victory

Lakers beat Clippers 113-108

by on April 5, 2012

Kobe Bryant willed the Los Angeles Lakers to a crucial victory over the Clippers, who won style points with some flashy plays but couldn’t overcome a well-rested Andrew Bynum.

Bynum scored 36 points after missing a game with a sprained left ankle, Bryant added 31 and the Lakers won 113-108 on Wednesday night to widen their Pacific Division lead to 2 1/2 games over the second-place Clippers. the Lakers also snapped the Clippers’ winning streak at six, the franchise’s best in 20 years.

“Kobe didn’t want to lose,” Bynum said. “We are fighting for a playoff spot. they are one game behind us, so we had to get this win.”

“They’re going to make spectacular plays, but we talked about playing poised and composed,” Bryant said. “They have so many weapons. but it’s not any different than some of the other top teams that we face in the league. the crowd obviously gave them a lot of energy and their bench gave them a lot of energy, but we maintained our composure and made big plays.”

Former Laker Caron Butler scored 28 points to lead six Clippers in double figures. Chris Paul added 22 points and 16 assists, Blake Griffin had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the West’s fourth-place team, the designated home team in this matchup.

“Ain’t no moral victories around here,” Paul said. “They won the game and that’s that.”

Ramon Sessions added 16 points and eight assists for the Lakers, who won their fourth in a row.

“We miscommunicated a lot of times, worried about Kobe a little too much and we were giving up layups to Sessions,” Paul said.

Bynum bounced back with an offensive performance that was one point off his season high after injuring his ankle Sunday and running afoul of the front office with some questionable on-court behavior.

“It hurts a little bit, especially on spin moves,” Bynum said. “I found more little things out there that hurt so I tried to stay away from them. as the game progresses, the pain subsides.”

With the Lakers clinging to a two-point lead, Bryant hit a jumper over Randy Foye to make it 110-106 with 24 seconds left. Paul missed a jumper and Griffin was called for a loose ball foul on Pau Gasol, who made one of two free throws with 18 seconds left.

“Both teams really wanted it,” former Clipper and current Laker Steve Blake said. “It was physical and both teams were changing their game plans on the fly and it was fun to be out there.”

Griffin’s tip drew the Clippers within three, but Nick Young fouled Matt Barnes, who made both free throws. Paul’s turnover and foul gave the Lakers the ball with 4 seconds to go, ending the Clippers’ chances to win the season series for the first in 19 years.

“Our defense wasn’t as good as we’d like it to be and that was part of the problem,” Paul said. “We sort of gave up everything. they had 63 in the first half. Kobe was shooting a lot early. he had it going and so did Bynum.”

The Clippers trailed by 11 to start the fourth and scored the first eight points to get to 92-89. Young had nine of their first 12 points. Eric Bledsoe hit a 3-pointer to get the Clippers to 98-96. the final 7 minutes were a four-point game.

Paul’s jumper tied it at 102 and the Clippers took their first lead, 104-103, since early in the game on Jordan’s hook.

Bryant scored over Butler and then Metta World Peace stole the ball from Paul. Bynum got fouled and made one of two free throws to put the Lakers back in front, 106-104. after consecutive turnovers by both teams, Sessions scored on a driving layup with 47 seconds left to keep the Lakers ahead by four.

“We had a couple key turnovers and they made the bigger plays at the end of the game,” said Paul, who had two of the Clippers’ four turnovers in the final 2:45. “We got to learn how to win these games and close these out. it was a good learning process for us because this is how the playoffs are.”

The Lakers led 73-61 early in the third quarter. the Clippers rallied on a 12-5 run that cut their deficit to five points. Griffin soared to dunk one-handed over Gasol, who argued that Griffin had fouled him with the monster move that sent Gasol staggering toward the floor. but Griffin drew the foul and missed the free throw.

“I really didn’t see the ball when it went in. I was on my (rear),” Gasol said. “It happened too quick. I don’t have a great desire to watch it (again).”

Griffin hoped it would give the Clippers some much-needed momentum.

“It was exciting,” Paul said, “but at the end of the day we lost. who cares?”

Jordan dunked to reinvigorate the crowd and Butler scored the final five points in the spurt.

But the Lakers answered with a 14-8 run to end the third up 92-78. Bynum had seven points and Bryant six.

“It looked like his ankle wasn’t giving him any problems,” Griffin said.

Jordan made a great play after trying to save the ball from going out of bounds with a leap over the courtside seats. his save got intercepted by the Lakers, but he climbed back over the seats and took off running. he dashed up behind Sessions and poked the ball away, leading to a 3-pointer by Butler to end the third.

NOTES: the Clippers’ seven-game home winning streak ended. … there were 11 technicals in the teams’ first two meetings, but there was just one individual technical against Sessions. … Foye came in averaging 21.6 points and 3.3 assists in the Clippers’ last three games, but he finished with 11 points and four assists. … the Lakers improved to 12-15 on the road. … the Clippers fell to 19-13 against teams with .500 or better records.

Lakers beat Clippers 113-108

NCAA basketball: Kentucky beats Kansas 67-59 to win national title

by on April 3, 2012

New Orleans • no matter where Anthony Davis and his buddies go to make their millions, their ol’ Kentucky home will long remember this championship season.

The Wildcats hit the jackpot with their lottery picks Monday night, ignoring Davis’ bad shooting night and parlaying a roster full of NBA talent into a 67-59 victory over Kansas for the team’s eighth national title — and its first since 1998.

The one-and-doners did it in a wire-to-wire victory — a little dicey at the end — to cap a season in which anything less than bringing a title back to the Bluegrass State would have been a downer. they led coach John Calipari to his first title in four trips to the Final four with three different schools.

“This is not about me. this is about these 13 players,” Calipari said. “This is about the Big Blue Nation.”

Doron Lamb, a sophomore with first-round-draft-pick possibilities, led the Wildcats (38-2) with 22 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers that put them up by 16 with 10 minutes left.

The Jayhawks (32-7), kings of the comeback all season, fought to the finish and trimmed that deficit to five with 1:37 left. but Kentucky made five free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Davis’ fellow lottery prospect, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, was another headliner, creating space for himself to score all 11 of his points in the first half.

Davis, meanwhile, might have had the most dominating six-point night in the history of college basketball, earning the nod as the most outstanding player. he finished with 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists and three steals — and made his only field goal with 5:13 left in the game. it was a surefire illustration of how the 6-foot-10 freshman can exert his will on a game even on a rare night when the shot isn’t falling.

“Well, it’s not me, it’s these guys behind me,” Davis said after his 1-for-10 performance. “They led us this whole tournament. this whole game I was struggling offensively, and I told my team, every time down, you all score the ball; I’m just gonna defend and rebound.”

so much easier when you’ve got teammates like this. Davis is the likely first pick in the draft should he choose to come out, and Kidd-Gilchrist won’t be far behind. Another first-round prospect, freshman Marquis Teague, had 14 points. and yet another, sophomore Terrence Jones, had nine points, seven rebounds and two of Kentucky’s 11 blocked shots.

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“We’ve got a lot of great players on this team,” Teague said. “Other players stepped up and made plays. he had confidence in us to make plays, and that’s what we tried to do.”

Kansas also has a lottery pick in The associated Press’ All-American Thomas Robinson. but he was harassed all night by Davis and Jones and finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds on a 6-for-17 shooting night.

The Jayhawks won the “B” League this year, as Calipari avenged a final-game loss to Bill Self back in 2008 when Cal was coaching the Tigers. not a bad season in Lawrence, though, considering where KU began.

Kansas lost four of its top five scorers off last year’s roster. there were times early in the season when Self and his old buddy and mentor, Larry Brown, would stand around at practices and wonder if this was a team that could even make the tournament. it did. Won its eighth straight conference title, too.

