Niles shakes up his schedule
NILES – The impending Niles teachers’ strike has rocked the football slate in the region.
The Niles Teachers Union and School Board’s last scheduled day of bargaining is Wednesday and if an agreement is not reached, the Niles School Board has announced that remote learning will begin Thursday if the strike begins.
LaBrae was scheduled to face Niles on Friday, but decided to pull out of the contest due to the strike threat. Luckily for LaBrae, Jackson-Milton’s game with Windham was canceled due to low Bomber numbers. The Bluejays will now host the Vikings at 7 p.m. Friday.
Niles is looking into possible opponent options in case a last minute deal is reached.
With Windham sidelined, this could have an effect on Lisbon’s IT points possibilities as the Blue Devils beat the Bombers in the season opener. Windham also lost to Rittman 40-22 on Friday.
Chester picks up his 13th victory
CALCUTTA — The Chester Old Timers baseball team defeated Greenville, Pennsylvania, 13-5, at Beaver Local High School on Sunday.
The top hitters were Doug Comm, Harold Beatty and Billy Sattler with two hits apiece. Dave Smith went the distance to take the win.
Chester, now 13-1 this season, will face Pittsburgh at Velencia (Pennsylvania) Sports Park at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Geneva kicks off the season
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Geneva College will open the football season by celebrating Beaver County Community Night on Saturday.
Geneva will host The College of Wooster at 7:30 p.m. at Reeves Field. Admission is free for all fans.
Additionally, the Geneva men’s soccer team will host Houghton (NY) on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at the Merriman Athletic Complex, beginning at 6:00 p.m. There is also no admission to the football game.
Geneva is organizing a community tailgate, starting at 5 p.m. Saturday on the Old Main lawn. Tailgate dinner is $5 per person or $25 for a family of five or more. Fans can register for the dinner at geneva.edu/communitytailgate.
Blaming South Carolina for its arrogance
COLOMBIA, South Carolina (AP) — “Arrogant” will now be joined by “The general” at South Carolina football games this fall.
The school announced on Monday that its live crowing rooster mascot will have a new name going forward. The bird was previously called “Mister the Great Spur”, but a dispute between its old and new owners led to the name change. Neither the university nor the athletic department owned the rights to the old name.
The rooster has perched at football and baseball games in South Carolina for the past two decades. “The general” will be alongside the human-sized mascot, “Arrogant,” when the Gamecocks open the season against Georgia State on Saturday night.
The new name comes from Revolutionary War general Thomas Sumter, known as “The Fighting Cock.”
South Carolina assistant athletic director Eric Nichols said when officials realized they would have to change their name, it seemed fitting to go back to the origin of Gamecock’s nickname.
“We know Gamecock fans are passionate about our traditions and seeing the mascot live at games and other sporting events is something they look forward to,” Nicholas said.
The athletic department worked with the rooster’s new owners, Beth and Van Clark, to choose a new name. The school’s legal department discouraged keeping part of the old name in the new.
49ers rework deal to keep Garoppolo as replacement
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Jimmy Garoppolo remains in San Francisco after accepting a reduced contract to be Trey Lance’s backup on the 49ers.
A person familiar with the deal said Monday on condition of anonymity that the parties were finalizing an agreement to cut Garoppolo’s base salary by $24.2 million for 2022. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
ESPN reported that Garoppolo will receive a fully guaranteed base salary of $6.5 million, $500,000 in roster bonuses and the opportunity to earn nearly $9 million more in playing time bonuses. also includes a no-trade clause and prevents San Francisco from using the franchise tag on Garoppolo next offseason.
The Niners had been unable to secure a trade partner for Garoppolo and faced a deadline with rosters reduced to 53 players on Tuesday.
They were unwilling to keep Garoppolo as a substitute on his full salary, and with no chance of starting at another team, the two sides reached a compromise.
Garoppolo had not taken part in a single practice or meeting with the team during this training camp, training alone on the side as he returned from shoulder surgery during the training camp. off-season. But after spending the past five years in San Francisco, he should have no problem catching up on coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense and he’s giving the Niners reassurance if Lance struggles or gets injured.
Other quarterbacks on the roster are seventh-round rookie Brock Purdy and Nate Sudfeld, who hasn’t started in the NFL.
Garoppolo arrived in San Francisco to much fanfare in 2017 when he was acquired from New England before the trade deadline in San Francisco’s first season under Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
The Niners lost their first nine games that season and were 1-10 when Garoppolo took over as starter and led the team to five straight wins. This led to San Francisco giving him a five-year, $137.5 million contract in the offseason.
But Garoppolo suffered a season-ending knee injury in Game 3 of the 2018 campaign and also missed 10 games with injuries in 2020. In the two seasons he was mostly healthy, San Francisco has enjoyed great success as a team even though Garoppolo had limitations. at quarterback.
San Francisco went 31-14 in its starts, while only going 8-28 with other quarterbacks under Shanahan. The Niners reached the Super Bowl in the 2019 season and the NFC title game last season.
San Francisco had set in motion a plan to leave Garoppolo before the 2021 season when the 49ers traded three first-round picks to draft Lance third overall. Lance spent most of his rookie season on the bench adjusting to the NFL, but was named starter at the start of the 2022 offseason program.
Lance has started just three games in the past two seasons in college and pro after starting a season at lower-tier North Dakota State in 2019.
Lance brings elements that Garoppolo lacked with the ability to run and a stronger arm that should open up the offense for deeper passes to talented receivers like Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk.
Garoppolo completed 67.7 percent of his passes in five seasons in San Francisco, averaging 8.4 yards per attempt with 66 touchdowns, 38 interceptions and a 98.3 passer rating. Garoppolo’s strength was passing the ball to his playmakers in space and letting them make big plays after the catch.
