To quote the great Vince Lombardi, “Football is not just a game, but a way of life.”
Young kids all over the country grow up playing football in Pop Warner, flag leagues, and even sandlot games in the neighborhood. You go to high school games on Friday Nights. You watch college and NFL games every Saturday and Sunday on TV in the fall. If you are lucky enough to attend a game in person, the experience is even better.
You see fans wearing apparel of their favorite team. You hear the marching bands in the background. You smell the food from the tailgates. People are excited and optimistic for their team, the adrenaline brewing, and everyone anxiously awaits the opening kickoff. Nothing is better than sitting in the stadium with 100,000+ fans cheering their team on in the 4th quarter with the game on the line.
As a result of these experiences, young kids start to develop a love and passion for wanting to play this game. They visualize themselves wearing the colors of their favorite team, playing in front of a sold-out stadium, and wondering what it would be like if they made the game-winning throw or catch.
If you are a young football player from Ohio, the dream for most is to someday play in Ohio Stadium, wear the scarlet and grey, be a Buckeye, help Ohio State beat Michigan, and compete for a national championship.
For Tavien St. Clair, this was his dream. St. Clair is from Bellefontaine, a small town of 13,000 people 60 miles northwest of Columbus. He grew up a Buckeye fan.
In the beginning, as a 9th grader, Tavien started six games as the varsity quarterback and played in all 12 games. For a freshman, he did well, throwing for 1,722 yards and 13 touchdown passes.
During his sophomore season, Tavien improved and emerged as a quarterback to watch in the 2025 recruiting class. He finished the season throwing for 2,453 yards and 25 touchdown passes while completing 70% of his passes. He earned 2nd Team All-State honors. That off-season, he picked up scholarship offers from Penn State, Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, West Virginia, and several others.
As the school year ended in late May, he received an offer from Ohio State. Shortly after the Ohio State offer, Alabama, LSU, and Michigan offered him. Then, on June 21st, Tavien turned his dream into reality and committed to Ryan Day.
Last season, as a junior, St. Clair took his game to an elite level. He helped his team reach the Final 8 of the Division 3 State Playoffs. They lost to Bishop Watterson 19-13. St. Clair broke two of Bellefontaine’s single-season passing records, throwing for 3,983 yards and 37 touchdowns. He completed 71% of his passes and rushed for 352 yards. He was 1st Team All-State and the Offensive Player of the Year in the Ohio Southwest District.
“Since his 9th grade year, he has grown a couple of inches physically and gained 30 pounds. His strengths on the field are his playmaking ability, arm strength, leadership, resiliency, and ability to make others around him better,” said Bellefontaine head coach Jason Brown.
St. Clair has earned all the individual high school accolades: breaking school records, receiving an Ohio State offer, being a 5-Star quarterback, and more. He has brought excitement to his hometown and community. They watched him and his teammates make a huge run in the playoffs last season. They were a few plays away from going the distance, and they knew how close they were.
As he enters his final year, St. Clair and his teammates have one goal: to be state champions. Jason Brown told us what Tavien means to this team and community. “He drives the bus for us like no one ever has; rising tides raise all ships, and he is truly a rising tide,”
Regardless of the outcome this season, we know the people in Bellefontaine will watch some amazing football, and the Ohio State fans will see their future quarterback play his last high school season. Ryan Day and his staff will anxiously await his arrival in Columbus in January.
