The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Local interest
• Bowling Green won its second straight Mid-American Conference game on the road, beating Akron, 21-6, while the Zips have lost three consecutive MAC games. Falcons quarterback Jarret Doege was 19-of-27with 178yards, two touchdowns and an interception and Rico Frye added 14carries for 59 yards and a score. Akron quarterback Kato Nelson returned after sustaining an injury Nov. 1. He was 12-of-28 with 148 yards. • No. 1Mount Union rolled to a Division III first-round playoff victory, beating Denison, 60-0, for its 100th playoff win in program history and extending its winning streak to a nation’s-best 26games. Jake Keeney completed 11of-15passes for 287yards and four touchdowns in his first career start, filling in for an injured D’Angelo Fulford. Josh Petruccelli (Perry) had his seventh 100-yard rushing game of the season with 22carries for 128yards. The Purple Raiders got scores on special teams and defense, too, when Justin Hill returned a punt 68yards for a touchdown and Louis Berry returned a nine-yard interception for a touchdown. Alex Minton had 20carries for 77yards and quarterback Cannan Gebele was 8-of-27with 68yards for Denison (8-3).
Top national
• C.J. Conrad (Keystone) caught an 11-yard touchdown pass and No. 17
Kentucky beat Middle Tennessee, 34-23, to improve to 8-3 on the season. The touchdown is Conrad’s third in the last four games. He had four receptions for 51 yards against Middle Tennessee. Benny Snell added 26 carries for 116yards and two touchdowns for Kentucky and quarterback Terry Wilson Jr. was 10-of-14 with 121 yards and a score. Brent Stockstill was 30of-33for 293yards, three touchdowns and an interception for Middle Tennesee (7-4). • No. 5 Georgia protected its playoff hopes by overwhelming UMass, 66-27, in one of the biggest offensive games in school history. Georgia (10-1) gained 701 yards, the second-highest total in school history, including 426yards on the ground. The
Bulldogs never punted. Freshman Justin Fields led the Bulldogs with 100 yards rushing, including a careerlong run of 47 yards and a 3-yard scoring run. He completed 5of 8passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Highlights for UMass included Andy Isabella’s (Mayfield) second-half touchdown catches of 75and 45yards from Ross Comis. Isabella, one of the nation’s leading receivers, capped his career with 15catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Isabella set school records with 102catches for 1,698 yards this season. • Tua Tagovailoa passed for 340 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 1 Alabama beat The Citadel, 50-17. Alabama (11-0) went into halftime tied at 10with the Bulldogs (4-6). It wasn’t until Bama scored two touchdowns in a 12-second span on its way to a 27-point third quarter that the Tide could rest easy. Tagovailoa completed 18of 22passes in three quarters, including touchdowns of 21 and 5yards to Jaylen Waddle and a 68-yarder to tight end Irv Smith Jr. He broke AJ McCarron’s school single-season record of 30touchdown passes, reaching 31. Dante Smith ran for a 45yard touchdown in the first half and a 44-yarder in the fourth for The Citadel, whose triple option offense gave Alabama troubles at times. Smith finished with 130yards on nine carries. • Tom Stewart threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns before being wheeled off on a stretcher in the fourth quarter, leading Harvard to a 45-27 victory over Yale on Saturday at Fenway Park in the highestscoring matchup in the 143year history of The Game. Backup quarterback Jake Smith took over, handing off to Devin Darrington on the next play for a 16-yard touchdown that gave the Crimson (6-3, 4-3Ivy League) a 45-27 lead. Fifty years after The Tie that was celebrated with The Crimson student newspaper headline “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29,” the teams played at the home of the Red Sox to make a different kind of history. The 72total points surpassed the 33-31Yale victory in 1993; Harvard’s 578yards of offense were its most ever in the rivalry between two of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic powerhouses.