October 25, 2020 7:33 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ian Book passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns — two of them long catch-and-runs to graduate transfer Ben Skowronek — as the Fighting Irish rolled past Pittsburgh 45-3 on Saturday. A week after scuffling its way past Louisville, No. 3 Notre Dame (5-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had no such issues while handling the Panthers (3-4, 2-4) their fourth consecutive loss. Book hit Skowronek for a 34-yard score on Fighting Irish’s first possession and Pitt — playing without injured senior quarterback Kenny Pickett for a second straight week — simply could not keep up.
October 25, 2020 7:31 am
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana coach Tom Allen had grown weary of close calls in big games. On Saturday, Allen went for it — and Michael Penix Jr. made those gambles pay off the Big Ten rivals’ first game of the delayed season. After leading the Hoosiers on a touchdown drive in the final minute of regulation and scoring on a 2-point conversion to force overtime, Penix hooked up with Whop Philyor for 9-yard TD pass in overtime and dove into the pylon for the decisive 2-point conversion to give Indiana a 36-35 victory over No. 8 Penn State — its first win over a Top 10 team in more than 33 years. Indiana snapped the longest streak of consecutive losses to Top 10 foes at 42, a skid that dated to a 31-10 victory at Ohio State on Oct. 10, 1987 — a game the late Earle Bruce dubbed as the darkest day in Buckeyes history. They ended the second-longest active streak of losses to Top 10 opponents in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Only Wake Forest, at 63, had been longer.
October 25, 2020 7:30 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Brett Phillips squatted on the field crying, Randy Arozarena sprawled in the dirt pounding his hands on home plate. Tears of joy, smacks of celebration — and a crucial, crazy win for the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays. In one of the wildest World Series finishes ever, the light-hitting Phillips delivered a tying single off Kenley Jansen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that turned into the game-ending hit when the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the ball twice, allowing Arozarena to scramble home and lifting the Rays to an 8-7 victory Saturday night that suddenly evened things at two games each. The Dodgers led 7-6 when center fielder Chris Taylor misplayed Phillips’ ball in right-center for an error and chased it down while Kevin Kiermaier scored the tying run. Arozarena kept charging around third base but stumbled and fell well before reaching home. He was able to get up and score when catcher Will Smith looked up too early and missed the relay throw, letting it squirt toward the backstop while Arozarena dived on top of the plate.
October 24, 2020 3:21 am
The final weekend of the high football regular season is in the books. It’s the end of the line for 13 Washington/Greene teams, a move into the second season for four squads and a few tense hours of waiting for a couple more. The WPIAL will announce this year’s trimmed-down playoff field and match-ups Saturday at 7 pm. Click Here.
Peters Township (5A), McGuffey (2A), California (1A) and Avella (1A) are definitely in. The Indians, Highlanders and Trojans all as conference champions. The Eagles were in a win-and-in situation, beating Carmichaels, 14-7, to finish second in the Tri-County South. Wash High, a 43-6 winner over Frazier, is likely in as the 2A Century Conference runner-up. Carmichaels is one of three 1A third-place teams vying for two wild card spots after losing at Avella.
Bentworth, Beth-Center, Burgettstown, Canon-McMillan, Charleroi, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, Ringgold and Trinity along with Jeff-Morgan, Mapletown, Waynesburg and West Greene all saw the curtain come down on their seasons. None of the ends came more painfully than it did for Canon-McMillan. The Big Macs topped Norwin but saw Mt. Lebanon beat Seneca Valley, 28-27, in overtime to claim the fourth 6A playoff berth.
October 25, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – Maybe all the delays involving the Titans and the jumbled NFL schedule led to the kind of showcase game we all need. Pittsburgh at Tennessee with both teams 5-0. Yes, the COVID-19 outbreak in Nashville provided some understandably nervous and upsetting times. And it could be a harbinger for a league attempting to play a collision sport all across the nation during a pandemic. No one should ever downplay that. Sports-wise, there’s no reason to downplay this matchup. Steelers-Titans will be the eighth time in league history undefeated and untied teams with at least five wins have met in the regular season.
