Football Game Preview: Leetonia Bears vs. East Palestine Bulldogs

The Leetonia Bears will take on the East Palestine Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. East Palestine took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Leetonia, who comes in off a win.

Having struggled with four defeats in a row, Leetonia turned things around against Southern on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 41-18 margin over the Indians. Considering the Bears' offense had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.

Meanwhile, East Palestine played a tough contest on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were outmatched by United and fell 63-24. The loss continues a trend for the Bulldogs in their meetings with the Golden Eagles: they've now lost eight in a row.

Leetonia will have to keep a close watch on Clark Rutledge and Rj May, a pair of players who had a big impact on East Palestine's prior game. Rutledge threw for 166 yards and three TDs, while May picked up 63 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Having lost for the first time this season, East Palestine fell to 6-1. As for Leetonia, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 3-4.

Leetonia suffered a grim 52-26 defeat to East Palestine in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Bears were down 52-7.