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WEST BRANCH 50, MINERVA 8
MINERVA -- West Branch quarterback Grady Hirst accounted for five touchdowns and 305 yards of total offense in a 50-8 win over Minerva on Friday.
Hirst completed 18 of 21 passes to eighth different receivers for 229 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 76 yards and two scores on eight carries.
Drake Stryffeler had two touchdowns rushing and one receiving. Landon Coffee and Johnny Edwards also had touchdown catches.
Stryffeler had 81 yards rushing on three carries and 63 yards on three receptions.
The state-ranked Warriors improve to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference, one game ahead of Salem and Alliance. The Warriors play both of those teams to close out the regular season.
The Lions drop to 3-5 and 0-4 in the EBC.
Minerva scored early in the fourth quarter on Lane Tarbet’s 8-yard receptions from Kannon Kirkpatrick. Tarbet had two catches for 20 yards and Timmy Kirkpatrick collected 42 yards on 10 carries.
Both teams play next Friday as West Branch hosts Alliance and Minerva visits Howland, which handed Salem its first loss.
COLUMBIANA 42, WELLSVILLE 8
WELLSVILLE -- Columbiana scored 35 points in the first half and coasted past Wellsville, 42-8, Friday.
The Clippers improve to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference, one game behind United.
The Tigers drops o 1-7 and 0-5 in league play. The Tigers have lost 17 straight league games and 22 of their last 23 home games.
Columbiana scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and three more in the second quarter. The Clippers went up 42-0 in the third quarter before Wellsville scored its only points with six minutes left in the game.
Both teams play Friday as Columbiana hosts East Palestine and Wellsville visits league-leading United.
EAST PALESTINE 29, PY VALLEY 28
EAST PALESTINE -- East Palestine’s fate was riding on Braydon Plum’s shoulders.
Plum made an over-the-shoulder catch for a 20-yard touchdown reception from Clark Rutledge with 4:12 remaining and Paul Bender added the PAT to give the Bulldogs a 29-28 win over Pymatuning Valley on Friday.
East Palestine improve to 5-3, while Pymatuning Valley dropped to 3-5.
Pymatuning Valley scored with 7:45 remaining to give the Lakers their only lead at 28-22. East Palestine marched 71 yards for the game-winning drive.
Both teams play next Friday as East Palestine travels to Columbiana and Pymatuning Valley hosts Cardinal.
INDIAN CREEK 27, BEAVER 0
CALCUTTA -- Beaver Local was shut out in consecutive games for the first time since 2017 in a 27-0 loss to Indian Creek on Friday.
Both teams are 4-4 on the season with the Beavers losing four in a row and the Redskins winning four of their last five.
Indian Creek took a 14-0 halftime lead thanks to an 85-yard drive and another drive set up by an interception at midfield.
Both teams play next Friday as Beaver Local hosts Cambridge and Indian Creek travels to St. Clairsville.
Cambridge snapped a 38-game losing streak with a 42-21 win at Weir on Friday.
CRESTVIEW 40, CHAMPION 0
CHAMPION -- Trevor McElhaney ran for 171 yards and four touchdowns on eight carries as Crestview handled Champion, 40-0, Friday.
McElhaney had touchdown runs of 37, 36, 25 and 46 yards.
Josh Smith opened the scoring with a 16-yard interception with three minutes left in the first quarter. Hayden Davis scored the last touchdown on a 5-yard run late in the third quarter.
The Rebels led 13-0 in the first quarter and 27-0 at halftime.
Crestview ran for 256 yards on 23 attempts and had 283 total yards to Champion’s 91.
Crestview improves to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Gray Tier. Champion drops to 2-6 and 0-5 in league play.
Both teams play next Friday as Crestview hosts unbeaten Garrettsville Garfield and Champion travels to Liberty.
LEETONIA 20, ST. THOMAS 12
LEETONIA -- Leetonia’s defense gave up 339 yards, but showed up when the game was on the line.
Cam Price forced a fumble that Donnie Smith returned 48 yards to set up the final score in Leetonia’s 20-12 win over Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday.
The Bears improve to 3-5, while the Knights drop to 2-6.
Leetonia quarterback Dylan Johns had a pair of 5-yard touchdown runs, threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Dylan Brown and kicked two extra points.
Johns was 20-of-31 passing for 151 yards with three interceptions and ran for 53 yards on 16 carries. He also had an interception defensively.
Brayden Gainey had 13 catches for 108 yards and Brown added five catches for 28 yards.
St. Thomas ran for 327 yards on 25 carries and outgunned the Bears 339-221 in total yards, but lost three fumbles.
Brown’s touchdown catch gave the Bears a 13-12 lead in the third quarter.
The Knights reached the Leetonia 35-yard line before linebacker DJ Bosack stopped a St. Thomas runner for a 9-yard loss. Price’s sack and forced fumble was picked up by Smith, who raced to the St. Thomas 5-yard line. Johns ran it into the end zone on the next play for a 20-12 lead with about six minutes remaining.
Both teams play next Friday as Leetonia hosts Ashtabula St. John and St. Thomas entertains Akron Coventry.