State title game in Leetonia

LEETONIA — Leetonia High School is hosting the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association’s 8-man football state championship game on Saturday.

Southington (9-1) will meet defending state runner-up Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic (10-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Hendricks Family Stadium. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and $5 for senior citizens 65 and over. Tickets are only available at the gate with cash.

Ball State rallies past Kent State

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Kiael Kelly threw two touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score to tight end Kameron Anthony with about two minutes remaining, and Ball State defeated Kent State 17-13 on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals (4-5, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) trailed 13-10 with four minutes left when, for the second time in the game, they stopped the Golden Flashes on fourth-and-1 in Kent State territory.

The Cardinals gambled on fourth down themselves, facing fourth and 2 at the 29-yard line. Kelly threw a short pass to Anthony, who was wide open on the left side, and Anthony scored untouched for a 17-13 lead with 1:53 remaining.

Early in the fourth quarter, a 30-yard pass from Dru DeShields to Wayne Harris set up Kent State in scoring position and Will Hryszko’s 28-yard field goal gave the Golden Flashes a 13-10 lead.

Kelly passed for 173 yards and was the Cardinals’ leading rusher with 53 yards.

DeShields, a West Branch graduate, passed for 212 yards and Wayne Harris had 87 receiving yards for Kent State (3-6, 2-3).

On the opening possession of the game, the Golden Flashes failed on a fourth-and-1 try from deep in their own territory and Ball State kicked a field goal for a 3-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the Cardinals drove 50 yards in 13 plays culminating in a 1-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to TJ Horton for a 10-0 lead. Ball State led 10-3 at halftime.

Harris’ 24-yard return on a short punt set up Kent State at the 10-yard line late in the third quarter. On second down from the 4, running back Donovan Delaney Jr. took a direct snap and scored on a run up the middle to tie the score at 10.

Toledo rockets past Northern Illinois

TOLEDO (AP) — Tucker Gleason threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns and Trayvon Rudolph opened the game with a 96-yard kickoff return as Toledo downed Northern Illinois 42-3 on Wednesday night.

After Andrew Glass hit a 50-yard field goal to pull NIU within 7-3 at 9:25 of the first, Toledo (5-4, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) took control with a 21-point second quarter. Chip Trayanum powered in from 5 yards at 5:08, and Gleason found Junior Vandeross III for a 19-yard score with 51 seconds left to cap an eight-play, 92-yard march.

Kenji Christian finished it off after the break, running in from 10 yards with 4:53 in the third, then hauling in a 16-yard touchdown in the fourth.

Gleason went 25 of 31 with no interceptions, repeatedly working to Vandeross, who had six catches for 97 yards. Christian totaled 66 yards and two touchdowns.

Northern Illinois (2-7, 1-4) rushed 36 times for 62 yards and completed only 11 of 29 for 141 yards. Toledo ran 29 times for 134 yards with three scores and Gleason averaged 9.4 yards per attempt. Rickey Taylor Jr. led NIU with three receptions for 69 yards.

Mitchell’s 46 points lead Cavaliers

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 46 points, Jarrett Allen had 24 points and 10 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away in the second half for a 132-121 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.

Evan Mobley added 23 for Cleveland, which won its second straight.

Cavaliers’ All-Star point guard Darius Garland had eight points in 26 minutes in his season debut. Garland missed the first seven games after offseason surgery on his left big toe.

Philadelphia, which never led in the game, got 27 points apiece from Tyrese Maxey and Quentin Grimes.

Mitchell followed up Sunday’s 37-point, eight 3-pointer performance against Atlanta by going 15 of 21 from the floor, 6 of 11 from long distance and making all eight of his foul shots against a 76ers squad that dropped games on back-to-back nights.

Joel Embiid did not play on Wednesday as Philadelphia is not having him play on consecutive nights early in the season due to left knee issues.

Cleveland stormed out to a 17-point lead eight minutes into the game before Philadelphia slowly rallied.

Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 3-pointer tied it at 72 with 9:48 remaining in the third quarter before the Cavaliers regained control, scoring 13 straight points. Allen scored six during the run and Mobley added five.

Cleveland outscored Philadelphia 35-15 the rest of the quarter after the 76ers tied it and were up 107-87 going into the final 12 minutes.

The Cavaliers’ largest lead was 116-90 early in the fourth quarter after Mitchell’s driving jumper in the lane.

Philadelphia made a late charge to get within nine late in the game.

The Cavaliers will play at Washington on Friday night.