Category: Sports

Steelers edge Colts 26-24

Vinatieri misses late, Steelers edge Colts 26-24
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Not this time, Adam Vinatieri.
The Indianapolis Colts kicker missed a go-ahead 43-yard field goal with 1:14 remaining, helping the Pittsburgh Steelers escape with a 26-24 victory on Sunday.
Vinatieri, whose 55-yard kick last week against Denver gave the Colts their third straight victory, pulled his attempt left of the uprights as the Colts (5-3) fell out of first place in the AFC South.
Mason Rudolph threw for 191 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Pittsburgh, and Minkah Fitzpatrick returned an interception 96 yards for a score as the Steelers (4-4) won their third consecutive game. Backup running back Trey Edmunds ran for a career-high 73 yards and Chris Boswell kicked four field goals as Pittsburgh reached the midpoint of the season at .500 despite losing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a right elbow injury in Week 2.
The Colts may have quarterback issues of their own after Jacoby Brissett left in the second quarter with a left knee injury. Brian Hoyer came on and threw for three touchdowns in Brissett’s absence and drove Indianapolis to well within field goal range in the final minutes thanks in part to a 40-yard pass interference penalty against Pittsburgh’s Steven Nelson.
Vinatieri, the NFL’s all-time leading scorer, had an extra point blocked in the third quarter and has been dealing with accuracy issues all season. The snap and hold were good, but his kick fluttered left of the upright into the open end of Heinz Field, allowing Pittsburgh to run out the clock on a day the Steelers mustered just 273 total yards.
Hoyer’s first extended playing time since Oct. 15, 2017 — while playing for San Francisco — was a mixed bag. He entered in the second quarter when Brissett went down after an Indianapolis offensive lineman fell on him as he stood in the pocket. Hoyer’s first pass turned into an 11-yard touchdown to Doyle that gave the Colts a 10-3 lead. Hoyer had Indianapolis driving again later in the second quarter when he tried to connect with Doyle again near the goal line.
Fitzpatrick stepped in front of it and ran 96 yards for a touchdown to tie the game, the second-longest pick six in the regular season in franchise history behind Martin Kottler’s 99-yard return against the Chicago Cardinals in 1933, back when the Steelers were known as the Pirates.
Undaunted, Hoyer kept coming. He drove the Colts 75 yards in six plays, the last 14 coming on a strike to Zach Pascal that put Indianapolis back in front 16-10.
The Colts handed the Steelers a gift field goal attempt at the end of the first half that allowed Pittsburgh to close within 16-13. Rudolph hit Vance McDonald with a short pass, and the tight end was gang-tackled at the Indianapolis 48 as time ran out in the half. Colts linebacker Darius Leonard was flagged for unnecessary roughness, pushing the ball to the Indianapolis 33. Boswell was good from 51 yards.
INJURIES
Colts: Lost C Ryan Kelly in the first quarter with what the team called a “burner.”
Steelers: The injuries to both James Conner and Benny Snell Jr. forced Tony Brooks-James to be promoted from the practice squad. Brooks-James ran for no gain in the second quarter in his first NFL carry.
UP NEXT
Colts: Welcome the Miami Dolphins to Lucas Oil Stadium next Sunday.
Steelers: Finish a rare three-game homestand next Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Martin leads Robert Morris past Long Island U 28-17

Martin leads Robert Morris past Long Island U 28-17
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — George Martin threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score and Robert Morris rallied to beat Long Island University 28-17 on Saturday.
Robert Morris (5-4, 4-0 Northeast Conference) took the opening kickoff and marched 65 yards in eight plays with Alijah Jackson capping the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run. Long Island (0-8, 0-7) answered with Briant DeFelice’s 34-yard field goal, but Martin directed a 10-play, 73-yard drive and finished it off with a 31-yard TD strike to Matthew Gonzalez to put the Colonials up 14-3 after one quarter.
The second quarter was all Sharks. Jacob Cheshire ran it in from 1 yard out midway through the period and Malcolm Denbow later added an 8-yard TD run to put Long Island up 17-14 at halftime.
Robert Morris reclaimed the lead for good when Martin scored on a 12-yard run with 6:32 left in the third quarter. The score was set up by a 58-yard run from Jackson.
Martin added a 24-yard scoring strike to Garrett Houser in the fourth quarter.
The Sharks punted three times and had three drives end with interceptions in the second half.
Jackson finished with 128 yards on 15 carries. Martin completed 12 of 19 passes for 150 yards with one interception.
Long Island managed just 169 yards of offense. Jacob Cheshire was 10-of-19 passing for 81 yards and the three picks.

