Tag Archive for: High School Football

VALLEY’S OFFENSE FINDS WIND BENEATH THEIR WINGS

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CAMPBELL OH- Valley Christian flexed their offensive muscles Saturday night with a big win over McDonald 53-34.

Both teams came into the night off of some big losses. Valley Christian lost to LaBrae last Saturday 41-21 and McDonald is coming off a loss to Columbiana with an offense that has struggled to find a rhythm in the early part of the season. Joey Battista’s great night for Valley Christian started off with a pass bouncing off the hands of Jhordan Peete and then intercepted by McDonald’s Zach Schobel at the 11-yard line. Logan Hawk needed just one play to run the ball into the end zone and open up the scoring for the Blue Devils. They would go on to put up 31 points, but it was not enough to take down Andy Hake’s Eagles. Turnovers were the story of the night and a scoop and score gave all the momentum to Valley Christian early on and they rolled with it all the way to the finish line never letting up. The Blue Devils defensively were unable to stop the Eagles offense as Valley Christian put up 53 points in route to a dominant victory Saturday night.

Ve’Shaun Gurley and Cam Davenport would show up as the two biggest stars of the night as they combined for 4 total touchdowns. Ve’Shaun Gurley had two of the longest plays of the night getting back-to-back receptions accounting for 98 yards and a touchdown. Cam Davenport collected 3 scores along the way. He scored on the second drive of the game after a Gurley reception inside the redzone setup the offense at the 18 and allowed Davenport to drive in for a score. He wasn’t finished there and went on to collect another rushing touchdown and 2 fumble recoveries, one of which he took 84 yards to the house.

Valley Christian moved to (2-1) on the season and are off to an impressive start. They hit the road next week to start conference play against the (2-1) United Golden Eagles. McDonald is struggling to find their groove this season as they are now (0-3) on the young season and will start MVAC Scarlet play with a visit to the (2-1) Mineral Ridge Rams.

.*Contributed By YSN’s Alek Koberna

JEFFERSON STARTING TO OPEN EYES

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Jefferson Opens Eyes in Division V
As The Jefferson Falcons (2-0) looked to do battle with The Edgewood Warriors (1-1) on a warm Friday evening.

The 70th annual Hoadly Cup was on the line; therefore, making the tensions in Falcon Pride Stadium that much higher.
As Coach Brandon Hanna looked to get The Falcons off to their best start since 2014. In their way, an Ashtabula County rival in The Warriors, which have defeated Jefferson in their 3 previous encounters.

The Warriors got out of the box quick by grabbing an early 7-0 lead. Thanks in part to a beautiful 20+ yard touchdown pass to Christian Cunningham.
However, as quickly as Edgewood grabbed the lead; Jefferson locked down on defense and played take over from that point on. Star quarterback Grant Hitchcock was a man amongst boys Friday night; pair it with the speed threat of Trent Hodge, and The Falcons soared on offense.
As Jefferson was able to end the drought 48-21 against Edgewood.

Words of encouragement and plenty of “I love you’s” flooded the field. The consensus was clear. This is a different year in Jefferson.
As Coach Hanna continues his impressive rookie season as the coach of The Falcons, he now aims to exceed the teams win total from last year in just Week 4. The emphatic win by Jeffeson has not only opened the eyes of The NE8, but all of Division V going forward.

As The Falcons now look to open a tough NE8 schedule with a 3-0 record. Up next? A dynamic Girard offense for Week 4. One that both Coach Hanna and the team are looking forward to.

Postgame Interviews:

*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell

BEAVERS SECURE FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON

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MINERVA OH- The Beavers picked up their first win of the 2021 season with a 56-7 victory over the Minerva Lions on Friday night.

The Beavers started off strong, forcing Minerva to punt inside their own 30 and scored on a 20 yard TD pass to Caden Foster on a screen play. A 3 and out followed by another score put the Beavers up 12-0. On BL’s next offensive possession, Minerva was able to pick off Austin Cline and convert the turnover to 7 points on a 22 yard TD pass from Brayden Coatea to Anthony Fletcher. Just when you thought Minerva had all the momentum, a 61 yard bomb from Cline to Dorian Jackson set up another 1 yard QB sneak for a TD to make it 19-7.

