November 30, 2021 3:51 am
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) – The Washington Football Team has worked itself into the NFC playoff picture by winning three straight games since a 2-6 start. Kendall Fuller intercepted Russell Wilson’s pass on a last-minute 2-point conversion attempt, securing Washington’s 17-15 victory over the Seahawks. Wilson connected with Freddy Swain on a 32-yard TD pass with 15 seconds left but came up just short of leading a memorable comeback on his 33rd birthday. J.D. McKissic caught a touchdown pass from Taylor Heinicke and ran for another. Heinicke was 27 of 35 for 223 yards as WFT took over the final NFC wild-card berth. Wilson was 20 of 31 for 247 yards and two TD passes, but he lost three consecutive games for the first time as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback.
November 30, 2021 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – For the second straight day a big-name college football coach is switching schools. LSU is hiring Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame, a stunning move by one of the most accomplished coaches in college football. A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press of the decision, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports. It comes a little more than 24 hours after Southern California lured Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma. The 60-year Kelly became the winningest coach in Notre Dame history earlier this season, surpassing Knute Rockne. In 12 seasons with the Fighting Irish, Kelly is 113-40, including the current run of five straight double-digit victory seasons. Notre Dame just completed an 11-1 season on Saturday and still is in contention to reach the College Football Playoff for the third time in the last four years.
November 29, 2021 3:51 am
CINCINNATI (AP) – Joe Mixon rushed for a career-high 165 yards and two touchdowns, Joe Burrow scrambled ran for a score and passed for another one and the Cincinnati Bengals crushed the Pittsburgh Steelers 41-10, sweeping the season series for the first time since 2009. Mixon pounded away for 117 yards in the first half and helped the Bengals cruise to a third straight win over their AFC North rival after losing 11 straight in the series. The Steelers are winless in their past three games, while the Bengals have stamped themselves as a legitimate playoff contender.
November 29, 2021 3:48 am
BALTIMORE (AP) – Lamar Jackson provided one brilliant highlight during an otherwise subpar performance and his 13-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews in the third quarter was enough to lift the Baltimore Ravens to a 16-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns. Jackson threw a career-high four interceptions but the only Baltimore touchdown was a memorable one. Jackson scrambled all the way back to about the 35-yard line before lofting a pass over the middle to a remarkably open Andrews in the end zone. That made it 13-3 and the Ravens held on. Cleveland never could get its top-ranked running game going.
November 29, 2021 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – Michigan is hoping to receive some love from the College Football Playoff selection committee this week after getting some respect in The Associated Press poll The Wolverines have jumped four spots to No. 2 in the latest AP poll following Saturday’s 42-27 rout of Ohio State, an outcome that dropped the Buckeyes from second to seventh. Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 for the eighth consecutive week. Cincinnati moved from fourth to third, changing places with Alabama. Oklahoma State is fifth, followed by Notre Dame. Mississippi, Baylor and Oregon round out the top 10
November 28, 2021 1:40 am
Pennsylvania high school football brackets are down to the final four. WPIAL Brackets PIAA Brackets
Eli Heidenreich ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns, leading Mt. Lebanon to a 47-14 win over District 10 champion McDowell Friday in the PIAA 6A quarterfinals. Alex Tecza added 109 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Blue Devils who picked up their first-ever state playoff win. Mt. Lebanon advances to next weekend’s semifinals against State College.
Saturday afternoon, Aliquippa held Belle Vernon in check while rolling up 231 yards rushing on the way to a 28-13 win in the 4A title game. The championship is the League-best 18th all-time for Aliquippa.
Friday scores
WPIAL 1A Final Bishop Canevin 42, OLSH 7
WPIAL 2A Final Serra Catholic 35, Beaver Falls 12
PIAA 6A Quarterfinal Mt. Lebanon 47, McDowell 14
Saturday scores
WPIAL 3A Final Central Valley 52, North Catholic 15
WPIAL 4A Final Aliquippa 28, Belle Vernon 13
WPIAL 5A Final Penn-Trafford 24, Moon Area 21
November 28, 2021 7:40 am
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was worried about a letdown. Kenny Pickett wasn’t about to let that happen again. Pickett threw for four touchdowns to break the Pittsburgh school record for scoring passes in a season, and the 20th-ranked Panthers beat Syracuse 31-14 on Saturday night for their fourth straight win heading into next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship against Wake Forest. Pittsburgh (10-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, CFP No. 20) finished the regular season 5-0 on the road. It’s the Panthers’ first 10-win season since 1981. Pickett connected with tailback Rodney Hammond Jr. and wideout Jordan Addison in the second quarter. He hit tight end Gavin Bartholomew and Addison again in the third to stake the Panthers to a 28-7 lead and boost his season total to 40 touchdown passes. That’s three more than the previous record set by Dan Marino in 1981 and matched by Rod Rutherford in 2003, and his career total is now at 79, equaling Marino’s school mark.
November 28, 2021 7:38 am
PITTSBURGH — The Montreal Canadiens scored five third-period goals, and the most important one came shortly after Pittsburgh tied the game. Christian Dvorak scored the first of those five, helping the Canadiens end a lengthy road drought by beating the Penguins 6-3 on Saturday night. Evan Rodrigues tied it at 1 with his power-play goal at 2:33 of the third period, but Dvorak scored 32 seconds later to help keep Montreal in front for good during a wild third period in which the teams combined for five goals in the final 2:37. Artturi Lehkonen also added to Montreal’s third-period fluffy, as well as Josh Anderson’s two empty-netters and an empty-netter from Tyler Toffoli. Jonathan Drouin scored his third goal in the second period for Montreal, which snapped a seven-game road slide and a two-game losing streak, and Jake Allen stopped a season-high 47 shots. Sidney Crosby scored a goal and had two assists for Pittsburgh, which saw its five-game winning streak end. Rodrigues and Jeff Carter also scored for Pittsburgh, which frantically tried to rally after falling behind 3-1 and 4-2 in the third period. Casey DeSmith stopped 27 shots in just his fourth start of the season. He hadn’t played since Nov. 13 at Ottawa.
November 27, 2021 4:28 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Tristan Jarry made 25 saves, Kasperi Kapanen scored in the second period and the Pittsburgh Penguins kept the depleted New York Islanders winless at their new arena with a 1-0 victory. Pittsburgh won its fifth straight, with Jarry driving the hot streak. His shaky play cost the Penguins in a six-game first-round playoff loss to the Islanders in May, but he’s allowed two goals over his last five starts and is 5-1-1 on the road this season. Kapanen took a pass from captain Sidney Crosby and rifled a high shot from the left faceoff circle past goalie Ilya Sorokin at 16:41 of the second period for his fifth of the season.
November 26, 2021 3:54 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Buffalo Bills were back in gear following Sunday’s 41-15 loss to visiting Indianapolis. Josh Allen threw for four touchdowns and the Bills allowed just 190 total yards in a 31-6 thrashing of the Saints in New Orleans. Allen shook off two interceptions to complete 23 of 28 passes for 260 yards. Dawson Knox grabbed two scoring passes for the Bills, who controlled the ball for more than 34 1/2 minutes and didn’t allow a point until Trevor Siemian’s scoring pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. Stefon Diggs and Matt Breida also had TD grabs for the 7-4 Bills, who are currently in a first-place tie with the Patriots in the AFC East. The 5-6 Saints suffered their fourth straight loss, all since Siemian replaced injured quarterback Jameis Winston. Siemian was 17 of 29 passing for 163 yards and one interception.