Draisaitl’s OT winner lifts Oilers past Penguins

Draisaitl’s OT winner lifts Oilers past Penguins
By DAN SCIFO Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Goaltender Mike Smith and forward Leon Draisaitl stole the spotlight for the Edmonton Oilers in a game that featured NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
Smith stopped 51 shots and Draisaitl scored in overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
“It was obviously a pretty busy night for me,” Smith said. “(Pittsburgh) came at us hard and kind of put us back on our heels. We stuck with it and found a way to get two more big points.”
Draisaitl gave the Oilers the second point with the overtime winner.
Draisaitl had Alex Galchenyuk on his back when he flipped a rolling puck past Matt Murray on a breakaway 2:37 into overtime for his NHL-best 13th goal of the season. He’s the first Oiler with 13-plus goals through the team’s first 15 games since Wayne Gretzky in 1987-88. He’s also the first in team history to reach 26-plus points in 15 games since Mark Messier in 1989-90.
Draisaitl had 12 goals and 25 points in October and has seven goals and 10 points during a five-game point streak.
Colby Cave, recalled from the American Hockey League a day earlier, also scored for Edmonton, which has three wins in its last seven games after starting 7-1.
Brian Dumoulin scored a short-handed goal for Pittsburgh, which has lost four of its last six. Murray made 27 saves.
The Penguins previously won six straight over the Oilers. Pittsburgh has not lost at home in regulation against Edmonton since Jan. 10, 2006, an 18-game streak.
Dumoulin tied the game with a third-period short-handed goal on Pittsburgh’s 47th shot. Bryan Rust, on the rush, dropped a pass to Dumoulin, who beat Smith to the glove side with 6:46 left. Pittsburgh had a 51-22 advantage in shots through regulation.
“We worked hard,” Crosby said. “We had some really good chances and of course we didn’t execute. We had enough chances to win the game.”
Crosby and McDavid met for the seventh time head-to-head in a battle of generational talents. It was the first time McDavid’s Oilers bested Crosby and the Penguins. McDavid finished minus-1 with three shots, while Crosby was also minus-1 with two shots. McDavid, who played his 300th NHL game on Oct. 29, has three goals and 10 points against Crosby and the Penguins. Crosby has two goals and four points in seven games against McDavid and the Oilers.
Both were drafted No. 1 overall, Crosby in 2005 and McDavid in 2015. Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, has won two Conn Smythe trophies, two league MVPs and a pair of scoring titles. McDavid has won two Art Ross trophies and a league MVP in 2017.
Crosby and the Penguins won the six previous games, dating to their first matchup on Nov. 8, 2016. Six of the last seven games, including Saturday, have been one-goal contests and four of them went to overtime or a shootout. Last season, Crosby scored a memorable overtime goal in Edmonton to give Pittsburgh a 6-5 win.
This time, the Oilers won in overtime.
“Both goalies played really well,” Crosby said. “We just couldn’t find a way to get more than one. We had a lot of good looks and (Smith) made some saves. It didn’t bounce our way.”
Evgeni Malkin returned from a lower-body injury to put Pittsburgh at full strength for the first time this season. The Penguins went 7-4 without Malkin, who missed 11 games.
At one point through the first month of the season, the Penguins played without six regulars, including Malkin, four other top-nine forwards and a defenseman on their top pairing. Malkin played 19:45 on Saturday and tied for a team-best six shots.
“You can see the impact he has on our team when he’s in the lineup,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought for his first game back after missing a fair amount of time, he had a pretty good game.”
Pittsburgh outshot Edmonton 24-10 to begin the game, and 35-15 through two periods, but Cave scored the Oilers’ first goal at 7:21 of the second.
Smith kept it close, allowing Draisaitl to come through in overtime.
“He was our best player by far,” Draisaitl said of Smith. “He was unbelievable and a huge reason why we won.”
NOTES: Pittsburgh’s power play went 0-for-5 and is 0-for-19 in the last eight games. … Penguins D John Marino played his first game against his former team. Edmonton drafted Marino in 2015. … Pittsburgh scratched Dominik Kahun, Juuso Riikola and Chad Ruhwedel. Scratches for Edmonton were Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco and Brandon Manning.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Begin a three-game homestand against Arizona on Monday
Penguins: Visit Boston on Monday.
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Pitt overcomes 3 turnovers, beats Georgia Tech 20-10

