THE FUTURE OF LOCAL SPORTS

Congratulations to Big Walnut RB Nolan Buirley who was named Division 2 Co-Offensive Player-of-the-Year. Buirley rushed for over 150 yards per game this season in helping the Golden Eagles earn its second consecutive Regional Championship totaling 2,226 rush yards and 33 total touchdowns. Congratulations, Nolan from all of us at the OH Report!

It's back-to-back OH Report MVP honors for Willard's LaMya Hicks following a road win over rival Shelby on Tuesday night. The senior guard showed out at both ends of the floor, making a significant impact on the offensive side where she scored 14 of the team's 52 points in a 22-point blowout. Hear from Hicks about her big night in this exclusive interview presented by Spherion Mid-Ohio Find out more about our sponsor online at: Web: www.midohiojobs.net FB: www.facebook.com/Spherion.MidOhio

It's now 3 consecutive wins for Willard after an opening-night loss, with the Lady Flashes handling rival Shelby in their home gym, 52-30. A competitive start to the contest saw Willard (3-1) build a slim 11-7 first quarter cushion before taking control in the second stanza. The Lady Whippets (3-3) were held to just 5 points in the quarter, falling behind 24-12 by the halftime break. Behind LaMya Hicks game-high 14 pts, Willard continued to surge out of the locker rooms with an 18-9 third quarter edge and would put the game to rest with a solid defensive performance. Corrin Gettys added 11 pts for the Crimson Flashes, while Camryn Wiers chipped in with 8 pts. Willard will next travel to Edison on Dec 12th. Baylee Sturts led Shelby with 11 pts, followed by Chloe Mahek with 6, and Katie Chuvala with 5. The Lady Whippets will host MOAC foe River Valley on Dec 12 in their next contest. This highlight is presented to fans by Sutton Bank Web: www.suttonbank.com FB: www.facebook.com/suttonbankohio

After five straight games on the road, the Mount Gilead Lady Indians (3-2) receive warm welcomes back to The Reservation, where they continue KMAC play against one of the league's heavyweights--the Centerburg Lady Trojans (3-0). Jonathon Langdon and Cray Falde are on the scene to take in their first KMAC-tion of the winter sports season, thanks to the following sponsors! Morrow County Job & Family Services Phone: 419 947 9111 Address: 619 W Marion Road Mount Gilead Ohio 43338 8 Sisters Bakery Web: www.8sistersbakery.com FB: www.facebook.com/8sistersbakery Mike Sayers Farms Phone: 419-210-0322 Farm To Table Meats NAMI Ohio Web: www.namiohio.org FB: www.facebook.com/NationalAllianceOnMentalIllnessOhio Knox Community Hospital Web: www.kch.org FB: www.facebook.com/KnoxCommHosp North Central State College Web: www.ncstatecollege.edu FB: www.facebook.com/ncstatecollege Spherion Mid-Ohio Web: www.midohiojobs.net FB: www.facebook.com/Spherion.MidOhio

The fans have spoken, and the Top Play of the Year rises from a season-long gauntlet of weekly winners stretching from Week 1 through the regional semifinals. Every Friday night, we rolled out ten of the best plays from across the area and let you decide what was worthy of moving on. Thirteen weeks, thirteen champions… and one final vote to settle it all. And your winner came out of the regional semifinals, where Colonel Crawford went on the road and took down Centerburg. The play? Connor McMichael exploding through a hole big enough for an 18-wheeler, thanks to “the big hungarys up front” clearing the way with massive spoons in hand. The MC Monster is usually flattening defenders on his way to six, but this time he didn’t need to—his line paved a runway, and the senior back took it home. A well-earned honor for McMichael and his hog mollies: your 2025 Top Play of the Year. Thank you to Spherion Mid-Ohio for sponsoring the Friday Night Pigskin all season long.

Our Spherion Mid Ohio MVP led another stellar Mapleton defensive effort while also leading all scorers as the Lady Mounties' Aubree Hess scored a game-high 17 points while also helping her squad hold Lucas to only 28 points as they move to 5-0.

