Friday marked an exciting day for high school players across the country.

After enduring a challenging year highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic that led to reduced and/or postponed seasons, they had an opportunity to take the field tonight for their first games of the season.

One of the players that laced up his cleats for his team's season opener was coveted Buckeyes target Alex "Sonny" Styles. Following Pickerington Central's 26-7 road victory over Massillon Washington on Friday night, Styles spoke with BuckeyeGrove's Kevin Noon and other media members about getting back to live-action football, his performance, and an update on his recruitment.

“I think it was just great to get out here with my teammates,” Styles said. “Obviously, some of my guys I’ve been playing with for a while, they’re seniors this year. This season means a lot for them and I want to help them win as many games as we can.”

Noon noted that Styles was not able to fill up the stat sheet as a result of Massillon's inability to throw the ball. The five-star junior did assist in run support, but was limited in his production to start off his 2021 campaign.

Styles did admit that some first-game jitters did get the best of him at times, and he plans on using tonight as a learning experience.

“I thought I did pretty good in coverage today, but I want to do a little bit better in my open-field tackling,” Styles said. “I feel like I got caught on my heels a little bit. It was just the first game and I haven’t played in a while, but I’ll keep working at it.”