November 18, 2019 1:38 pm
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) – Pittsburgh Steelers’ center Maurkice Pouncey is appealing his three-game suspension handed down by the NFL following a brawl at the end of a “Thursday Night Football” matchup with divisional rivals the Cleveland Browns. SPN reports two officers have been appointed by the NFL to review the appeals and make decisions on the appeals of three players: Pouncey, Larry Ogunjobi and Myles Garrett. The league will reportedly issue “mass fines” to players who left the bench area when Myles Garrett ripped off Mason Rudolph’s helmet and smashed him over the head with it in the final minutes of the game. Meanwhile, the NFL has changed the kickoff time of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns game at Heinz Field on Dec. 1. Originally scheduled for 4:25 p.m., the game has been moved up to 1 p.m. The Steelers said the game was moved under the league’s “flexible scheduling” policy, which is in effect from Week 5 to Week 17. It will be the teams’ first meeting since Nov. 14 in Cleveland.
November 18, 2019 2:01 am
Tied at 14 with less than 10 minutes to play, Zahmere Robinson carried 11 times for 70 yards and the go-ahead score as Wash High topped Brentwood, 20-14, in the Class 2A semifinals at Chartiers Valley. Zack Swartz ran for two-first quarter touchdowns, putting Wash High up, 14-0, but the Little Prexies self-destructed over the next 30 minutes, turning the ball over twice and managing just one first down. Brentwood’s John Milcic threw for one score and passed for another as the Spartans pulled even midway through the third. Despite several penalties, the Washington defense held the rest of the way, getting the ball back at the WHS 20-yard line with 9:26 left in the game. Robinson carried on nine of the first 10 plays but the Little Prexies faced a 4th-and-7 at the Brentwood 21. Swartz rolled right, extending the play long enough to find Caleb Jackson for a great finger-tip grab and a first down. Three plays later, Robinson found the endzone from five yards out with 1:41 left on the clock. After a Brentwood first down to the Washington 47, a sack, a short run and an incompletion brought up 4th down with less than 30 seconds to play. Milcic rolled away from pressure and threw downfield where Jackson grabbed the Little Prexies’ third interception of the night, sealing the win. Top-seeded Washington will play #2 Avonworth in next weekend’s WPIAL 2A championship game.
Peters Township trailed 3-0 at the half but scored four touchdowns after intermission to beat #1 Penn-Trafford, 28-10, advancing to its first-ever WPIAL football championship game. Ryan Magiske capped an early third quarter drive with a three-yard run, then added a 40-yard fumble return touchdown, putting the indians up, 14-3. Logan Pfeuffer hit Aidan McCall with a 29-yard scoring pass early in the fourth. After Penn-Trafford pulled to within 21-10, McCall took a “Pick Six” in from 30 yards to send Peters Township to next Saturday title game against #2 Gateway.
November 16, 2019 3:43 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A person familiar with the decision says the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to hire Ben Cherington as their general manager. Cherington replaces Neal Huntington, who was hired in September 2008 and fired in October. Cherington has been Toronto’s vice president of baseball operations under GM Ross Atkins since September 2016.
November 15, 2019 2:12 am
The Penguins have announced that captain Sidney Crosby has undergone successful core muscle injury repair. The surgery was performed Thursday morning in Philadelphia. General Manager Jim Rutherford says Crosby has been dealing with a sports hernia since training camp. He is expected to miss a minimum of six week. Crosby currently leads the team in scoring. Pens next see action Friday night in New Jersey.
November 14, 2019 3:44 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Jacob deGrom has become the 11th player to win a Cy Young Award in consecutive years, while Justin Verlander has captured the postseason honor for the second time and first since 2011. DeGrom took NL honors after leading the league with 255 strikeouts and finishing second with a 2.43 ERA for the New York Mets. DeGrom totaled 204 innings, compared to 172 1/3 for Washington’s Max Scherzer and 182 2/3 for Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers. Ryu finished second in the balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, just ahead of Scherzer. DeGrom joins Tom Seaver as the only Mets to win multiple Cy Young awards. Verlander beat out Houston Astros teammate Gerrit Cole for the AL Award. Verlander led the majors with 21 victories and reached 300 strikeouts in a season for the first time. He no-hit Toronto on Sept. 1 and padded his Hall of Fame resume by getting his 3,000th strikeout in his final start of the regular season. Rays righty Charlie Morton finished third a year after leaving Houston in free agency.
November 14, 2019 3:41 am
CLEVELAND (AP) – The Steelers and Browns will renew their rivalry Thursday with both teams fighting to keep their postseason hopes going. Pittsburgh has turned its season around after a 1-4 start by winning four in a row. Cleveland’s got work to do, but took a big step last week by beating Buffalo to halt a four-game slide. Ball security will be a priority for the Browns as the Steelers come in with 26 takeaways, the club’s most through nine games in 32 years.
November 11, 2019 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – A trip to Cincinnati could have been a trap game for the Baltimore Ravens after they dominated the defending-champion New England Patriots last Sunday. Instead, the Ravens picked up their fifth straight win and improved to 7-2 by manhandling the winless Bengals. Lamar Jackson threw for three touchdowns and added a sensational 47-yard scoring run to lead Baltimore’s 49-13 romp at Cincinnati. Jackson set a club completion percentage record by hitting on 15 of his 17 throws for 223 yards and a perfect passer rating of 158.3, his second of the season.
Ryan Finley finished 16 of 30 for 167 yards in his first NFL start as the 0-9 Bengals absorbed their 11th consecutive loss since last season. Finley also threw an interception that Marcus Peters turned into an 89-yard scoring play.
November 10, 2019 7:57 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota’s Jordan Howden picked off Sean Clifford in the end zone with 1:01 left for the third interception of the game thrown by Penn State’s quarterback, and the 13th-ranked Gophers held on for a 31-26 victory over the fifth-ranked Nittany Lions for their first win over a top-five team in 20 years. Tanner Morgan passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns to direct a dismantling of Penn State’s staunch defense, as Minnesota remained undefeated.
November 9, 2019 3:56 am
(AP) – The Tampa Bay Lightning have won the first of their back-to-back games against the Buffalo Sabres in Stockholm. Nikita Kucherov scored early in the first period and Andrei Vasilevskiy turned back 20 shots as the Bolts held off the Sabres, 3-2. Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde also scored in front of a sellout crowd in the Swedish capital. The Sabres dropped their fourth in a row despite Sam Reinhart’s two goals. Meanwhile, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league plans to return to Europe for games in the next two years, beginning with a 2020-21 season opener between the Bruins and Predators in Prague. The Avalanche and Blue Jackets will play two games in Helsinki later next season.
November 9, 2019 3:52 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio State has announced that star defensive end Chase Young won’t play for the third-ranked Buckeyes Saturday against Maryland. The decision comes amid concerns he violated NCAA rules by taking a loan last year from someone he describes as a “family friend.” The school did not elaborate or give a timetable of how long he might be out, only to say Young is sidelined because of a “possible NCAA issue from last year” the athletic department is “looking into.”The junior leads the nation with 13 1/2 sacks and has become a contender in the Heisman Trophy race.