Pitt overcomes 3 turnovers, beats Georgia Tech 20-10
By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) — Kenny Pickett threw for 204 yards with a touchdown, Vincent Davis had a 61-yard touchdown run and Pittsburgh overcame three first-half turnovers to beat Georgia Tech 20-10 on Saturday.
Pitt (6-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) held Georgia Tech (2-6, 1-4) to 194 yards.
The Pitt defense stopped the Yellow Jackets inches short of a potential tying touchdown late in the third quarter. Quarterback Lucas Johnson fumbled at the goal line when hit by Kylan Johnson. Cam Bright returned the fumble recovery 79 yards.
The return set up Alex Kessman’s 48-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 20-10 lead.
Davis took a wildcat snap, ran through the middle of the line and made one cut to his left before finding open field for a 61-yard touchdown run to give Pitt a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
Pickett’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Shocky Jacques-Louis in the second quarter stretched the halftime lead to 17-7.
The Panthers committed three first-half turnovers. Pickett threw two interceptions in the half, including one off the hands of tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart that was caught by Yellow Jackets safety Tariq Carpenter.
In the first quarter, safety Juanyeh Thomas cut in front of Maurice Ffrench for Georgia Tech’s first interception.
Georgia Tech couldn’t convert either interception into points but quickly capitalized when Ffrench’s fumble, forced by linebacker David Curry, was recovered by Jordan Domineck. On the next play, James Graham threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Ahmarean Brown.
After Graham completed only 2 of 9 passes for 54 yards in the first half, coach Geoff Collins started Johnson at quarterback in the second half. Johnson was escorted to the locker room following the big hit on his fumble at the goal line.
Graham played the remainder of the game.
Georgia Tech’s Jerry Howard blocked Kirk Christodoulou’s punt on Pitt’s first possession of the second half. The Yellow Jackets recovered at the Pitt 12, setting up a 30-yard field goal by Brenton King that cut the Panthers’ lead to seven points.
Ffrench had 11 catches for 71 yards.
Pitt sophomore running back Todd Sibley, the team’s second-leading rusher, was held out with an undisclosed injury.
Panthers linebacker Phil Campbell III was ejected in the second quarter after a targeting call for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Graham.
THE TAKEAWAY
Pitt: The Panthers rebounded from last week’s loss to Miami and remain in position to contend for a second straight Coastal Division title and trip to the ACC championship game. There were blemishes in the win as Pitt struggled with mistakes. In addition to the turnovers, Pitt struggled on special teams. The Panthers had a punt blocked and Ffrench made a questionable decision to field a kickoff near the sideline at the 7.
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets showed why they rank last in the ACC in scoring. The two quarterbacks combined to complete only 8 of 21 passes for 108 yards. Graham, a redshirt freshman, made an ill-advised deep pass in the fourth quarter that was intercepted by Paris Ford. After running for 141 yards in a win at Miami two weeks ago, Jordan Mason had 15 carries for 56 yards.
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh: The Panthers are off next weekend before playing North Carolina in a Thursday night game on Nov. 14. North Carolina has six straight wins in the series, including a 38-35 win in 2018.
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets play at Virginia next Saturday. Georgia Tech beat the Cavaliers 30-27 in overtime last season and has won seven of the last 10 to lead the series 21-19-1.
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

“Thru the Eyes of Sly Washington” Charleroi vs. Freedom Round 1 of the WPIAL Play-offs, 11/1/19

(Freedom, Pa.) It was a perfect brisk fall evening for round one of the WPIAL Play-offs. Last season the Freedom Bulldogs were the surprise team of the season and this year the favorites to advance to the finals before the season started. The Bulldogs finsihed tied in second place in the tough MAC conference with New Brighton but by beating the Lions a few weeks ago the Bulldogs got the home game over the LIons.

The Bulldogs were matched up against a tough Charleroi Cougars team and the stage was set for one of the best games of of round one of the Class 2A WPIAL Play-offs. Beaver County Radios Tom Hays and JIm Fredricks had the call on 1460 WMBA and the Trib-Live High School Sports Network. The Freedom Bulldogs season will continue as they defeated the Charleroi Cougars 21-14. Both teams came right out of the gate running the football as both offences traded touchdowns in the first quarter. Later in the second quarter the Cougars Legend Davis scored on a 21 yard reception giving the Cougars a 14-7 lead, only to have the lead shrink moments later. As the Cougars kicked off the to the Bulldogs, the Bulldogs took the kickoff over 80 yards to the house tying the game at 14 heading into the half. Freedom’s offensive and defensive lines came out the second half on fire, dominating the point of attack. The only touchdown of the second half came from the Bulldogs, after that the Bulldogs defense kept the pressure coming. The Bulldogs defense made a critical stop late in the fourth quarter securing the win for the Bulldogs. Freedom remains undefeated at home and play Washington next week who defeated Shadyside Friday night 21-7.

