If Avon’s defense is playing its best football ahead of the state championship, it is coming at the right time. Cincinnati Anderson awaits again Thursday night in the OHSAA Division II state championship at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.

LJ Martin ran for a career-high 222 yards and scored twice to help No. 11 BYU keep its Big 12 title-game hopes alive with a 26-14 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday night.

The common denominator in UC's three losses are turnovers. At Nebraska, a Caleb Goodie fumble led to a Cornhuskers touchdown before halftime and the game ended with an interception. At Utah, Sorsby fumbled twice and was picked off. Against Arizona, there were two more interceptions.

The Cincinnati Bearcats had 13 players named to the All Conference Big 12 team on Thursday . Jake Golday was the lone first-teamer. The senior led UC with 105 tackles (six for loss), 3.5 sacks, and three pass breakups.

The Joe Burrow boost to Cincinnati’s playoff aspirations lasted but a week. Burrow threw interceptions on consecutive pass attempts in the fourth quarter, and the Bengals squandered a 10-point lead in a 39-34 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday that greatly diminished their postseason outlook.

The Olentangy Orange football team played in its first OHSAA state championship game Dec. 5, defeating Cincinnati St. Xavier. Read our live updates.

Cincinnati Bearcats football lands 13 on All-Big 12 team led by linebacker Jake Golday, a first-team selection