Salem quarterback Cletis Monroy runs for a two-point conversion as he leads Ohio to a 40-31 win in the Penn-Ohio Stateline Classic at Geneva College on Thursday night. (Salem News/Ron Firth)

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. — Ohio’s third straight Penn-Ohio Stateline Classic win over the Keystoners on Thursday at Geneva College included three MVPs from the Buckeye team.

It could have been many more.

Using its superior physicality and speed, Ohio raced to a 40-31 win at Reeves Field.

Lisbon running back Ashton Hinchliffe and Salem quarterback Cletis Monroy split offensive MVP honors for Ohio, while West Branch defensive end Zach Coffee was the Buckeye defensive MVP.

Hinchliffe, the first Blue Devil to win Ohio MVP honors in the 46-game series, had 42 yards rushing and a key 32-yard touchdown reception from Monroy on a third and 17 in the second half which opened up a 24-10 lead for Ohio.

Monroy mostly was Ohio’s general behind center as he passed for 83 yards and rushed for 53 more. He also was involved in three two-point conversions for the kicker-less Buckeyes.

When Hinchliffe had his named called at the end of the game he couldn’t believe he was the co-MVP.

“I thought it would go to someone like (Southern’s) Landen Heffner or (Boardman’s) Ryan Smith,” Hinchliffe said.

The case could have been made for those two.

Heffner overcame an early fumble which immediately led to Pennsylvania’s first touchdown — a 60-yard bomb from Beaver’s Travis Clear to Pennsylvania offensive MVP Julius Best from Chartiers Valley — to score a thrilling 38-yard touchdown for Ohio’s first score with 8:25 left in the second quarter. Heffner ended the night with six carries for 66 yards.

Smith was used effectively as a short-yardage back as he racked up 61 yards on 13 carries with two rushing touchdowns.

“From the beginning we were just running the ball down their throats,” Hinchliffe said. “We had that mentality the whole game and they could not stop it.”

The physical offensive line the Buckeyes offered up was one of the main reasons Ohio was able to do mostly what it wanted in the run game.

“Those guys worked all week and I’m not going to doubt what they do or how they do it,” Monroy said. “They were great.”

There was also dominance on the defensive trenches. Pennsylvania rushed for a total 14 yards on 16 carries in the game. Coffee said he enjoyed taking full advantage of his match-ups.

“At first they weren’t double-teaming me so I had a free rush every single time,” Coffee said. “They had some good coaching though and made adjustments.”

Coffee said he usually had to go through three guys at West Branch to get the edge.

His night was almost cut short right before halftime when a Pennylvania duo kept pushing him into the Ohio sideline.

“It was after the play,” Coffee said. “They just landed on me and twisted my knee up. It got looked at during halftime. It was all good.”

Coffee’s West Branch teammate Grady Close came up with a huge interception at the Ohio 5 with 44 seconds before the half.

Ohio limited Pennsylvania to 12 offensive plays in the first half.

Coffee said he had wanted to play in this game since watching two of his brothers do the same. He was the first West Branch defensive MVP since Steven Marra in 2022.

Monroy was only the fourth Quaker to win an Ohio MVP nod joining Jackson Johnson (2023), Dayne Popa (1983) and Mark Berger (1982).

Ohio led 16-7 at halftime and 24-10 at the end of the third quarter.

Pennsylvania closed the gap at the 10:53 mark of the fourth quarter to make it 24-17 on a Clear 4-yard touchdown run, but Smith’s second touchdown of the day with 7:15 left in the game essentially sealed the deal. Indian Creek quarterback Ian Starkey scored the final Ohio touchdown on a 4-yard scamper with 2:24 left in the game.

The Buckeyes matched the 2016-2018 win streak in the series. Ohio has won seven out of the last 10 and trails in the series 29-17. The 40 points was the most a Buckeye team has scored against Pennsylvania dating back to the start of the border battle in 1980.

Notes

— A parent had pizzas delivered to the Ohio locker room right before the game. Usually a big meal right before playing is a big no-no. Most stayed away from the pizza before the game, but at halftime they dug in.

“We definitely chowed down at halftime,” Monroy said. “There was one player who threw up at the start of the third quarter.”

Coffee said he didn’t like the smell of the pizza in the locker room.

“I was more worried about my knee (at halftime) than anything,” Coffee said. “I couldn’t stand that pizza either, just the smell of it. Now it’s all cold and nobody is going to want it.”

— There was a break theoretically long enough to wolf down a piece of pizza in between the first and second quarters as Pennsylvania unveiled their Penn-Ohio Hall of Famers. Former East Liverpool football coach Don Phillips (2022) and former Beaver Local football coach Dale Stuby (1988-1994) were among the inductees.

OHIO:0-16-8-16 — 40

PENN:7-0-3-21 — 31

SCORING

P — Julius Best 60 pass from Travis Clear (Rocco Marcantonio kick)

O — Landen Heffner 38 run (Cletis Monroy run)

O — Ryan Smith 11 run (Monroy run)

P — Marcantonio 33 FG

O — Ashton Hinchliffe 32 from Monroy (Smith run)

P — Clear 4 run (Marcantonio kick)

O — Smith 5 run (Hinchliffe from Monroy)

P — M.J. Stuckey 5 run (kick failed)

O — Ian Starkey 4 run (Thomas from Starkey)

P — Stuckey 2 run (Lukas Gerovac from Stuckey)

TEAM STATS

Ohio

First downs: 20; Total yards: 403; Rushes-yards: 41-267; Passing:136; Comp-Att-Int. 10-16-0; Punts 0; Fumbles-Lost 1-1; Penalties-Yards 8-96

Pennsylvania

First downs: 10, Total yards 321, Rushes-yards 16-14, Passing Comp-Att-Int. 15-23-1, Punts 2-41, Fumbles-Lost 0, Penalties-Yards 5-60

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Ohio, Ashton Hinchliffe (Lisbon) 6-42, Cletis Monroy (Salem) 9-53, Landen Heffner (Southern) 6-66, Jeremiah Thomas (West Branch) 1-27, Ryan Smith (Boardman) 13-61; Penn

PASSING–Ohio, Cletis Monroy (Salem) 6-9-83-0, Jeremiah Thomas (West Branch) 1-2-27-0, Ian Starkey (Indian Creek) 3-5-29-0; Penn, Travis Clear (Beaver) 5-8-137-0, M.J. Stuckey (Cornell) 10-15-151-1.

RECEIVING–Ohio, Jeremiah Thomas (West Branch) 5-47, Will Harmon (Salem) 1-7, Ashton Hinchliffe (Lisbon) 2-32, Lukas Black (West Branch) 1-24, Nate Alexander (Western Reserve) 1-20, Penn, Julius Best (Chartiers Valley) 6-132.

INTERCEPTIONS–Ohio, Grady Close (West Branch)

FUMBLE RECOVERIES– Penn, Jared Moyer (Moon)