Ryan Day’s Son Continues High School Football Dominance With Statement Win on Friday

The first game for any player brings nerves, jitters, and unwarranted pressure. Performing in such situations becomes a craft in itself. But when your last name is ‘Day’ and you are the son of an Ohio State head coach on the trajectory of ‘legend’ status, those nerves become just background noise.

That showed when Ryan Day’s son, RJ Day, threw a 31-yard bullet to his receiver in just his first high school game, for a touchdown. It was a clutch play with just 25 seconds remaining on the clock as RJ led his St. Francis DeSales High School to a 21-17 comeback win, earning his first Division One offer from Boston College. Ever since then, those clutch performances have become routine for the young QB prodigy.

In truth, that game wasn’t truly the first showing of RJ Day’s talent. We have seen the QB multiple times practicing at the Ohio State facility on 7-on-7 drills. Those practices are now paying off, as the young QB’s recruitment that started with Boston College is going strong, having received offers from Syracuse, Akron, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Temple, Purdue, and Kentucky, amongst 14 offers. This list is bound to grow, as Day Jr. has put in another incredible performance for his high school.

DeSales again benefited from RJ Day’s passing prowess as he threw for 272 yards, completing 16 of the 19 passes. It was a tough game against the previously undefeated Nubians of Africentric, but courtesy of RJ Day’s 5 touchdowns, DeSales emerged with a convincing 35-18 win. The QB’s quality showed in the second quarter when the young QB found Dax Middleton for a 51-yard touchdown pass and then set up another touchdown with 3:58 minutes left on the clock. The performance came after RJ had broken a school passing record.

“That’s a really good football team over there. It took us a couple of quarters to settle in,” said RJ Day about his performance against Africentric. DeSales recorded its third consecutive win of the season after beating Africentric. They started their season with a close 14-13 win against Olentangy Berlin. The team followed it with a 34-0 blowout of the Northland team.

Despite these performances and offers lining up, R.J. hasn’t seen Ohio State extend an offer to him yet. That might be because of his 2027 timeline, and top programs tend to keep it late to extend offers. If the young QB continues to put in such performances, OSU might be tempted to offer him early.

RJ Day is focusing on improving his game

Ohio State has already secured a commitment from Brady Edmunds, the fourth-ranked quarterback in the 2027 class, who will be joining five-star wide receiver Jamier Brown. The addition of Edmunds, along with Ohio State’s focus on a “merit-based culture,” may be a factor in why Ryan Day chose not to extend an offer to his son, RJ. However, RJ has emphasized that his father, despite his busy schedule, actively helps him develop the skills needed to overcome this merit barrier.

“He doesn’t tell me to make any decision; he just guides me. He just sets me on the path. When I’ve fallen off, he kind of sets me straight. But he always tells me, it’s my journey. So you’ve got to figure it out. Because everybody else figures it out,” said RJ Day. Standing at 6’1″ and 200 lbs, young RJ carries a physical frame for a junior, and that in turn allows him to evade pressure and extend difficult plays. Being the son of a natty-winning head coach comes with its perks, but for now, the QB is focused on showing on-field heroics.