October 24, 2020 3:53 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Walker Buehler and the Los Angeles Dodgers have grabbed a two-games-to-one lead in the World Series. Buehler allowed just three hits while striking out 10 over the six innings to help the Dodgers beat the Rays, 6-2. Buehler no-hit Tampa Bay until Manuel Margot and Willy Adames doubled in the fifth. Justin Turner put the Dodgers ahead with a first-inning homer off Charlie Morton, who was tagged for five runs over 4 1/3 frames. Austin Barnes also belted a solo shot and had two RBIs through six innings. Max Muncy hit a two-run single for L.A. Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena tied a single-year postseason record with his eighth home run, matching the mark shared by Barry Bonds, Carlos Beltran and Nelson Cruz Jr. Arozarena’s ninth-inning blast capped the scoring. Morton was attempting to tie Orlando Hernandez’s record of eight straight winning postseason decisions. Game 4 is Saturday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
October 23, 2020 3:44 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Carson Wentz threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Boston Scott with 40 seconds remaining and the Philadelphia Eagles overcame an 11-point deficit in the final seven minutes to beat the New York Giants 22-21 on Thursday night. Daniel Jones shook off a stumble that prevented him from an 88-yard touchdown run and had the Giants leading 21-10 following a 2-yard pass to Sterling Shepard with 6:21 left. But Wentz led a depleted offense missing eight starters back. His 3-yard pass to Greg Ward cut it to 21-16. After the 2-point conversion failed, the Eagles got the ball at their 29 with 2:02 to go. Wentz threw a perfect strike to Scott and the backup running back made an excellent catch to give Philadelphia the lead.
October 23, 2020 2:35 am
The WPIAL football regular season ends this weekend. While there have been a couple hiccups along the way, schools have managed to work through the issues and get teams on the field. Class 6A has had the most trouble, with Baldwin and North Allegheny each losing three games to COVID-19 issues. Only Norwin has made it through six weeks without losing a contest to the Coronavirus. Several teams in Class 5A, most notably Gateway, ran into troubles. The defending-champion Gators went 27 days between games with their own issues and those of scheduled opponents. Serra Catholic (Class 2A) will finish the regular season with just four games played due to COVID issues in the building, though the Eagles are expected to make the playoffs. Following is a look at the playoff picture for Washington & Greene County teams entering the final weekend. The WPIAL Football Playoff Pairings Show will air Saturday (7pm) on TribLiveHSSN.
Class 6A
Canon-McMillan–the Big Macs host Norwin (WJPA-FM) Friday needing a win plus a Seneca Valley win over Mt. Lebanon, creating a tie for the fourth playoff berth with the Big Macs holding the head-to-head tie-breaker advantage. A Baldwin upset of Central Catholic would complicate the matter, creating a four-way tie for two spots. The are some tie-breaker calculations (ML over PCC, CM over ML, PCC over CM) but Baldwin didn’t play Mt. Lebanon or Canon-McMillan during the season due to COVID.
Class 5A
Peters Township–the unbeaten Indians visit West Allegheny having already clinched the Allegheny Six championship and a top three seed in the tournament.
Class 4A
Trinity will finish fourth in the Big Eight behind Thomas Jefferson, Belle Vernon and McKeesport (in that order).
Ringgold‘s best finish would be tied for fifth place.
Class 2A
McGuffey is unbeaten and has clinched at least a share of the Century Conference title.
Wash High hosts Frazier with the winner finishing second, likely grabbing a playoff berth.
Chartiers-Houston (4th), Charleroi (5th), Beth-Center (6th) and Waynesburg (7th) will all miss the post-season.
Class 1A
California has won the Tri-County South title.
The winner of Friday’s Carmichaels at Avella game is second, clinching a playoff spot.
Carmichaels is third with a loss. If Avella loses, the Eagles would be challenged by Bentworth and the West Greene/Jeff-Morgan winner for third place and playoff consideration as one of of two Class 1A wild card teams.
Mapletown will finish 7th.
Burgettstown will miss the playoffs out of the Big Seven Conference, finishing fourth with a win at Union Friday night, behind Shenango, Rochester and OLSH.
Fort Cherry hosts Cornell with the winner taking sixth place.
October 23, 2020 3:49 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NHL has canceled the 2021 Winter Classic and All-Star Weekend but still hopes to start the season on or around Jan. 1. The Winter Classic was scheduled to be played New Year’s Day outdoors at Target Field in Minneapolis between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues. The Florida Panthers were set to host All-Star festivities in Sunrise in late January. The league hopes to reschedule those events in those cities in future years.
October 22, 2020 3:47 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – The World Series is tied at a game apiece after Brandon Lowe broke out of a three-week slump. Lowe homered twice and had three RBIs as the Rays downed the Dodgers, 6-4. He put the Rays ahead with a first-inning blast and added a two-run shot that made it 5-0 in the fifth. Lowe was hitting just .107 this postseason, including an 0-for-4 performance in Game 1.
Joey Wendle laced a two-run double and a sacrifice fly for Tampa Bay, which bounced back from Tuesday’s 8-3 loss. Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell had a no-hitter until Chris Taylor unloaded a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. Snell followed that with a walk and another hit before leaving the game without a chance to pick up the victory. Will Smith hit a solo homer in the sixth and Corey Seager did likewise in the eighth before the Rays’ bullpen closed it out. Diego Castillo struck out the only batter he faced to pick up the save. Tony Gonsolin took the loss. The series continues Friday.
