December 12, 2022 3:53 am
CINCINNATI (AP) – Joe Burrow shook off a sloppy start to throw two touchdown passes and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns 23-10. The Bengals ended a five-game skid to their Ohio rivals. Cincinnati has won five straight and nine of 11 and kept pace with Baltimore in the AFC North. Burrow picked up his first win in five starts against the Browns, whose playoff hopes are now all but nonexistent. Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson was sharper than in his debut with the team last week and threw his first touchdown pass in 707 days, a 13-yarder to David Njoku in the third quarter.
December 12, 2022 3:50 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he didn’t know “the details regarding the sequence” that led to rookie quarterback Kenny Picket initially being cleared to play before being put into concussion protocol during a 16-14 loss to Baltimore. Pickett was shaken up after getting sacked by Baltimore linebacker Roquan Smith at the end of Pittsburgh’s first drive. He was evaluated by medical personnel and cleared to return, playing one more series before being ruled out for the remainder of the game and replaced by Mitch Trubisky. Tomlin said Pickett was pulled after he became symptomatic.
December 12, 2022 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – J.K. Dobbins ran for 120 yards and a touchdown in his return from a knee injury, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome the loss of backup quarterback Tyler Huntley to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-14. Huntley filled in for injured star Lamar Jackson but entered concussion protocol in the second half. He was replaced by undrafted rookie free agent Anthony Brown. Justin Tucker kicked three field goals to help Baltimore end a four-game losing streak to the Steelers.
December 11, 2022 7:56 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Navy’s Anton Hall Jr. fumbled at the goal line in the second overtime and that helped set up Quinn Maretzki’s 39-yard winning field goal as Army beat The Midshipmen 20-17 in the first OT game in 123 games of the rivalry series. There wasn’t much offense throughout the game until the waning moments of regulation when Maretzki kicked a 37-yarder with 1:53 left to tie the game at 10-all. Navy leads the series against Army 62-54-7. The Black Knights have won five of the last seven meetings.
December 11, 2022 7:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nelly Cummings scored a season-high 24 points, Federiko Federiko and Blake Hinson had double-doubles and Pittsburgh pulled away in the second half to beat Sacred Heart 91-66. Cummings buried 6 of 12 shots from 3-point range and added six rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Panthers (7-4). Hinson finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds and has scored in double figures in every game for Pitt this season. Federiko, a sophomore, pitched in with 17 points and 14 rebounds — both career highs — for his first double-double. Greg Elliott hit three 3-pointers and scored 18. Cummings had 10 points in the first half and the Panthers’ starters accounted for all but two points in taking a 41-36 lead at halftime. Raheem Solomon totaled 18 points and six rebounds for Sacred Heart (5-6).
December 11, 2022 7:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored two goals, defenseman Kris Letang returned 12 days after the second stroke of his career and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-1. Rickard Rakell also scored to help the Penguins win their fifth straight and improve to 12-2-2 in their last 16 games. Casey DeSmith, making his first start in six games, stopped 37 shots as Pittsburgh completed a sweep of the home-and-home series after also winning 4-3 in overtime at Buffalo on Friday night. Peyton Krebs scored for the Sabres, who lost for the third time in five games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen finished with 28 saves.
December 10, 2022 4:12 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt’s aching ribs could force him to miss Sunday’s game against Baltimore. The team listed the reigning AP Defensive Player of the Year as questionable after he was limited in practice on Wednesday and Friday and sat out on Thursday. Wide receiver Diontae Johnson is also questionable with a hip injury that curtailed his practice time this week. Watt has already missed seven games this year with a pectoral injury suffered in the opener. He’s been quiet since his return, with one-half sack in four games. Watt matched the NFL record last season with 22 1/2 sacks.
December 10, 2022 4:11 am
CARY, N.C. (AP) — Ryan Wittenbrink and Tommy Mihalic scored in the first half and No. 13 Indiana beat Pittsburgh 2-0 to advance to its 17th NCAA College Cup championship game. Indiana became the first Division I men’s soccer program to reach 100 NCAA Tournament victories — in its 22nd semifinal. The Hoosiers advance to play No. 3 Syracuse on Monday. Wittenbrink’s penalty kick in the 14th minute was blocked by Pitt goalkeeper Joe van der Sar, but the Indiana forward was first to the rebound for an empty-netter. Mihalic scored his seventh goal of the season with 17 seconds left before halftime when he raced to a deflected shot and scored from a difficult angle. Goalkeeper JT Harms made three saves to extend Indiana’s streak of shutouts to four — all in the tournament.
December 10, 2022 4:10 am
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jeff Carter scored a power-play goal 1:36 into overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins took advantage of a match penalty to Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner to beat the Sabres 4-3 on Friday night. Skinner was ejected for cross-checking Jake Guentzel across the face with 22 seconds remaining in the opener of the two-game set. Skinner went after Guentzel at the boards in coming to the defense of goalie Craig Anderson, who was slashed by Guentzel after smothering the puck. The teams will meet again Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Guentzel, Rickard Rackell and Brock McGinn also scored for the Penguins.
December 11, 2022 12:01 am
Belle Vernon stopped Neumann-Goretti three times inside the two-yard-line in the final 90 seconds to win its first-ever PIAA football championship. The BVA defense held Saints to just 130 yards total offense, but had to turn back the District 12 champions with time running out. From a first-and-goal from the two, N-G picked up just one yard on the first two plays. Quarterback Mehki Wharton tried to sneak in on third down and got spun around with the his back to the goal. The 6-6 junior tried to stick the ball out to break the plane when the Leopards knocked it loose, ultimately recovered by BVA’s Aiden Johnson. Following penalties on both teams, the Leopards were able to kneel it down and run out the clock.
Belle Vernon took a 3-0 lead on Willie Schwerha’s 25-yard field goal in the first four minutes of the game. Two minutes later, the Saints’s Samuel Hobbs recovered a loose ball in the BVA endzone, the result of errant snap as the Leopards were punting. Hobbs then ran in the two-point play, putting N-G up 8-6. The score stayed that way until late in the third quarter, Braden Laux capping a 10-play drive with a 16-yard toss to Quinton Martin. BVA ran 19 plays in the third while the Saints had just four snaps.
The fourth quarter was all Nuemann-Goretti, including five fourth-down conversions over two possessions. But the Belle Vernon didn’t finally got off the field, thanks to the stops and Johnson’s fumble recovery. Belle Vernon picked off three passes in the first half but couldn’t get points off any of them. N-G’s final chance was set up by Belle Vernon’s only turnover, an interception by Yasir Williams coming on a pass off the hands of Colton Lee.
PIAA Championships at Cumberland Valley
3A Belle Vernon 9, Neumann-Goretti 8
1A Steelton-Highspire 22, Union 8
2A Southern Columbia 37, Westinghouse 22
4A Bishop McDevitt 41, Aliquippa 18
5A Pine-Richland 28, Imhotep Charter 14
6A St. Joseph’s Prep 42, Harrisburg 7
