Ohio Earns Easy Win Over Pennsylvania In 46th Stateline Classic

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Shane Lux | June 20, 2025

Salem – The Buckeye State rules the day for the second straight year.

Last season, Ohio broke open a 10-7 halftime lead en route to a 28-10 victory at Geneva College’s Reeves Field.

Thursday night, they dominated from start to finish and convincingly rolled past their neighbors to the east, 30-7 at Salem High School’s Sebo Stadium.

Ohio scored on its initial possession when South Range High School’s and Baldwin Wallace commit Tristan Toy scored on a 3-yard run at the first quarter’s midway point.

Tristan Toy finished the night with 120 yards rushing while completing 2-of-7 passes for 39 yards with an interception. He more than doubled the output of Pennsylvania, which only managed 50 yards rushing in the game.

“I mean, I’m blessed to be able to play in this game, he said. “Especially with a bunch of others who are really good at football, and enjoy playing it. I had a lot of fun, especially coming out with a win. It was a great experience.”

Early in the second stanza, Anthony Ruggles from Austintown-Fitch, a preferred walk-on at Toledo, capped a 10-play 42-yard drive with his first of three field goals from 30 yards out.

Late in the first half, 3:55 remaining to be exact, starting at their 1-yard line, Ohio went on an 11-play 99-yard drive that basically put the contest out of reach.

With 15 seconds to play in the half, Zach Haus of Boardman floated a dime into the corner of the end zone where East Liverpool’s Blake Adkins came down with the ball, giving the Buckeye State a 17-0 lead heading into the locker room.

Adkins led all receivers with four catches for 65 yards and the score.

Clearly, that was a shot of adrenaline as Ohio took the football and put the game away, if it wasn’t already on their first snap of the second half.

Well, scratch that. Their first snap was a 5-yard false start penalty, but their second was a 75-yard touchdown run from Toy on a read-option just 19 seconds into play.

“I mean, yeah, I kind of did” (expect this type of performance), Toy said. “During the week, some of our plays were hitting well. So I knew essentially it was going to go, I just didn’t know when. Zach (Haus) did a great job taking our offense down with a touchdown with 15 seconds left. He’s also a great quarterback. He can run the offense, so I felt like the momentum just led to another, and we put it on them.”

Tristan Toy won offensive MVP honors for Ohio.

“It means a lot,” Toy concluded. “I don’t know how to put it into words. I worked hard for this moment, all my life, and I’ve always wanted to be good at football. I’m honored to get this trophy in an all-star game like this. State versus state, there’s not one like it around except this one, so I’m honored.”

As for the Keystone State, after Anthony Ruggles connected on a 29-yard field goal, putting their deficit at 27-0 after three quarters, Pennsylvania finally found the scoreboard when Ellwood City’s Chris Smiley connected with Cornell’s Walter Clarit on a beautiful crossing pattern to thwart the shutout and break the goose egg at 27-7.

Riverside’s Robert Janis broke loose for a 35-yard gain on the drive. The two 30-yard plays accounted for 65 of Pennsylvania’s 137 yards in the game. That’s two plays accounting for 47% of their entire offensive output.

Janis led Pennsylvania with 43 yards on eight carries, while Smiley completed 15 of 22 passes for 87 yards with the touchdown.

After coming up with a turnover on downs at the Pennsylvania 38-yard line, Ruggles booted his third field goal of the night from 36 yards to close the scoring at the 6:43 mark.

Game Highlights:

Ohio 30 Pennsylvania 7

Score by Quarters

Pennsylvania – 0 0 0 7 – 7

Ohio – 7 10 10 3 – 30

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

OH – Tristan Toy 3 yd run, (Anthony Ruggles pat), 6:34 – 8-42

Second Quarter

OH – Ruggles 30 yd field goal, 9:28 -10-42

OH – Blake Adkins 17 yd pass from Zach Haus, (Ruggles pat), 0:15 – 11-99

Third Quarter

OH – Toy 75 yd run, (Ruggles pat), 11:41 – 1-75

OH – Ruggles 29-yard field goal, 3:22 – 14-41

Fourth Quarter

PA – Walter Clarit 30 yd pass from Chris Smiley, (Robert Kelly pat), 11:06 – 5-80

OH – Ruggles 36 yd field goal, 6:43 – 6-19

Individual Stats

Rushing: PA – Walter Clarit 5-14, Robert Janis 8-43, Drey Hall 2-2, Mikey Keyes 2-6, Smiley 3-(-15), Team 1-0. Totals: 21-50. OH – Jack Darney 11-58, Toy 9-120, Haus 7-31, D’Shawn Kirby 1-1. Totals: 28-210.

Receiving: PA – Chris Kirkland 4-5, Hall 2-12, Keyes 2-10, Luciano Gagric 1-8, Tyler Heckathorn 4-26, Clarit 2-30, Zach Barnes 0-(-4). OH – Brock Severs 2-31, Adkins 4-65, Darney 1-7, Caleb Bodo 1-17.

Passing: PA – Chris Smiley 15-for-22, 87 yards, 1 TD. OH – Toy 2-for-7, 39 yards, 1 INT, Haus 6-for-14, 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.

Interceptions: PA – Jadon Bishop, Clarit.

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