South Range to play unbeaten team

PARMA — South Range had little time to celebrate a last-second 17-16 win over Poland last Friday that put the Raiders in the state semifinals for the fourth time.

Top-ranked South Range (14-0) will play third-ranked Liberty Center (14-0), the defending Division V state runner-up, at 7 p.m. Friday at Parma’s at Byers Field.

Quarterback Tristan Toy engineered a 12-play, 70-yard drive in the final 2:10 with no timeouts left to spark the Raiders’ rally.

South Range has gone 42-2 the last three seasons, including the 2022 Division V state championship.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for grades K-12. Children 5 and under are free.

Minerva hosts big game

MINERVA — One of the best high school football teams is playing in the area this weekend.

Minerva’s Hines Stadium will host top-ranked Kirtland (14-0) and fifth-ranked Galion Northmor (14-0) in a Division VI state semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday.

The defending state champion Kirtland Hornets won their eighth straight regional title last Friday with a 41-6 win over Dalton, last year’s Division VII state runner-up.

Kirtland has played for a state championship 11 times since 2011, winning seven state titles.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for grades K-12. Children 5 and under are free.

Potter tickets on sale Friday

EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool basketball season tickets will be on sale from 3 to 5 p.m. on Friday at the fieldhouse box office.

Alderman gets sixth ace

GLENMOOR — Mike Alderman of New Waterford aced Historic Highlands 185-yard No. 1 on Sunday with a driver.

Rick Provenzano and Logan Charles were the witnesses.

It was Alderman’s sixth hole-in-one.

Pitt takes a swing at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — The top-ranked Pitt volleyball team (27-1) heads to third-ranked Louisville (25-3) tonight for the second of two regular-season clashes.

Both teams are 17-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and have won or shared the last seven ACC championships.

Pitt has won the last three matches against the Cardinals, all in five sets.

Pitt’s only loss was in five sets at SMU on Oct. 12. The Panthers have won 12 matches in row, including the last eight by 3-0 scores. Nine Pitt volleyball matches have sold out this season

It will be held at 7 p.m. today at the KFC Yum! Center. It will be televised live on the ACC Network.

Sanders gives Hunter his own award

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Travis Hunter may be receiving his first trophy of the season — his coach’s 1988 Jim Thorpe Award. Deion Sanders doesn’t want his anymore.

Not after Colorado’s two-way standout and Heisman Trophy hopeful was overlooked as a finalist for the award given to the nation’s top defensive back. Sanders, who earned the award with Florida State, was outraged Tuesday.

“How? How is Travis Hunter snubbed by the Jim Thorpe Award?” said Sanders, whose 23rd-ranked Buffaloes (8-3, 6-2 Big 12, No. 25 CFP ) close out the regular season Friday against Oklahoma State, needing a win and lots of help to make the conference title game. “You can have my award. You can have it back. Matter of fact, I’m gonna give him mine. I ain’t using it, just sitting up there collecting dust.”

The list of Thorpe finalists released Tuesday included Jahdae Barron of Texas, Ohio State’s Caleb Downs and Georgia’s Malaki Starks — but no Hunter.

Hunter has three interceptions and nine pass breakups despite rarely being targeted because of his lockdown cover skills. He also preserved an overtime win against Baylor when he forced a fumble that ended the game.

“If this ain’t the most idiotic thing in college football, that he’s not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award,” Sanders said. “How in the world is Travis Hunter not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award? They just pretty much messed up all the integrity of the award, and he can have mine. Whoever’s voting down there, whoever is bringing it home — thank you, because I don’t even want mine now.”

It’s one of the few awards Hunter hasn’t been named a finalist for in a season where he’s dominated on offense and defense. He’s in the running for the Maxwell (most outstanding player), the Biletnikoff (best receiver), Bednarik (top defensive player), Paul Hornung (most versatile) and Walter Camp (player of the year) awards.

Then there’s, of course, the Heisman, where he’s the favorite, according to BetMGM, as he rarely leaves the field. He’s a frequent target for Shedeur Sanders, catching 82 passes for 1,036 yards and 11 TDs.

The scary hit on Shedeur Sanders

Shedeur Sanders avoided injury on a scary hit by Kansas defensive end Dean Miller that took out the quarterback’s legs after throwing a pass in last Saturday’s 37-21 loss.

Deion Sanders said both Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold and Miller reached out to him. The plan is for Miller to talk to his son.

“He’s going to apologize, and Shedeur is going to accept it. I know that because Shedeur is not upset with that,” Deion Sanders explained. “So let’s not make a big deal out of something that transpired in the heat of the battle. I know how it looked. I know how it seemed, but the guy’s trying to make a play. He’s playing ball, but they will communicate with one another, so it’s no hard feelings.”

Bowl game for Shedeur Sanders and Hunter?

The game Friday against Oklahoma State could be the last one in a Colorado jersey for Hunter and Shedeur Sanders because they are likely top picks in the NFL draft. Deion Sanders downplayed the narrative Tuesday by saying that even if the bowl-eligible Buffaloes don’t make the Big 12 title game, his talented tandem may play in a bowl game.

“It’s not the last time you’re going to see them in a Buff uniform,” Deion Sanders said. “These two and all the rest of the seniors have done a wonderful job of getting us to where we are, instilling so much expectation in our fan base and expectation in ourselves.

“So we’re going to fight and try to go out there and kick some butt and end this thing on the right note. We’re going to go to a bowl game — and end this thing on the right note.”