Leetonia hosts state title game

LEETONIA — Leetonia High School is hosting the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association’s 8-man football state championship game on Saturday.

Southington (9-1) will meet defending state runner-up Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic (10-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Hendricks Family Stadium. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and $5 for senior citizens 65 and over. Tickets are only available at the gate with cash.

Second-round playoff game tickets

Tickets for Ohio high school football second-round playoff games on Friday will be available at the gate and online. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for students.

Second-round matchups include Norton at West Branch and Salem vs. Cleveland Glenville at the Collinwood Athletic Complex in Division IV; South Range vs. Youngstown Mooney at Stambaugh Stadium in Division V; Sugarcreek Garaway at Crestview and Smithville at United in Division VI; and East Palestine at Mogadore in Division VII.

All games will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday.

Mitchell scores 46 in Cavaliers’ victory

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 46 points, Jarrett Allen had 24 points and 10 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away in the second half for a 132-121 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.

Evan Mobley added 23 for Cleveland, which won its second straight.

Cavaliers’ All-Star point guard Darius Garland had eight points in 26 minutes in his season debut. Garland missed the first seven games after offseason surgery on his left big toe.

Philadelphia, which never led in the game, got 27 points apiece from Tyrese Maxey and Quentin Grimes.

Mitchell followed up Sunday’s 37-point, eight 3-pointer performance against Atlanta by going 15 of 21 from the floor, 6 of 11 from long distance and making all eight of his foul shots against a 76ers squad that dropped games on back-to-back nights.

Joel Embiid did not play on Wednesday as Philadelphia is not having him play on consecutive nights early in the season due to left knee issues.

Cleveland stormed out to a 17-point lead eight minutes into the game before Philadelphia slowly rallied. Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 3-pointer tied it at 72 with 9:48 remaining in the third quarter before the Cavaliers regained control, scoring 13 straight points.

One former QB and another wearing No. 47

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Jacob Rodriguez has turned into one of the nation’s top linebackers for No. 9 Texas Tech after beginning his college career listed as a quarterback for another Power Four school. BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier last played linebacker in middle school and was also formerly a running back, but still wears No. 47 like he did then.

Both play significant roles for their schools, which meet Saturday afternoon in the Big 12’s first matchup of top-10 teams since 2021. The game in Texas could be a preview of the conference championship game four weeks later, and certainly has College Football Playoff implications.

The No. 8 Cougars (8-0, 5-0, No. 7 CFP) are trying to get to 9-0 again, like they were last year with Jake Retzlaff, whose unexpected transfer over the summer opened the way for Bachmeier to become the first true freshman quarterback to start a BYU season opener.