Tune into Beaver County Radio at 7 pm on Wednesday night November 2, 2019 to the Coaches Corner Live from Robert’s Roadside Inn as Bob Barrickman, Tom Hays, and the guys will set the stage for round 2 and let you what games we will be covering on Beaver County Radio.

In the mean time check out this weeks edition of “Thru the Eyes os Sly Washington” below….

Blackhawk Moves on After Beating Greensburg Salem 36-7


Blackhawk got the lead early in this game and never looked back. The Cougars scored on their first drive after CCBC Player of the Game, Marques Watson-Trent, ran for 58 yards to pay-dirt. The Golden Lions quickly tied it up at 7 after a 9 yard TD run from Alex Briggs. Watson-Trent’s second splash play came in the form of a 41 yard TD run, and after a missed extra point, the Cougars led 13-7.

Blackhawk really piled it on after the second half started. Ryan Heckathorn had a 30 yard TD catch, and Watson-Trent scored a 2 point conversion, giving the Cougars a 21-7 lead. Josh Butcher followed that up with a 7 yard TD run, and also scored on a 2 point conversion, increasing Blackhawk’s lead to 29-7. The last TD came after a 4 yard run from Josh Hathaway, leading to the final score of 36-7. Blackhawk will move on to face Thomas Jefferson High School.

Listen to Bob’s post-game recap here:

Score From Across the Valley: November 1, 2019

Friday, November 1, 2019:

Greensburg Salem
Blackhawk                                1230 WBVP-AM and 99.3 FM		 7
29   Final
Charleroi
Freedom                                     1460 WMBA		 14
21   Final
                        WPIAL Class 5A  1st Round Play-offs      
Franklin Regional
Moon		 7
35   Final
Kiski
Bethel Park		 16
45   Final
Mars
Peters Twp.		 6
47   Final
Baldwin
McKeesport		 20
21   Final
Fox Chapel
Penn-Trafford		 7
48   Final
Shaler
Gateway		 21
35   Final
Latrobe
Penn Hills		 17
56   Final
Upper St. Clair
North Hills		 16
34   Final
                        WPIAL Class 4A 1st Round Play-offs      
Montour
Thomas Jefferson		 7
49  Final
New Castle
Belle Vernon		 6
49    Final
West Mifflin
South Fayette		 0
52    Final
                        WPIAL Class 3A 1st Round Play-offs      
South Park
North Catholic		 32
27   Final
Beaver Falls
Derry		 27
28    Final
Elizabeth Forward
Aliquippa       (@Ambridge)		 7
27    Final
Mount Pleasent
Central Valley		 6
42    Final
                        WPIAL Class 2A 1st Round Play-offs      
New Brighton
Apollo-Ridge		 35
21  Final
South Moreland
Avonworth		 0
41  Final
Shadyside Academy
Washington		 49
24  Final
Southside
Mc Guffey		 23
54  Final
Serra Catholic
Neshannock		 13
31  Final
East Allegheny
Brentwood		 19
29  Final
Riverside
Burgettstown		 42
35  Final
                        WPIAL Class 1A 1st Round Play-offs      
California
Cornell		 27
32   Final
Jeanette
Sto-Rox		 6
15     Final
OLSH
Clairtion		 0
41    Final
Greensburg Central Catholic
West Greene		 0
36     Final

Freedom Bulldogs vs Charleroi Cougars

 

The Freedom Bulldogs season continues as they defeated the Charleroi Cougars 21-14. Both teams came out the opening gate running as both offences traded touchdowns in the first quarter. Later in the second quarter the Cougars Legend Davis scored on a 21 yard reception giving the Cougars a 14-7 lead, only to have the lead shrink moments later. As the Cougars kicked off the to the Bulldogs, the Bulldogs took the kickoff over 80 yards to the house tying the game at 14 heading into the half. Freedom’s offensive and defensive lines came out the second half on fire, dominating the point of attack. The only touchdown of the second half came from the Bulldogs, after that the Bulldogs defense kept the pressure coming. The defense made a critical stop late in the fourth quarter securing the win for the Bulldogs. Freedom remains undefeated at home, they play winner of the Washington and Shady Side Academy next week.

 

 

 

 

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CCBC Players of the Game Friday November 1, 2019

Friday, Novemebr  1, 2019:

WBVP and 99.3 FM

Greensburg Salem- Trent Patrick
Blackhawk– Marques Watson-Trent
WMBA

Charleroi- Legend Davis
Freedom- Cole Beck