After five straight games on the road, the Mount Gilead Lady Indians (3-2) receive warm welcomes back to The Reservation, where they continue KMAC play against one of the league's heavyweights--the Centerburg Lady Trojans (3-0). Jonathon Langdon and Cray Falde are on the scene to take in their first KMAC-tion of the winter sports season, thanks to the following sponsors! Morrow County Job & Family Services Phone: 419 947 9111 Address: 619 W Marion Road Mount Gilead Ohio 43338 8 Sisters Bakery Web: www.8sistersbakery.com FB: www.facebook.com/8sistersbakery Mike Sayers Farms Phone: 419-210-0322 Farm To Table Meats NAMI Ohio Web: www.namiohio.org FB: www.facebook.com/NationalAllianceOnMentalIllnessOhio Knox Community Hospital Web: www.kch.org FB: www.facebook.com/KnoxCommHosp North Central State College Web: www.ncstatecollege.edu FB: www.facebook.com/ncstatecollege Spherion Mid-Ohio Web: www.midohiojobs.net FB: www.facebook.com/Spherion.MidOhio

Congratulations to Shelby head coach Rob Mahaney on earning Division 4 Coach-of-the-Year honors. Mahaney led the Whippets to an undefeated regular season and outright MOAC championship, a Division 4 AP Poll championship and the team's first appearance in the state championship. Congratulations, coach from all of us at the OH Report.

Congratulations to Shelby quarterback Brayden DeVito on being named Division 4 offensive Player-of-the-Year. This season DeVito passed for 3,182 yards, rushed for 1,223 yards and scored 67 total offensive touchdowns as he helped lead the Whippets to its first State Championship appearance and a runner-up finish. Congratulations, Brayden from all of us at the OH Report!

Congratulations to Colonel Crawford's Payne DeGray who was named the Division 6 Defensive Player-of-the-Year. DeGray led the Eagles in tackles for loss (35.5), sacks (14.5), tied for the team lead in forced fumbles (2) and was second on the squad in tackles (71) as they won their first regional championship in program history. Congratulations from all of us at the OH Report!

Football fans showed out in a ridiculous way this weekend, and we felt every bit of it. Between the nonstop posts, warmup coverage, postgame pressers, and every game we touched, you pushed our numbers into a different universe—over a million total football views across platforms, thousands of likes and shares, and an 18,000-view audio-only stream that somehow had people tuning in just to hear us talk. One of our Shelby hype videos even cracked 50,000 views on its own, and the combined Facebook + YouTube audience nearly hit 75,000 listeners. Absolute madness. And honestly? That kind of support is why we keep doing this. You show up, you watch, you share, and you make all the long nights worth it. We try to give you everything—behind-the-scenes looks, live reactions, game breakdowns—and you keep devouring it like a bottomless bowl of Lucky Charms. But there’s no time to celebrate as we already are in winter sports and that means basketball and wrestling are already in full-go!

State championship weekend didn't go the way we hoped. The Whippets and Falcons both came up short in their title games, but what a ride it was getting there. Brian and Travis are breaking down what went right, what went wrong, and celebrating two incredible seasons that had our communities buzzing all the way to Canton. Plus, Grady Kinsey brought home Mr. Football hardware, and we've got highlights from all the other state finals including Kirtland, Liberty Center, Watterson, and more. Lucas Wickiser also calls in to talk Buckeyes and Browns! Ohio State took care of business against Indiana and locked up their spot in the College Football Playoff—so where do they land in the bracket and what's the path to a national title? As for the Browns against Tennessee... well, let's just say Lucas has some things to get off his chest. We're also talking Steelers-Ravens in a massive AFC North showdown. It's a loaded episode, let's get into it!

