November 25, 2024 4:40 am
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — John Tonje scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half, and No. 19 Wisconsin came back to beat Pittsburgh 81-75 in the championship of the Greenbrier Tip-Off. John Blackwell added 14 points, Nolan Winter had 11 and Kamari McGee scored 10 for Wisconsin. The Badgers’ 7-0 start is the first since the 2014-15 season, when they lost to Duke in the national championship. Wisconsin erased a 14-point deficit. Ishmael Leggett scored 17 points, Cameron Corhen added 16 and Jaland Lowe had 15 for Pittsburgh. The Panthers fell to 6-1.
November 25, 2024 4:37 am
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Saquon Barkley ran for touchdowns of 70 and 72 yards in the second half and finished with an Eagles-record 255 yards rushing in the streaking Philadelphia Eagles’ seventh consecutive victory, 37-20 over the Los Angeles Rams. Barkley finished with the ninth-most yards rushing in a game in NFL history, largely thanks to his huge TD runs early and late in the second half. He rushed for a 70-yard score on the opening snap of the third quarter, and he added a 72-yard surge up the middle with 2:44 to play. Barkley finished with 302 total yards. He leads the NFL with 1,392 yards rushing.
November 25, 2024 4:41 am
Alabama and Mississippi tumbled out of the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll and Miami and SMU moved in following a chaotic weekend in the SEC. Oregon is No. 1 for the sixth straight week and Ohio State, Texas and Penn State held their places behind the Ducks. The shuffling begins at No. 5, where Notre Dame returned for the first time since Week 2 after beating Army for its ninth straight win. No. 6 Georgia moved up two spots, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 8 Miami rose three and No. 9 SMU jumped four places. Indiana dropped from No. 5 to No. 10 following its first loss.
November 24, 2024 7:00 am
Fort Cherry drove 83 yards in 13 plays, took nearly five minutes off the fourth-quarter clock and scored with less than three minutes to play to beat Clairton, 21-20, and win a second straight WPIAL football championship. Shane Cornali threw an option pass early to Ryan Huey to convert one fourth down and Matt Sieg’s 13-yard scoring pass to Huey capped the drive, also on fourth down to lead the comeback. Nick Massey hit all three of his point-after attempts, the difference in the game. Sieg scored on two short runs in the first half, giving the Rangers a 14-6 lead at intermission. Clairton dominated the third quarter, rushing for nearly 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns to take a 20-14 lead into the final period, setting the stage for another fourth-quarter Fort Cherry rally. After the Rangers took the lead, the Bears had no timeouts and couldn’t move the chains. Eli Salvini sacked Bears’ quarterback Jeffrey Thompson to seal the win. Fort Cherry’s 21 points matched what the Bears had allowed all season. The back-to-back championships by Washington County teams had only happened twice previously: McDonald (1951 & 1952) and Chartiers-Houston (1971 & 1972). Fort Cherry will play District 9 champion Port Allegany in the PIAA Quarterfinals.
Peters Township struggled on the ground all night and turned the ball over twice in the second half as the Indians fell to top-seeded Pine-Richland, 20-9, in the WPIAL 5A championship game. Quarterback Nolan DiLucia managed just 62 yards on 18 carries while three running backs combined for 12 yards on 11 runs. DiLucia connected with Eli Prado for a 23-yard scoring pass midway through the second, giving Peters Township a 6-3 lead. Two possessions later, Pine-Richland QB Aaron Strader found Tanner Cunningham on a deep post pattern for a 64-yard touchdown and a lead the Rams never surrendered. Down 10-9 at the half, Peters Township received the second half kickoff. On the third play of the possession, DiLucia was hit and fumbled with the Rams recovering at the Indians 43 yard line. Four plays later, Strader connected with Jay Timmons for a 22-yard touchdown. Grant Argiro kicked 24 & 47 yard field goals for the winners.
