yards. Fredericktown’s Teegan Ruhl dropped one spot to No. 8 after a 158-yard game vs. East Knox. Ruhl has 1,388 yards on 203 carries – 6.84 ypc and 173.5 ypg. Centerburg’s Tyler Johnson is No. 16 (dropped two spots after a 55-yard game vs. a tough Danville defense), with 1,145 yards; Mount Gilead’s Matthew Bland is 26th at 1035 and teammate Garrett George is 31st at 1000. Johnson’s Centerburg teammate, Caylan LeMaster, is 38th, with 921 yards. Danville’s Max Payne is 55th, with 752 yards gained. Johnson’s 25 touchdowns place him fifth in Ohio – Smith, along with Dominic Johnson (Hawken HS) are No. 1 with 31 each. Nauman is sixth with 23.
In passing yardage, Medina’s Danny Stoddard has a big lead at No. 1 (of 476 yards) with 3,125 yards. The local passing leader, Centerburg’s Tyler Johnson, continued to move up, moving up from No. 68 to No. 61 this week, with 1,054 yards on 83 completions in 153 attempts. Utica’s Zach Heckman jumped back into the Top 100, at No. 91, with 851 yards.
In receiving yards, Utica’s Gavin Chinn raced up 25 positions to No. 34, with 564 yards on 24 receptions, following a five-catch, 142-yard game vs. Johnstown-Monroe. The state high school leader is Woodward (Cincinnati) wide receiver Donte Ferrell, with 1,455 yards on 77 receptions for a 396-yard lead.
On defense, Danville’s Levi Lyons made a big move following a monster week. Lyons added 21 tackles vs. Centerburg to his total to move up 43 spots to No. 34 statewide, with 81 tackles – 46 solos and 35 assists. Danville teammate Ryan Lucas is 54th after a 16-tackle game, with 74 on 44 solos and 30 assists. Luke Belcher of Triway leads Ohio with 124 tackles, and Weston McKinley of Ridgemont has the most solos with 83. Travis Merrill of Elyria Catholic has the most tackles for loss with 29.0 and most sacks with 10.5 – tied with Norwood’s Dylan Horsley.
Kaiden Colopy of Danville is tied with 15 others for No. 4 in Ohio with five interceptions. AJ Stroud of Keystone LaGrange has seven to pace deep defense. Highland’s Hayden Kline and Centerburg’s Jesse Rings each have four interceptions to tie for No. 19 statewide.