Mason Turner is just 1 of 2 sophomores on a veteran-laden Ridgedale roster. However, his presence in the 4th quarter more than warranted being honored as our Scout Construction LLC MVP! The young buck dropped 13 points with a late layup under durress shifting the momentum in the Rockets' favor as they seal their first win of the season. Congratulations to the Ridgedale Rockets and best of luck on the rest of your season! Scout Construction Services LLC Web: www.scoutconstructionllc.com FB: www.facebook.com/ScoutConstructionLlc

A record-setting season for Shelby football took the Whippets all the way to Canton for the Division IV State Championship. A loaded Glenville squad would prevent the veteran Shelby squad from completing an undefeated state title season. Still, the journey to Hall of Fame Stadium will forever be etched in the Whippets history books. Hear from head coach Rob Mahaney and senior members of Shelby's 14-1 state runner-up team in this MVP press conference presented by Arcelor Mittal. Find out more about our sponsor at the following links: Web: www.arcelormittal-oh.com FB: www.facebook.com/pages/ArcelorMittal/126880737364867

Our 89 Homes MVPs did something no other team in Ashland & Wayne counties have done - Play in back-to-back state championship games. The Hillsdale Falcons might have not won the title, but they brought pride back to Jeromesville as well as some hardware.

Welcome to what's shaping up to be a great early-season showdown! The Perkins Pirates are rolling into this one at 2-0 and looking to make it three straight to kick off the year. Their defense has been absolutely suffocating so far, holding opponents to just 43 points per game — so if you love watching a team that can lock down on that end of the floor, you're in for a treat. Keep an eye on senior guard Sam Schweinfurth, who's looking to build on an All-SBC Lake honorable mention season from last year. On the other side, the Willard Crimson Flashes aren't here to play slow. They hung 69 points in their season opener against Upper Sandusky and like to push the pace. Senior guard Mason Dawson is the guy to watch for Willard after earning All-SBC Bay honors as a junior. This one could come down to tempo — can Willard speed things up and get into a shootout, or will Perkins grind it out and make this a defensive battle? Stick around and find out! Join Caden Schmid LIVE & FREE on the call from majestic, Bob Haas Gymnasium in Willard, Ohio and be sure to thank all of our generous sponsors; Spherion Mid-Ohio midohiojobs.net facebook.com/Spherion.MidOhio Sutton Bank suttonbank.com facebook.com/suttonbankohio Avita Home Health & Hospice avitahomehealth.org facebook.com/CaringServicesYouCanTrust OH Report oh.report facebook.com/oh.report PepsiCo pepsi.com facebook.com/pepsi/?brand_redir=56381779049

For the second time in school history, the Liberty Center Tigers (15-0) take home a football state title! LC charged ahead of Wheelersburg (14-1) quickly to win the nightcap from Canton 35-3. The scoring started in the late stages of the first quarter when Thomas Mohler squeezed in a 1-yard score to break the seal wide open for the Tigers. Two explosive scores through the air from Jaxton Lawniczak in the 2nd quarter swung the momentum completely on Henry County's side heading into the half. However, Wheelersburg did not go out without one final push down the field in the 3rd quarter. But unfortunately for the Pirates, their longest drive of the game ended with an interception thrown to Thomas Mohler in the redzone. A few scores and a running clock later, vengeance was finally in the hands of Liberty Center, who had waiting three long years for this moment after coming up one win short in each of the last two seasons. Congratulations to the Liberty Center Tigers on their spotless 15-0 season capped by a Division V State Title!

Perkins sophomore guard Ty Obergefell didn’t just show up against Willard — he detonated. Coming into the night with only a couple free throws on the season, he walked out with 23 points and seven made threes, barely missing any. He said he felt locked in from warmups, and his teammates kept finding him in the right spots. Not bad for the youngest player in the varsity rotation, the lone sophomore getting real minutes under first-year head coach Andy Hoang, whose early trust clearly paid off. Ty’s no stranger to filling it up — his career high is 30, set last year on JV — and he’s part of a hungry bench crew with Grant and Caden that loves sparking energy the moment they check in. After torching the nets, he kept it simple with his shoutout: a nod to his teammates and a call to go win today.