Cranberry fencer 5th in tourneyAKRON, Ohio — Harry Hardman, a Cranberry Township resident and Aquinas Academy sophomore, placed fifth recently in a regional fencing tournament at the University of Akron.Hardman won five of his six bouts in the preliminary pools and advanced to the round of eight after defeating John Valeros, a skilled fencer from Michigan. Hardman’s loss in direct elimination came to the assistant Cleveland State University coach, who placed second in the tourney.,b>Butler grad Ward joining Geneva HOFGENEVA — Butler graduate Erin Ward Witman, a former women’s basketball, soccer and track standout at Geneva College, is a member of that school’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class.Witman will join 11 other inductees for enshrinement on campus Nov. 12.The other inductees include: Bill “Boomer” Aultman (meritorious service), Cliff Aultman and Bill Blair (men’s basketball), Bill Butler (track), Larry Bruno and Cal Hubbard (football), Dee Morris (rifle, women’s basketball, tennis), Janet DiTullio (women’s tennis), Virginia Napoli (coach/administrator), Charles “Chick” O’Data (administrator) and John White (administrator/president).

NFL TV ratings fall Sunday nightNEW YORK — NBC’s flagship Sunday Night Football game had its smallest audience in five years this week, evidence of the NFL’s new deflation issue.The game between Indianapolis and Houston reached 13.6 million viewers, removing the weekly broadcast from its usual spot at or very close to the top of the Nielsen company ratings. CBS’ Thursday night game scored slightly higher.This season, NBC’s prime-time games have been down 17 percent from last year, when ratings were at their peak for the telecast.

NFL games stopped for injury reasonsUNDATED — Independent medical observers stopped five NFL games in 2015 and two so far in 2016 — the first two seasons in which the “Medical Timeout” has been employed as a method to identify players with major injuries or possible concussions.In its 2016 Health and Safety Report, the NFL said an average of 29 health care providers, including two unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants, attend games. Many of them, along with on-field officials, can rule a player out due to a concussion or other severe injury.In a new move last season, the NFL stationed athletic trainers in spots high above the field and allowed them to watch replays — and to call time out if they saw injuries that otherwise went unnoticed.

Loyal fan still supporting SubbanMONTREAL — A man who took put a full-page ad in a Montreal newspaper to express his anger over P.K. Subban’s trade from the Canadiens to Nashville is making a big donation to the popular defenseman’s charity.The Montreal Children’s Hospital said that Dr. Charles Kowalski and his wife are donating $250,000 to P.K.’s Helping Hand Fund. The couple had originally pledged $50,000 to the foundation.