5-star Ohio State QB commit Air Noland leads late comeback win
Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes five-star quarterback Air Noland opened the season in fashion on national television.
Langston Hughes faced Carrollton (Ga.) in a vaunted high school football showdown on ESPN2 Friday night. A back-and-forth game saw Langston Hughes trailing 34-33 late in the fourth quarter. The eventual game-winning drive was stamped with multiple clutch plays by Noland, an Ohio State quarterback commit, including a play in which he doubled back while scrambling before completing a pass downfield.
With 1:11 to go, the elite signal-caller then escaped a sack and fired a strike to the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
Noland finished the game 12-of-21 passing with 159 yards and two passing touchdowns and Langston Hughes won 39-34. He now sits at 106 career touchdown passes.
Noland part of elite Buckeyes class
Noland committed to Ohio State back in April, replacing Buford (Ga.) Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Dylan Raiola as the Buckeyes’ 2024 quarterback. Raiola decommitted from Ohio State in December before pledging to Georgia.
He is one of four five-star recruits committed to Ohio State in the 2024 cycle. Alongside Noland are Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna Prep No. 1 overall player Jeremiah Smith, Chicago (Ill.) St. Ignatius defensive lineman Justin Scott and New Haven (Ind.) wide receiver Mylan Graham.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Noland is the nation’s No. 29 overall prospect and No. 3 quarterback in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking — a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 7 player in Georgia.
Noland currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $532,000. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.