From then on the Beavers controlled the game. A 63 yard TD run from Blake Lucas, who had been known for his stellar play in the D-Line, a 54 yard TD pass from Cline to Foster, their second connection for a score on the night, and a 2 yard TD pass from Cline to Jackson, set up by a Caden Foster INT, put the Beavers up a comfortable 33 at the half, with the score 40-7. A misfire on special teams by the Lions have the Beavers a safety, and they capitalized with a Logan Blissenbach 6 yard TD run, with Blissenbach playing QB. They put the cherry on top in the fourth when Hayden Beebout scored his first career varsity TD from 2 yards out.

Beaver Local’s 56-7 win couldn’t have come at a better time, as they have a premiere home matchup with the rival East Liverpool Potters. Game kicks off next Friday at 7:00 pm on YSN.

*Contributed By YSN’s Mike McKenzie

CHARDON ENDS UP KING OF THE HILL AGAINST IRISH

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CHARDON OH- Both teams started off the season with impressive wins, but only one could continue the winning streak during Friday’s game between the Chardon Hilltoppers and the Ursuline Irish. The last time these two teams met was in 2007 and 2008, with the Irish winning 35-28 and 42-0. This time however it was different.

The first big play was on Special Teams as Reagan Smith kicked the ball that was near out of bounds. It was then picked up by Andrew Bruce who went nearly 80-yards on the return. Few plays later, Chardon got on the board when quarterback Alex Henry took it in nine yards out making it 7-0.

The game seemed to have been all Chardon after as they would put up 33 points thanks to touchdown runs by Henry, fullback Sean Carr and Daniel PettyJohn. The Irish looked defeated at that point. However, that would change as after a struggling first half and an interception early on, quarterback Brady Shannon bounced back off of a play action, finding wide receiver Marc Manning for a 44-yard touchdown making it 33-7. Ursuline got the ball back under a minute and got his second touchdown pass finding Jakylan Irving in the back of the endzone making it only a 20 point game now 33-13.

Later in the third, the Irish did it again as a end around sweep gave Manning an opening as he turned up the jets going 42-yards out to pader with the lead now cut to only 13. The Irish scored once more and this time it was DeMarcus McElroy who earlier had a huge run, but fumbled in the red zone. This time it was a makeup and with that, and a Smith point after, the lead was cut to six.

Chardon’s only point in the second half meanwhile was a field goal by All-Ohio Kicker Nathan Tager while Youngstown State commit and tight end Alex McDonald had a few catches but was silent throughout the day.

The Irish had one more attempt, but Shannon threw two costly picks with just under six minutes to go as the Hilltoppers, the reigning Division III State Champions moved to three and 0, defeating the Irish 36-27, with Ursuline falling to two and one.

Up Next
Ursuline (2-1) will head back to the Valley to face the Austintown Fitch Falcons (3-0) at Greenwood Chevrolet Austintown Falcon Stadium. Fitch is two and 0 against the Irish the last two seasons. (27-7 in 2019), (56-28) in 2020. Game will be Friday at 7pm on YSN!!

Chardon (3-0) will host the Riverside Beavers (2-1) who are coming off of a 28-7 victory against Holy Name (1-2).

*Contributed by YSN’s Ian O’Brien*

ROCKETS CLEARED FOR LAUNCH IN WELLSVILLE

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Wellsville, OH- Lowellville traveled to Wellsville in what was the Tigers first game of the season. The Rockets took advantage of the situation. Lowellville forced 4 turnovers on defense and only gave up 147 yards of offense by the Tigers. The Rocket offense was led by Vinny Ballone who had 4 combined touchdowns and 221 yards passing. The Rockets beat the Tigers 33-6.

Lowellville took the lead first when Ballone found Brady Bunofsky for a 38 yard touchdown pass to give them the lead 7-0 in the first quarter. Vinny Ballone would find Michael Ballone on the next possession for a 1 yard touchdown pass to extend their lead to 13-0 going into the locker room. The Rockets would continue their scoring clinic in the third quarter taking a commanding 27-0 lead.

Wellsville would get on the scoreboard in the third quarter however when Jaden Allen rushed into the endzone from 2 yards out to give the Tigers their first touchdown of the season. Lowellville (3-0) will host Springfield (2-1) in a highly anticipated matchup next week. Wellsville (0-1) will travel to Columbiana (2-1). Catch both games here on YSNLive.com.

