Brungard named Walter Payton finalist

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State junior quarterback Beau Brungard has been named one of the finalists for the 2025 Walter Payton Award, Stats Perform announced Tuesday. The honor is presented annually to the top offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision and is regarded as the “Heisman of the FCS.”

Brungard, one of the nation’s most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks, is expected to be among the award’s top contenders after a record-setting season that helped propel YSU into the FCS playoffs as the No. 15 overall seed. The Penguins host Yale in the opening round at noon Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

Brungard was twice selected National Offensive Player of the Week and earned Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors three times. His most notable performances include: 328 yards passing and 200 yards rushing against Illinois State, becoming the first player in FCS history to record a 300/200 game; 345 yards passing and four touchdowns against Southern Illinois; 264 yards rushing (the most by a quarterback in MVFC history) against Robert Morris; 275 passing and 130 rushing yards against South Dakota State; two passing, two rushing and one receiving touchdown against Murray State; 143 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Northern Iowa.

Brungard enters the postseason riding an extraordinary stretch, posting 15 rushing touchdowns over the past five games and nine passing touchdowns in his last three.

For the season, he leads the FCS in several key categories, including points responsible for (290), total touchdowns (48), total offensive plays (593) and total offensive yards (4,295). He has accounted for 24.2 points per game and averages 357.9 total yards of offense.

Brungard has completed 254 of 368 passes for 2,917 yards and 23 touchdowns while rushing 225 times for 1,378 yards and 24 scores.

The Walter Payton Award, now in its 39th year, is named for Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, who starred at Jackson State. Past recipients include Steve McNair, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cooper Kupp, Taylor Heinicke and Trey Lance.

All 13 FCS conferences are represented among this year’s finalists. The winner will be chosen by a national voting panel and announced Jan. 3 at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show in Nashville, Tenn.

Southern bests Mooney

KENSINGTON — Southern Local’s boys and girls bowling teams each earned victories over Cardinal Mooney on Tuesday at Forest Lanes.

The Southern Local boys posted a 1,242-634 win behind Mason Sosack, who led all bowlers with a 302 series.

The girls followed with a 944-716 victory. Kylie Board paced Southern Local with a 235 series.

With the sweep, the Southern Local boys improved to 2-0, while the girls moved to 1-0.

Ohio State routs Mount St. Mary’s

COLUMBUS (AP) — John Mobley Jr. scored a season-high 26 points, Devin Royal added 17 and Ohio State concluded its six-game homestand with a 113-60 victory over Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday night.

Ohio State (6-0) is off to its best start since beginning the 2019-20 season 9-0. The Buckeyes play at Pittsburgh on Friday.

The Buckeyes had five players score in double figures for the second straight game. Ivan Njegovan made all seven of his shots to finish with 15 points, Bruce Thornton added 14 points and Christoph Tilly had 12.

Mobley, Thornton and Tilly each had 10-plus points in the first half, and Ohio State closed on a 21-3 run to build a 52-26 halftime lead. The Buckeyes also started the second half on a 17-5 spurt to go ahead by 38 points. Njegovan, Mobley and Royal each scored in double-figures in the 61-point second half.

Ohio State was 41 of 64 from the field (64%), including 15 of 31 from 3-point range, against Mount St. Mary’s — an NCAA Tournament team from a season ago.

Luke McEldon had 19 points and eight rebounds for Mount St. Mary’s (1-6), which beat American University in a First Four game last season before falling to No. 1 seed Duke. Arlandus Keyes added 13 points and Mason So scored 10.

Mount St. Mary’s had played its last two Power Four opponents this season tough, leading Cincinnati by six at halftime and taking Maryland to overtime.

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