October 20, 2019 7:58 am
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – Jalen Hurts passed for 316 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 75 yards and two more scores and No. 5 Oklahoma cruised to a 52-14 victory over West Virginia on Saturday. Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0) is unbeaten in eight games against West Virginia (3-4, 1-3) since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 Conference in the 2012 season. The Sooners now have won 20 of their last 21 games. Oklahoma, which rolled up 562 yards of offense, has scored at least 34 points in 17 straight games, the second-longest such streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 1980. The Sooners didn’t score a touchdown in the fourth quarter, though; they’ve now scored a touchdown in every quarter but two this season. West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall, who spent three seasons at Oklahoma as a backup to Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray before transferring, completed 15 of 31 passes for 182 yards, including touchdowns of 38 and 7 yards to T.J. Simmons. Hurts, whose transfer from Alabama to Oklahoma led to Kendall’s transfer, completed 16 of 17 passes, with the incompletion a drop by freshman Drake Stoops. Hurts entered the game averaging 398 yards of offense per game, a number that won’t drop much after his 391-yard performance against the Mountaineers. Oklahoma punted on its first possession but scored touchdowns on its next four – a 20-yard pass to Jeremiah Hall, a 6-yard pass to Charleston Rambo, a 9-yard run by Kennedy Brooks and a 2-yard run by Hurts. The Mountaineers were within 28-14 at halftime, but Oklahoma scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, the first on a 22-yard run by Hurts and the second on a 46-yard pass to Lee Morris. Brayden Willis then blocked a punt in the end zone that Oklahoma’s Austin Stogner recovered to extend the Sooners’ lead to 49-14. It was the first time that happened to West Virginia since the 2003 season and the third time since the start of last season that Oklahoma had a punt block result in a touchdown.
October 20, 2019 7:57 am
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) – Daniel Parr threw a pair of five-yard touchdown passes and Mitch Maczura kicked a pair of field goals as Duquesne stopped Sacred Heart, 20-6, Saturday in a battle of last year’s Northeastern Conference co-champions. The Dukes (4-2, 2-0) came into the game with the 13th-ranked defense in the Football Championship Subdivision, limiting opponents to just 317.2 yards per game. They held the Pioneers to 233 yards of total offense and allowed them just 10 first downs. Parr completed 15 of his 26 pass attempts for 149 yards, hitting Kellon Taylor to cap a 13-play, 83-yard drive, then finding Dontay Mayfield to cap an eight-play, 81-yard drive just before halftime to put the Dukes up, 17-0. A.J. Hines carried the load on offense for the Dukes, carrying 29 times for 142 yards. Defensively Duquesne limited Sacred Heart to just 84 passing yards and picked off Logan Marchi three times. Sacred Heart (3-4, 1-2) got on the board in third quarter when Julius Chestnut brook loose for a 61-yard touchdown run. Chestnut finished with 128 yards on 20 carries.
October 19, 2019 3:45 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Yankees have earned a return trip to Houston, staying alive in the American League Championship Series with a win over the Astros. James Paxton was sharp over six innings and the Yankees belted two homers off Justin Verlander in the bottom of the first to earn a 4-1 triumph against Houston in Game 5. Paxton struck out nine and allowed just four hits in his first career postseason victory. The left-hander didn’t allow a run after George Springer scored on a wild pitch in the top of the first. DJ LeMahieu greeted Verlander with a home run on the second pitch in the bottom of the first. Four batters later, Aaron Hicks delivered a three-run blast that gave New York a 4-1 advantage. Verlander was outstanding after the first inning, giving up just one hit after the three-run homer. Verlander struck out nine over seven innings but suffered his second loss of this postseason. Aroldis Chapman worked a scoreless ninth to get the save and complete a combined five-hitter. Houston had won three straight since a 7-0 loss to the Yankees in the series opener. The Astros host Game 6 on Saturday.
October 19, 2019 3:41 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Kris Letang scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the undermanned Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to beat the Dallas Stars 4-2. Pittsburgh has won five straight. Patric Hornqvist and Jared McCann also scored for the Penguins, and Matt Murray stopped 22 shots. Roope Hintz and John Klingberg scored for Dallas.
October 18, 2019 3:46 am
DENVER (AP) – Reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes injured his right knee in a pileup near the goal line before his Kansas City teammates rallied around their fallen superstar for a 30-6 thrashing of Denver Thursday night. Backup Matt Moore (pictured) threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill and the Chiefs had nine sacks, gave up a season-low 71 yards rushing and snapped a two-game skid in beating the Broncos for the eighth straight time. His balky left ankle heavily taped, Mahomes completed 10 of 11 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown before he got hurt on a successful sneak on fourth-and-inches at the Denver 5 early in the second quarter. The Broncos had won two straight after a winless September and were hoping to turn the AFC West upside down by handling the Chiefs their third straight loss.
October 18, 2019 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are upbeat even in the midst of the team’s worst start since 2013. The Steelers are 2-4 through an eventful six games that have featured a number of season-ending injuries to high-profile players, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and defensive end Stephon Tuitt. Coach Mike Tomlin called his team’s current state “fragile” but believes the Steelers have the depth to get back into the AFC playoff picture.
October 17, 2019 3:00 am
The WPIAL released the girls and boys soccer playoff brackets Wednesday morning. Girls teams from Peters Township (4A) and Bentworth (1A) each received the #2 seeds in their brackets, the highest among the 16 schools from the Washington/Greene area. Canon-McMillan boys are the #4 seed in 4A boys. Boys opening-round games are Saturday. Girls first-round games are Monday. Here’s the opening-round schedules and bracket links. The WPIAL Soccer Championships are scheduled for Highmark Stadium, Oct. 31-Nov. 2.
Girls CLICK for Girls WPIAL Brackets
1A Ellis School 5, Beth-Center 1
3A Trinity 6, Laurel Highlands 0
1A #2 Bentworth vs. #15 Mohawk, Monday, Oct. 21, 6:15 pm at Upper St. Clair
1A #9 McGuffey vs. #8 Bishop Canevin, Monday, Oct. 21, 6 pm at Peters Township
1A #11 Chartiers-Houston vs. #6 OL/Sacred Heart, Monday, Oct. 21, 6 pm at Montour
2A #9 Waynesburg vs. #8 Freeport, Monday, Oct. 21, 6 pm at Plum
3A #11 Ringgold vs. #6 Kiski Area, Monday, Oct. 21, 8 pm at Kiski Area
3A #16 Trinity vs. #1 Mars Area, Monday, Oct. 21, 8 pm at Mars Area
4A #12 Canon-McMillan vs. #5 Seneca Valley, Monday, Oct. 21, 8 pm at Seneca Valley
4A #2 Peters Township, 1st round bye (will play Thursday, Oct. 24, vs. Butler/Connellsville winner)
Boys CLICK for Boys WPIAL Brackets
2A #5 Charleroi vs. #12 Burrell, Saturday, Oct. 19, 12 noon at Franklin Regional
2A #13 Waynesburg vs. #4 Shady Side Academy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 1 pm at Upper St. Clair
2A #16 Beth-Center vs. #1 Quaker Valley, Saturday, Oct. 19, 12 noon at South Fayette
1A #11 Chartiers-Houston vs. #6 Springdale, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2 pm at Fox Chapel
3A #8 Trinity vs. Kiski Area, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2 pm at Trinity
3A #11 Ringgold vs. #6 Hampton, Saturday, 2 pm at Hampton
4A #4 Canon-McMillan, 1st round bye (will play Wednesday, Oct. 23, vs. Fox Chapel/Woodland Hills winner)
October 16, 2019 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt’s season is over. The Steelers placed Tuitt on injured reserve after Tuitt tore a pectoral muscle in the first quarter of a 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The six-year veteran was in the midst of his best season, racking up 3 1/2 sacks and six tackles for loss in just over five games. Tyson Alualu will get the first crack at filling in for Tuitt when Pittsburgh returns to play on Oct. 28 against Miami.
October 14, 2019 3:45 am
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Zach Aston-Reese, Sam Lafferty and Jake Guentzel each had two goals to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night. Dominik Simon also scored and Aston-Reese also had an assist for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry stopped 27 shots. Mathieu Perreault and Mark Scheifele had goals for the Jets, and Laurent Brossoit finished with 21 saves. Both teams were playing back-to-back games and lacked zip in the first period. Perreault scored the opener at 1:47 when a centering puck he flipped in front of the Pittsburgh net glanced off a defender’s stick and past Jarry. The celebration was short-lived as Aston-Reese tied it up a few minutes later when, as he was falling to the ice in front of the Winnipeg net, he slipped a loose rebound past Brossoit at 4:09 for his first goal of the season. Guentzel scored on a power play at 7:50 of the second to give the Penguins the lead and then, just 41 seconds later, a puck bounced behind the net and back out right in front of Lafferty, who slammed it in to make it 3-1 . Scheifele narrowed it by backhanding a rebound past Jarry on a power play at the 10-minute mark but Simon restored the two-goal lead with 3 1/2 minutes left as his shot pinballed through traffic before ending up in the Jets’ net. It was also his first of the season. The Jets seemed to find more steam at the start of the third after coach Paul Maurice made some line changes but couldn’t turn things around, striking out on their fourth power play. Instead, Lafferty scored again at 9:32 when his shot glanced off Winnipeg defenseman Anthony Bittetto’s skate. Then Guentzel beat Brossoit for his second of the game and fourth of the season at with 8:20 left to make it 6-2. Aston-Reese scored his second of the game short-handed on a breakaway just 7 seconds into a Winnipeg power play with 5:14 remaining.
October 13, 2019 7:46 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Freshman Breece Hall rushed for 132 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Iowa State to a 38-14 victory over West Virginia on Saturday night. Brock Purdy threw for one TD and ran for another for the Cyclones (4-2, 2-1 Big 12), who held the Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2) scoreless in the second half. West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall was hit hard while attempting a pass during the Mountaineers’ first series. He did not return and was replaced by backup Jack Allison. Hall scored on a pair of 1-yard runs and also had a 12-yard TD. He might have given the Cyclones the dependable option at running back they’d been looking for ever since star David Montgomery departed. Hall entered the game fifth on the team with 84 rushing yards on 18 carries. The 205-pound Hall is the third different running back to lead the Cyclones in rushing this season and the first to eclipse 100 yards. Purdy had 102 yards a week ago against TCU. Johnnie Lang started Saturday’s game and had four carries for 11 yards before giving way to Hall.
