Ohio's opening weekend, by the numbers
Ohio high school football opened the 2026 season on the weekend of August 21. Recruit Intel scored every recorded box score from that weekend and ranked the top performers by RPM, our Recruit Performance Metric. What follows are the five highest scores in the state among the class of 2027 and later. Every stat line below comes from our canonical database, drawn from recorded box scores for games of August 21, and each player is verified by record against a current roster.
The top five performers
RPM is a percentile score within the weekend's recorded box scores, so 100 sits at the top of the field. Each performance carries a sample of one game, and all five landed on Friday, August 21.
- Nolan Buirley, RB, Big Walnut (Sunbury), class of 2027. 22 carries for 187 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns against Hilliard Bradley, with 2 catches for 40 yards added. RPM 99.1, the top score in the state.
- Cameron Patterson, DE, Westerville South (Westerville), class of 2027. 11 tackles, all solo, with 3 for loss, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 2 pass deflections against Dublin Jerome. RPM 98.6.
- Ross Wagner, Arcanum, class of 2029. 14 tackles with 3 for loss and a pass deflection against Covington. RPM 98.0.
- Nehemiah Ramsey, Lima Senior (Lima), class of 2029. 11 tackles, 6 solo, with 4 for loss and a sack against Piqua. RPM 97.8.
- Chris Caldwell, RB, Linden-McKinley (Columbus), class of 2027. 18 carries for 102 rushing yards and a touchdown against Bexley, and added 4 catches for 96 yards. RPM 97.5.
How the board is built
RPM ranks a single game's production as a percentile against every other recorded box score in the same position family and window, rewarding volume, efficiency, scoring and strength of opponent in one number. This board covers each player's opening game of August 21, 2026, and is limited to players in the class of 2027 or later. It is the top five by RPM for the weekend. The full state boards live at recruit-intel.io.