East Liverpool beats Big Red

EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool’s boys tennis team scored a 3-2 win over Steubenville on Wednesday.

The Potters are 6-1 and play at Dover today.

East Liverpool 3, Steubenville 2

FIRST SINGLES: Brady Dawson (EL) def. Chandler Hoffman 6-4, 6-4

SECOND SINGLES: Garrett Cooper (EL) def. Annabelle Clutter 6-0, 6-0

THIRD SINGLES: Kodie Fennell (EL) def. Paul Busby 6-0, 6-0

FIRST DOUBLES: Leo Kurt-Monte Gundrum (S) def. Trey Nizer-Nicholas Aldrich 6-4, 6-3

SECOND DOUBLES: Emma Jenkins-Kaitlyn Kraus (S) def. Aaron Nelson-Rowan Stokes 1-6, 6-1, 10-8

Chargers-Lions to meet in Canton

CANTON (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers will take on the Detroit Lions in the annual Hall of Fame game as part of enshrinement week.

The Hall announced the matchup for July 31 on Wednesday with the Chargers playing just days before longtime tight end Antonio Gates will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Gates will be joined by three other modern era candidates with Eric Allen, Jared Allen and Sterling Sharpe also getting inducted on Aug. 2.

The Lions will be designated as the home team for the game after going 15-2 last season before losing in the divisional round to Washington. The Chargers went 11-6 and made the playoffs as a wild-card team in coach Jim Harbaugh’s first season.

This will be the fourth trip to Canton for the Lions and the third for the Chargers. Detroit last played in the game in 1991, beating Denver 14-3. The last appearance for the Chargers in the Hall of Fame game was a 21-17 loss to Atlanta in 1994.

The game will be broadcast by NBC.

Slocum records ace

SALEM — Mark Slocum aced Salem Hills Golf Club’s 224-yard No. 16 on Tuesday. His playing partner was Rudy Linder.

Outing benefits EP students

EAST PALESTINE — The East Palestine Alumni and Friends Scholarship Association will hold its annual golf outing on July 19 at the East Palestine Country Club.

The four-person scramble will have a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Cost is $25 per person or $100 per team. Call Susan Wagner at (330) 921-6400 to sign up.

All money raised is to go to the East Palestine Alumni and Friends Scholarship Fund.

EP Relays coming up on Friday

EAST PALESTINE — The 40th East Palestine Relays will be held Friday at Reid Stadium.

Action starts at 4:30 p.m. the 4×1600-meter relay, the boys discus and high jump, girls shot put and the boys and girls long jump.

The Howland boys and girls return after winning the team titles the past three years. Other schools entered are host East Palestine, Beaver Local, Carrollton, Crestwood, Hubbard, Oak Glen (W.Va.), Rootstown, Salem, Sebring and United.

Joe Flacco happy to be back

BEREA — Joe Flacco didn’t think coming back to Cleveland was going to be a possibility at the start of free agency.

Perhaps that is why Flacco has learned during his 17 years in the NFL to not expect anything until a contact is signed.

“That’s why I kind of joked to my family a little bit, my agent was talking to me about the places I may end up, and I kind of joked about it, that whatever he’s saying right now, it’s probably going to be whatever is the opposite of that. Just because you never know,” Flacco said on Wednesday.

“I mean, you never know how the talks materialize and all those things happen. and I think I’ve learned over the last few years to not really get my hopes and going one way or the other until something actually happens because it’s kind of unpredictable in that way.”

Flacco signed his one-year contract on Tuesday as the Browns began offseason workouts. The 40-year old signal caller won the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 2023 after going 4-1 as a starter with the Browns and averaging more than 300 passing yards per game as Cleveland made the playoffs for only the third time since its return in 1999.

The late-season heroics by Flacco endeared him to Browns fans after being despised for many seasons as the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens.

Flacco was the 18th overall selection by Baltimore in 2008 and played 11 seasons for the Ravens, including leading them to a Super Bowl title during the 2012 season. Since then, he spent a year in Denver, three with the New York Jets, one in Cleveland and one in Indianapolis.

“It’s definitely a little, you wouldn’t anticipate it,” Flacco said.

about his level of surprise about being a cult hero among Browns fans. “I think it just says a little bit about this town and their hunger for some winning football and what it can be like when you get to that point.”

Both parties did not do well in their season apart last year.

Flacco played eight games for the Colts and went 2-4 as a starter. The Browns went 3-14 as Deshaun Watson struggled and then suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury in the seventh game against Cincinnati.

Watson could potentially miss the entire 2025 season as he ruptured his Achilles tendon a second time in January. That means Flacco and Kenny Pickett along with at least one other possible addition will vie for the starting spot. Pickett, a former Steelers first-round pick, was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia.