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Jaylen Johnson and Jayden Ballard’s “Friendship is Bigger Than This Game,” Buckeyes Offer Florida DT, Armani Winfield Top-Nine List

The Hurry-Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.

“Our friendship is bigger than this game”

In the middle of a heated bout between two teams clawing at their chance to win a coveted state championship, Jayden Ballard walked over to help out a guy he didn’t yet know was going to be his future teammate.

Ballard, whose Massillon Washington team was trailing Cincinnati La Salle in the second half of a 2019 Division II state championship game it would eventually lose 34-17, still took time to go check on La Salle defensive back/linebacker Jaylen Johnson when Johnson went down with a minor injury.