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DESHIELDS HONOR
KENT - The Mid-American Conference named Kent State junior quarterback Dru DeShields as the MAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
DeShields -- who was an All-Ohioan at West Branch High School -- had a masterclass performance in Saturday’s 35-20 rivalry win over Akron to keep the Wagon Wheel. DeShields accounted for all five of the Golden Flashes’ touchdowns, amassing 322 yards of total offense and committing zero turnovers. He completed 18 of 33 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 16.3 yards per completion with scoring strikes to Wayne Harris (1, 55, and 19 yards) and Streetsboro graduate Hunter Hopperton (2 yards).
DeShields added 28 rushing yards on eight carries, putting the game away late in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run.
This marks the second time in his career that DeShields has scored five touchdowns against rival Akron in a rivalry game win.
Kent State (3-5, 2-2 MAC) will play at Sacramento State at 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
BEAVERS ADVANCE TO DISTRICT FINAL
CALCUTTA -- Sophomore Leah Stewart scored in the second overtime to lift Beaver Local’s girls soccer team to a 1-0 win over Steubenville on Monday in a Div. III district semifinal at Beaver Local.
It was the third win over Big Red this season for the Beavers. All the matches were played at Pastore Field.
Tatum Duncan had 16 saves in goal for the Beavers.
Top-seeded Beaver Local is 14-5 and has scored 98 goals to its opponents’ 26 this season.
Beaver Local, a Div. IV state semifinalist last season, will play No. 2 seed Dresden Tri-Valley in the district final at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Harrison Central’s Wagner Field.
Tri-Valley beat Zanesville 8-0 on Monday in the other district semifinal.
The Scotties are 13-3-3 and have scored 74 goals this season while allowing 21.
In the MaxPreps Div. III state soccer rankings, Beaver Local is ranked 39th, while Tai-Valley is 40th.
The winner of the Tri-Valley-Beaver Local district final will play the winner of No. 4 seed West Holmes and No. 5 seed Philo in the regional semifinal.
BEAVERS SWEEP RIVAL IN 63 MINUTES
CALCUTTA -- Beaver Local came into Monday’s Div. IV district semifinal volleyball match with East Liverpool having lost two of three to the Potters this season.
After losing in five sets to the Potters in the regular season finale on Oct. 15 at Potter Fieldhouse, the Beavers went to work on getting into tournament mode and did it pay off.
The Beavers never trailed in a 25-10, 25-14, 25-11 win over the Potters that took just 63 minutes to play.
“When you get to this point in the season this is what you’ve worked toward,” Beaver Local coach Sarah Lowe said. “All year long we’ve talked about being consistent, staying in the moment, keeping our heads focused and not letting serve-receive runs go. Tonight we capitalized on all of those things.”
Fourth-seeded Beaver Local (16-6) will face top-seeded River View (23-1) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in a Div. IV district final at Tuscarawas Valley High School. The Black Bears were ranked fifth in Div. IV in the final Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
East Liverpool (14-8) won its first meeting at Beaver Local in five on Sept. 1. On Sept. 10 at Potter Fieldhouse, Beaver Local won in four. Even with the Oct. 15 match fresh in everyone’s minds, the Beavers and Potters were prepared for a much longer match in this meeting.
It just never materialized.
“When we beat them a week and a half ago the roles were reversed,” East Liverpool coach Dan McKinstry said. “We talked about it Friday and Saturday about how Beaver Local will have tremendous motivation since they were going to be at home. I don’t think they understood it. I think some of it was the youthfulness of our squad. We didn’t get off to a very good start with some missed early serves. It put us behind the 8 ball. They were clearly the better team tonight.”
MATINEE GAME
ATLANTA (AP) -- The WNBA has moved Game 6 of the Finals between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries to a 12:30 p.m. EDT tipoff Thursday at the home area of the Atlanta Hawks so that the NBA can keep its previously scheduled primetime contest that day.
The WNBA worked with the NBA to move the game to State Farm Arena, where Games 3 and 4 of the championship series were played.
The Hawks have a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers that night that couldn’t be moved to another date or place. The only way they could make it work was to play the early afternoon game. The Hawks’ game against the Cavaliers was moved back an hour.
“The sellout crowds and extraordinary atmosphere at State Farm Arena for Games 3 and 4 were a tremendous success, and we’re excited to give thousands more fans the opportunity to experience Game 6 with a championship on the line,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Monday. “We thank the NBA, Dream, Valkyries, Hawks, State Farm Arena and USA Network for the collaboration and flexibility that made this move possible. We look forward to delivering another unforgettable Finals experience in Atlanta.”
DUCK QB CALLS IT QUITS
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon quarterback Dante Moore is not expected to return this season, coach Dan Lanning announced Monday night.
Moore has not played since getting concussed on a late hit at Southern California in late September. He resumed practicing earlier this month but remained in the concussion protocol.
Moore returned to school as a senior instead of declaring for the NFL draft when he could have been a top-10 pick. He threw for 926 yards and nine touchdowns with no interceptions in his first four games before the injury.
Dylan Raiola has started since Moore got injured. The Ducks, who opened the season ranked second, are 4-3 and have fallen out of the AP Top 25.
Oregon fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer on Sunday after losing to Illinois.
VALKYRIES ONE WIN AWAY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Kiah Stokes had 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots as the Golden State Valkyries moved within one win of a championship in their second season, beating the Atlanta Dream 64-55 in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Monday night.
Angel Reese finished with seven points, 15 rebounds and five assists -- a big difference from her two standout performances in the first two games of the series at Chase Center. Reese shook her head when whistled for the second of her three offensive fouls with 7:43 to play.
Fans screamed and clapped thunder sticks following the final buzzer as Stokes spoke from the floor to chants of “MVP!”
“We appreciate you,” a smiling Stokes said. “We got one more.”
On a night leading scorer Gabby Williams struggled to find her shooting touch, Golden State found that “strength in numbers” mantra coach Natalie Nakase has praised all season long and everybody made an impact. Veronica Burton had 13 points and eight rebounds.
On Saturday, Nakase had changed up her lineup for a 67-62 Game 4 win by inserting Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles into the starting five. She stayed with those two Monday night, and it worked again. Hayes, who played 10 seasons for Atlanta and came out of retirement two years ago, had 12 points -- and Nakase has said she wants to win it all for the veteran guard.
Williams began 2 for 11 and missed all four of her three 3-point tries, but she converted a three-point play with 9:08 remaining put the Valkyries ahead 49-42 and finished with nine points on 3-for-14 shooting and six rebounds.