From Staff Reports

BRIDGEPORT — East Palestine is enjoying its first 3-0 start since 2009.

Clark Rutledge ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as East Palestine won the battle of Bulldogs by topping Bridgeport, 28-21, Friday.

Bridgeport led 7-0, 14-7 and 21-14, but East Palestine rallied every time and held Bridgeport scoreless in the second half.

Rutledge scored on runs of 36 and 33 yards in the second quarter and Zach Schnelle, who rushed for 108 yards, added a two-point conversion run as East Palestine trailed 21-14 at halftime.

East Palestine took the lead for good at 22-21 in the third quarter on Schnelle’s 3-yard touchdown run and Rutledge’s two-point run.

Rutledge scrambled and connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass to RJ May to close out the scoring.

Rutledge ended up with 16 rushes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown.

East Palestine will open Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference play by hosting Lisbon on Friday.

Bridgeport (1-2) will play at Steubenville Central next Saturday.

EP: 0-14-8-6–28

BR: 7-14-0-0–21

SCORING

EP–Clark Rutledge 36 run (kick blocked)

EP–Clark Rutledge 33 run (Zach Schnelle run)

EP–Zach Schnelle 3 run (Clark Rutledge run)

EP–RJ May 15 pass from Clark Rutledge (run failed)

Lisbon 41, Waterloo 14

ATWATER –Ashton Hinchliffe rushed the ball just six times for 159 yards and three touchdowns as Lisbon ran away with a 41-14 win over Waterloo on Friday.

Lisbon is 2-1 and will open Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference play at unbeaten East Palestine next Friday.

Devin Kelly added a 45-yard touchdown run for the Devils. Grant Minor also had a rushing touchdown.

Nick Peruchetti tossed a 59-yard touchdown to Bryce Esarey.

Waterloo was limited to 104 yards of total offense.

L: 7-29-7-6–41

W: 0-6- 0-8–14

SCORING

L–Ashton Hinchliffe 7 run (Baylen Jackson kick)

W–22-yard touchdown pass (conversion failed)

L–Hinchliffe 58 run (Jackson kick)

L–Grant Minor 7 run (Jackson kick)

L–Hinchliffe 30 run (Jackson kick)

L–Devin Kelly 45 run (Jackson kick)

W–65-yard touchdown run (pass good)

L–Bryce Esarey 59 pass from Nick Peruchetti (kick failed)

——

L W

First downs 13 4

Total Yards 322 104

Rushes-yards 20-249 9-44

Passing 73 60

Comp-Att-Int 3-4-0 7-15-1

Punts 1-13 1-31

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 6-55 2-13

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Lisbon, Ashton Hinchliffe 6-159, Devin Kelly 1-45, Grant Minor 4-20, Bryce Esarey 1-14, Cooper Terdina 5-8, Aiden Davis 3-3.

PASSING–Lisbon, Grant Minor 2-3-14-0, Nick Peruchetti 1-1-59-0.

RECEIVING–Lisbon, Bryce Esarey 1-59.

INTERCEPTIONS–Lisbon, Jett Vrable.

Columbiana 21, Western Reserve 19

BERLIN CENTER — Columbiana earned its first win of the season with a 21-19 victory over Western Reserve on Friday.

Jensen Nordquist had a 7-yard touchdown run to open the Clipper scoring in the first quarter. He added a second touchdown on a 6-yard run in the second quarter to give Columbiana a 14-7 lead at the break.

Danny Mangiarelli’s 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the Clippers a 21-7 advantage.

Reserve had a chance to tie the game after a long touchdown run in the third quarter but the two-point conversion was failed.

Hayes McCoy completed 10 of 20 passes for 157 yards for the Clippers.

Mangiarelli rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Nordquist had nine carries for 36 yards and two touchdowns.

Cameron Conkle led in the receiving department with three catches for 64 yards.

It was Columbiana’s first win over Western Reserve since 2016. The Clippers (1-2) had lost five straight to the Devils. The overall series stands at 15-13 in favor of the Clippers.

Columbiana will host United on Friday in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference opener.

Strasburg 47, Leetonia 14

STRASBURG — Leetonia’s good run to start the season is over.

Strasburg ended the Bears’ two-game winning streak with a 47-14 win on Friday.

The Bears (2-1) will host Valley Christian next Friday to open the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference league slate.

Strasburg is 3-0 with other wins against Windham and Steubenville Catholic Central.

Edison 41, Southern 8

SALINEVILLE — Landen Heffner’s 99-yard kickoff return was Southern’s highlight in a 41-8 loss to Edison on Friday.

Edison scored twice in both the first and second quarters to take a 28-0 halftime lead. The Wildcats scored again three minutes into the third quarter for a 34-0 lead. They added another score at the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter for a 41-0 advantage.

Heffner returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards and added the two-point conversion run to make the final score 41-8.

Southern will play at Wellsville on Friday in a matchp of 0-3 teams.

Edison improves to 2-1 and will travel to Martins Ferry on Friday.

E: 13-15-6-7–41

S: 0- 0-0-8–8

SCORING

S–Landen Heffner 99 kickoff return (Landen Heffner run)

oronto 49, Wellsville 19

WELLSVILLE — Toronto jumped out to a 30-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game on the way to a 49-19 win over Wellsville on Friday.

The Red Knights improve to 3-0, while the Tigers drop to 0-3.

After taking a 30-0 lead with 2:15 left in the first quarter, the Red Knights came right back with a 77-yard touchdown run by Caden McGrath to boost the lead to 37-0 only 68 seconds into the second quarter.

Toronto went ahead 43-0 with 3:30 left in the second quarter before Wellsville scored three touchdowns.

Ethan Morris hauled in a 41-yard pass from Jeron Jackson after a fumbled snap to put the Tigers on the board with 36 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Ryder Culp scored twice for the Tigers in the second half — on a 5-yard run with 6:38 remaining in the third quarter and on a 27-yard run with 8:36 left in the fourth quarter.

Wellsville opens EOAC play on Friday by hosting Southern, which lost 34-0 to Toronto in the season opener.

T: 30-13-6-0–49

W: 0- 7-6-6–19

SCORING

W–Ethan Morris 41 pass from Jeron Jackson (Ryder Culp kick)

W–Ryder Culp 5 run (kick blocked)

W–Ryder Culp 27 run (kick failed)

West Branch 55, Struthers 6

STRUTHERS — West Branch had no trouble with Struthers in a 55-6 win on Friday.

The Warriors led 41-6 at halftime and played the second half with a running clock.

Grady Hirst had 260 yards passing with four touchdowns to lead the Warriors.

Jeremiah Thomas caught four passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Grady Close added two touchdown catches. Gavin Gregory had four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. Damon Edwards a rushing touchdown.

Drew Gaspar had a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Zach Coffee added six tackles as did Lukas Black.

West Branch improves to 2-3 all-time against the Wildcats.

West Branch (2-1) will play Youngstown Chaney at Rayen Stadium next Friday.

Oak Glen 53, St. Marys 18

NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. — Oak Glen is off to its first 2-0 start since 2020 after a 53-18 win over St. Marys on Friday.

Oak Glen (2-0) will host Belpre (Ohio) next Friday.

The Golden Eagles are 1-2.