*Contributed by YSN’s Anthony Melone

TIGERS FIND A GROOVE IN GENEVA

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GENEVA, OH- Springfield traveled to Geneva to face the Eagles in the last week of non conference play in week 3. The Tigers would control this one from the start. Springfield would finish the night with 491 combined yards of offense with 423 yards rushing. Beau Brungard would rush for 280 yards on only 11 carries and scored 4 touchdowns. The Tigers win 41-14.

Brungard would start off all scoring with a 39 yard touchdown run to give the Tigers the early 7-0 lead. Brungard by the end of the night would have multiple long touchdown runs for 74+ yards. The Tigers also forced and recovered 2 turnovers to give Springfield great field position. Springfield (2-1) will start conference play next week when they travel to Lowellville for a highly anticipated matchup. Catch the game here on YSNLive.com.

*Contributed By YSN’s Anthony Melone.

WEST BRANCH STOPS THE CLOCKS ON MINUTEMEN

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Beloit, OH – West Branch Hosted Richfield Revere in a week 3 scoring clinic for the Warriors. The Warriors scored all of their points for the game in the first half bringing in a host of reserve players in the second half to give them experience. The West Branch offense combined for over 300 yards of total offense led by Dru DeShields.

The 1st half was highlighted by a 28-0 lead in the first quarter. Dru DeShields went 22/26 for 235 passing yards with 5 touchdowns. Senior Steven Marra contributed 2 rushing touchdowns in the first half as well. The Warriors would end the half with a 48-0 lead going into the locker room and would beat the Minutemen 48-6 when the contest was finished. West Branch (3-0) will host Marlington next week. Catch the game here on YSNLive.com.

*Contributed By YSN’s Anthony Melone.

BULLDOGS SHUT THE DOOR ON HOWLAND

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HOWLAND, OH- The Poland Bulldogs traveled to Howland to face the Tigers with both teams trying to increase their record to 2-1. The last time the Bulldogs traveled to Howland, it was Jack Fulton’s first career start and resulted in a loss. The Bulldogs would come away with the victory this time. Poland rushed for a combined 204 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. Poland Quarterback Jack Fulton would finish the night with 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the winning effort. Howland Running Back Matt Woomer rushed for 138 yards for the Tigers. Poland rushes past the Tigers 27-14.

The Bulldogs struck first with a 23 yard touchdown run by Quarterback Jack Fulton that gave them the early lead. The Tigers would answer on the next drive when Matt Woomer found the end zone from 7 yards out to tie the game at 7. The Bulldogs would take control in the second quarter when Cole Fulton and Jack Fulton both scored rushing touchdowns to give Poland a 21-7 lead going into the locker room. Poland would get on the board one more time to seal their victory in the third quarter when Dillon Smith scored the teams fourth rushing touchdown of the game to increase their lead 27-7.

Tigers quarterback John Perry would get Howland on the scoreboard one more time in the fourth quarter with a 52 yard touchdown pass to Carter Mock. The Bulldogs would prove too much by the end of the game. Poland’s defense contributed 3 sacks, two interceptions in the contest. Poland (2-1) will travel to Hubbard next week while Howland (1-2) will travel to Boardman. Catch both games on YSNLive.com.

*Contributed By YSN’s Anthony Melone

UNITED TAKES THRILLER FROM REBELS

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HANOVERTON OH- United found themselves in a back and forth affair on Friday night against Crestview, but they would be able to come out on top 28-21.

Grant Knight had a big game for United as he ran for 79 yards on 10 carries and scored a touchdown on the ground. He also went 6/10 through the air with 52 yards and a touchdown. Ward Kiko led the Eagles on the ground running for 106 yards on just 8 carries. That averages out to 13.3 yards per touch. Kiko also found the endzone on the day.

Roclen Bettura ran for 84 yards on 14 carries for Crestview and a touchdown. Anthony Cusick ran for 48 yards and two touchdowns. Cusick also went 15/23 through the air with 132 yards.

Both teams will begin their conference season next week as United will host Valley Christian, and Crestview will host Campbell.

SPARTANS JUST FALL SHORT

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MASSILLON OH- Boardman made the trip to Massillon on Friday night to take on the Polar Bears of Jackson. It ended up being a frigid result for the Spartans as they fell just short 20-14.

Boardman got on the board first when Fernando Ortiz ran one in from 11 yards out. Their next touchdown would come from Anthony Hightower who ran one in on the one. Hightower threw for 118 yards on the night. Boardman had the ball with just over 2:00 left trailing 20-14, but could not muster a game winning drive.

Boardman will look to bounce back in Week 4 as they hist Howland.