WPIAL Football Brackets: 6A 5A 4A 3A 2A 1A
PIAA Football Brackets
Friday, Nov. 29, PIAA Semifinals:
4A Thomas Jefferson vs. Lampeter-Strasburg, 12:45 pm at Mansion Park, Altoona, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen / Watch Here (NFHS subscription required)
1A Fort Cherry vs. Port Allegany, 6:30 pm at Penn West Clarion, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen / Watch Here (NFHS subscription required)
November 24, 2024 8:16 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby would’ve liked his 600th NHL goal to come in a win. Crosby became the 21sth player to reach the mark when scored in the second period of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 6-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night. “It’s not enjoyable, obviously,” Crosby said after Pittsburgh lost for the 14th time in 18 games. “It was a nice reception and a cool moment. I thought we got some momentum and we were doing some good things and (Utah) got one shortly after. Even with that, we were still in the game, but it got away from us.” Crosby got his 600th with 10 seconds left on a 5-on-3 power play to make it a 2-1 game when he finished a one-timer from the right side of the net, set up by a pass from Erik Karlsson at 3:11 of the second. The Penguins’ bench emptied following the goal, which was also his first against Utah. He has seven goals in his last 12 games and eight this season. After the goal was announced, the crowd gave Crosby a standing ovation and the Penguins’ captain acknowledged the fans and raised his stick in the air. His parents Troy and Trina Crosby were in attendance for the moment. (Photo: AP)
November 22, 2024 4:22 am
CLEVELAND (AP) — Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19, ending the Steelers’ five-game winning streak. The Browns had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder. With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland’s Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barreled into the end zone. The AFC North-leading Steelers fell to 8-3 while the Browns are 3-8.
November 22, 2024 4:29 am
CLEVELAND (AP) — Myles Garrett didn’t want an apology from T.J. Watt. Instead, he demanded respect. Garrett showed Watt why he’s the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, recording three sacks in a dominant first half that set the tone for Cleveland’s shocking 24-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the kind of performance Garrett had numerous times last season, when he was voted the league’s top defensive player over Watt, the Pittsburgh edge rusher who had more sacks and seemed to have an issue with finishing second. Watt won the award in 2021. Garrett said he was out to prove “I’m the guy.”
November 22, 2024 3:01 am
A year ago, Fort Cherry and Peters Township won their first-ever WPIAL football championships. Saturday, both return to the championship games looking to repeat but facing programs that have combined to win 20 WPIAL titles.
Fort Cherry has beaten its last 27 WPIAL opponents but will have to find a way to score against a Clairton team that has allowed a total of 21 points all year. The Bears own 14 WPIAL championships. WJPA-AM pregame starts at 10:30 am from Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Township takes on a Pine-Richland team looking for its seventh League title. The Rams are also looking to avenge last year’s loss to Peters Township in the finals. WJPA-FM pregame is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
Between our WPIAL finals broadcasts, our coverage switches to Altoona’s Mansion Park and the PIAA 4A quarterfinals as Thomas Jefferson takes on District 9 champion Clearfield. We’ll start our coverage online at 12:45 pm and join in progress on WJPA-AM immediately after the Fort Cherry / Clairton game. We’re also producing the multi-camera video of the Thomas Jefferson / Clearfield game for NFHS Network (subscription required).
WPIAL Football Brackets: 6A 5A 4A 3A 2A 1A
PIAA Football Brackets
Saturday, Nov. 23
WPIAL Finals (at Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh):
1A #1 Fort Cherry vs. #2 Clairton, 10:30 am, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
5A #3 Peters Township vs. #1 Pine-Richland, 7:30 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
PIAA Quarterfinals (at Mansion Park, Altoona):
4A 7-1 Thomas Jefferson vs. 9-1 Clearfield, 12:45 pm, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen / Watch Here (NFHS subscription required)
November 22, 2024 4:32 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani won his third Most Valuable Player Award and first in the National League, and Aaron Judge earned his second American League honor on Thursday. Ohtani was a unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229. Judge was a unanimous pick for the first time. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got all 30 second-place votes for 270 points, and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto was third with 21 third-place votes and 229 points.
November 22, 2024 4:33 am
Alex Ovechkin has a broken left fibula and is expected to be out four to six weeks. The Washington Capitals confirmed Ovechkin’s injury and prognosis Thursday after he was evaluated by doctors upon the teams’ return from a three-game road trip. This prolonged absence puts a pause on Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record. He scored 15 goals in his first 18 games this season to move just 27 away of passing Gretzky. Ovechkin was on pace to break the record in February before his shin-on-shin collision with Utah’s Jack McBain on Monday night.
