INDIANAPOLIS -- All things considered, it was a pretty good day for Notre Dame commit Eilar Hardy (Pickerington, Ohio/ Pickerington South). In the fourth annual Warren Central Classic, Hardy, a three-star prospect and the No. 21 ranked safety, adjusted to a position change on defense while still making an impact on offense with a a 40-yard touchdown run in the first half which opened up the flood gates en-route to a Pickerington South 38-0 win over Plainfield (Ind.)"I thought I did really well," Hardy said. "I could've done a lot of things better. The touchdown run was big. It took a lot of pressure off the team and made me relax a little more and I was able to let the game come to me instead of trying to score every play or make an interception on every play."Hardy said he had plenty of anxious moments on the defensive side of the ball after switching from strong safety to free safety over the summer. "It was tough to stay assignment sound," said the 6-foot, 175-pounder. "Last year I played strong safety and this year I'm back at free safety. It's tough because last year I was closer to the line-of-scrimmage and everything happened much faster and your instincts take over."At free safety, you see the whole field and sometimes it can be tough because you want to come up when you should stay back or try too hard to make the interception all the time. I think I'll feel more comfortable with time but it's nice playing center field. I'm the last line of defense and I can help out our corners on the boundary as well as helping out our strong safety and linebackers in the middle of the field."It can't hurt to be skilled at both positions when he arrives in South Bend and Hardy is glad the recruiting is over. "When I made the decision to commit to Notre Dame, I felt very comfortable and 100 percent sure that I was making the right decision. The recruiting process was getting hectic and I kind of knew for a while that I wanted to go to Notre Dame," he said. "After talking to my family and coaches, it made sense to get my commitment to Notre Dame out of the way."There are a thousand reasons why Notre Dame came out on top of everyone else. If I graduate from Notre Dame and get that degree, I'll be set down the road. Notre Dame is one of the finest institutions in the world. Coach (Brian) Kelly is a great coach and a winning coach and I wanted to be a part of that. Notre Dame fans are great. We have fans all over the world and it's just a special place. "I wanted to make sure that Notre Dame knew they had me and they could continue to recruit and concentrate on the rest of our class. I also felt it was important to call all the other coaches from the schools that offered me a scholarship so they could take me off their boards and move onto the next guy.Getting my decision out of the way helped me get back to my team and dedicate everything I've got to my teammates and coaches. I feel this could be a special year for us."Hardy and his Pickerington South teammates continue their season next weekend in Columbus, Ohio, taking on Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Frommel Smith in the Herbstreit Classic.