North turnovers lead South to a 50-7 rout

Chilllicothe’s receiver, Chris Givens, was selected as MVP.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS — Chris Givens of Chillicothe had six catches for 123 yards to help lead the South to a 50-7 win over the North in the 62nd annual North-South high school all-star football game Saturday night.

Columbiana High’s Bob Spaite was the North coach. He was joined by players Maurice Jones (linebacker) and Don Hanni (center/tackle) of Ursuline, David Rach (strong safety) of South Range, Joe Winters (fullback) of Columbiana, Justin Powell (defensive end) of Boardman, Marcus O’Hara (offensive tackle) of Hubbard and Nathan Sharp (offensive guard) of West Branch.

Givens, who is headed to Miami (Ohio), had touchdown scores of 29 and 27 yards in the first quarter and was named the game’s MVP.

Multiple giveaways

The South capitalized on five North turnovers — including three interception returns for touchdowns — in posting the most lopsided win in the history of the series.

Centerville’s Tyler Replogle, an Indiana signee, had a 13-yard interception return early in the game. The South led 30-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The North finally broke through midway through the third quarter when quarterback Charles Babb of Alliance threw a 47-yard TD pass to Elyria’s Dan Noble.

Pa. wins Big 33

HERSHEY, Pa. — Dan Persa ran for two touchdowns and passed for another to lead Pennsylvania to a 28-10 win over Ohio in the Big 33 Football Classic.

Ohio regained the lead at 10-7 with 2:18 left in the half. Ohio quarterback Perci Garner hit Kyle Jefferson over the middle in stride. Jefferson juggled the ball, but gathered it in for a 57-yard scoring pass.

Pennsylvania quickly moved 68 yards in just four plays to take a 14-10 lead with 48 seconds left before the half. A quick 17-yard pass from Persa to Derek Moye set up a 25-yard pass to Daryl Robinson to the Ohio 11.

On the next play, Persa rolled to his left and stepped into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night.

Pennsylvania took control on the first play of the fourth quarter. Henry Hynoski pushed in from the 1 five seconds into the fourth quarter, completing a 64-yard drive.

Chris Rucker of Warren Harding was the lone area representative on the Ohio squad.