Schramm named top special teams player

AKRON — University of Akron football placekicker Matthew Schramm, grandson of Bonnie and Harold Schramm of Salem, was honored by the Mid-American Conference as its Special Teams Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday.

Schramm, a graduate of Dublin Coffman High School, was responsible for 13 of the Zips 19 points in the regular season finale win over Bowling Green on Tuesday. Schramm made all four field goal attempts, splitting the uprights from 48, 39, 37 and 30 yards. The 48-yard field goal was a career-high, replacing the previous career long of 44 yards. In addition, he made his only extra point attempt in the Zips 19-16 road win. Schramm also had a 47-yard kickoff.

For the season, Schramm made 12 of 13 field goal attempts with a 48-yard long. He also hit from 44, 42 and 41. Schramm also knocked down 16 of 17 PAT attempts on the season, totaling 52 points for the Zips this season.

He is the son of Jenny and Matt Schramm of Dublin.

Brungard is Walter Payton finalist

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State junior quarterback Beau Brungard has been named one of the finalists for the 2025 Walter Payton Award, Stats Perform announced Tuesday. The honor is presented annually to the top offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision and is regarded as the “Heisman of the FCS.”

Brungard, one of the nation’s most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks, is expected to be among the award’s top contenders after a record-setting season that helped propel YSU into the FCS playoffs as the No. 15 overall seed. The Penguins host Yale in the opening round at noon Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

Brungard was twice selected National Offensive Player of the Week and earned Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors three times. His most notable performances include: 328 yards passing and 200 yards rushing against Illinois State, becoming the first player in FCS history to record a 300/200 game; 345 yards passing and four touchdowns against Southern Illinois; 264 yards rushing (the most by a quarterback in MVFC history) against Robert Morris; 275 passing and 130 rushing yards against South Dakota State; two passing, two rushing and one receiving touchdown against Murray State; 143 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Northern Iowa.

Brungard enters the postseason riding an extraordinary stretch, posting 15 rushing touchdowns over the past five games and nine passing touchdowns in his last three.

For the season, he leads the FCS in several key categories, including points responsible for (290), total touchdowns (48), total offensive plays (593) and total offensive yards (4,295). He has accounted for 24.2 points per game and averages 357.9 total yards of offense.

Brungard has completed 254 of 368 passes for 2,917 yards and 23 touchdowns while rushing 225 times for 1,378 yards and 24 scores.

The Walter Payton Award, now in its 39th year, is named for Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, who starred at Jackson State. Past recipients include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp, Taylor Heinicke and Trey Lance.

All 13 FCS conferences are represented among this year’s finalists. The winner will be chosen by a national voting panel and announced Jan. 3 at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show in Nashville, Tenn.

Salem splits with GlenOak

SALEM –The Salem boys varsity bowling team defeated GlenOak 2,080-1,777 on Tuesday at behind a record-setting performance from Donald Blackburn at Hunt Club Lanes.

Blackburn rolled a 274 — a new Salem single-game school record — and followed with a 201 for a 475 series to lead the Quakers.

Luke Spielman added games of 213 and 160 for a 373 series, while Tanner James posted 168 and 172 for a 340. Vinnie Yannucci finished with 153 and 158 for a 311 series. Chase Wilhelm (119) and Henry Madison (109) also contributed.

In girls action GlenOak won 1,716-1,689. Brooklyn Herold had a 203 high game and 396 series for Salem. Nora Shean added a 165 high game and a 303 series.

Mobley powers Buckeyes

COLUMBUS (AP) — John Mobley Jr. scored a season-high 26 points, Devin Royal added 17 and Ohio State concluded its six-game homestand with a 113-60 victory over Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday night.

Ohio State (6-0) is off to its best start since beginning the 2019-20 season 9-0. The Buckeyes play at Pittsburgh on Friday.

The Buckeyes had five players score in double figures for the second straight game. Ivan Njegovan made all seven of his shots to finish with 15 points, Bruce Thornton added 14 points and Christoph Tilly had 12.

Mobley, Thornton and Tilly each had 10-plus points in the first half, and Ohio State closed on a 21-3 run to build a 52-26 halftime lead. The Buckeyes also started the second half on a 17-5 spurt to go ahead by 38 points. Njegovan, Mobley and Royal each scored in double-figures in the 61-point second half.

Ohio State was 41 of 64 from the field (64%), including 15 of 31 from 3-point range, against Mount St. Mary’s — an NCAA Tournament team from a season ago.

Luke McEldon had 19 points and eight rebounds for Mount St. Mary’s (1-6), which beat American University in a First Four game last season before falling to No. 1 seed Duke. Arlandus Keyes added 13 points and Mason So scored 10.