None of this, however, was for the faint of heart. The Jayhawks trailed by double digits in three of their five tournament games leading to the final and played every game down to the wire. they fell behind by 18 late in the first half of this one and this time, there was no big comeback to be made; not against these guys.

“We came up short, but I don’t think we lost. I think they just beat us,” Self said.

Davis realized early this was no shoot-first night for him at the Superdome. Sporting his near-unibrow, which the UK Wildcat mascot also decided to paste on, he endured the worst shooting night of a short college career in which he makes 64 percent. no big deal. he set the tone early on defense, swatting Robinson’s shot twice, grabbing rebounds and making pretty bounce passes for assists.

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. all rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NCAA basketball: Kentucky beats Kansas 67-59 to win national title

Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley Combination Brings Different Dynamic to Celtics Backcourt – Boston Celtics – NESN.com

by on April 1, 2012

In the feel-good aftermath of the Celtics' victory over the Wizards on Sunday, when second-year guard Avery Bradley erupted for a career-high 23 points and Rajon Rondo handed out 11 assists, leave it to Kevin Garnett to unintentionally spark some in-team controversy.

"Avery's probably — Rondo's gonna kick me in the behind for saying this, but — he's probably the fastest guy on the team," Garnett said. "He's very explosive, and I just don't think he's had a lot of opportunities to show the things that he can do."

Rondo had departed by then, but the hyper-competitive point guard could not have been pleased with the comparison. for once, the lack of practice time afforded the Celtics by this season's condensed schedule may be a good thing for Bradley. if Bradley were to face Rondo in workouts, it's safe to assume Rondo would make him pay for Garnett's remark.

There was no need to compare the two guards on Sunday, though.

Bradley has spent most of the season backing up Rondo at point guard, but Celtics coach Doc Rivers has insisted that Bradley is more of a natural two-guard despite standing only 6-foot-2 and toting a career shooting percentage of less than 45 percent. Because of Rondo's injury and suspension this season, Rivers was forced to use Bradley at the point more often than either the coach or the player seemed comfortable.

But on Sunday, injuries to Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus created the need for an athletic off-guard. Rivers went with Bradley for his ability to cover Wizards guard Jordan Crawford, a conscious-free shooter who does not let a 28.5 percent mark from 3-point territory keep him from attempting more than four deep balls a game.

So while Rivers inserted Bradley into the starting lineup for his defense, he was pleased when Bradley knocked down a jump shot less than two minutes into the action. Seeing the ball fall through the net had a visible effect Bradley's confidence, as he scored 15 points in the first quarter on 7-for-7 shooting.

"I knew the defensive part and I've always believed he could make shots," Rivers said. "Playing with Rondo is better for him. You could see it. He could just run out there. He didn't have to wait for the ball. He didn't have to call a play. He didn't have to think where everybody was at. He just ran. [Sunday] he was an athlete. And that's what he is. He's a great athlete and when you play him with a point guard, that gives him the opportunity to be that. With the injuries this year, it's been difficult to use that combination."

Bradley's development has come in obvious, defined stages. He hardly saw the court in his first season until the final regular-season game, when he scored more than two-thirds of his season total in points by dropping 20 on the Knicks.

This season, he fought his way into the rotation with his hounding defense, and soon expanded that to cutting without the ball of offense. The problem was, Bradley had spent his entire basketball life playing with the ball in his hands, and when Celtics teammates hit him on his cuts, he often fumbled the ball or muffed the layup.

Soon, though, Bradley was able to draw on his football background to make clean catches and convert easy layups. if that was as far as he developed this season, it would have been helpful to the Celtics, but Sunday's scoring spree may have signaled a new chapter in Bradley's growth.

Bradley's performance also gave the Celtics reason to believe the combination of Rondo and Bradley can be effective. Pairing two guards who can't shoot generally makes it difficult to create the spacing necessary to run an offense, since the defense can simply collapse into the foul lane to suffocate the big men and stifle cutting lanes.

After Bradley knocked down a jumper, though, he and Rondo were able to carve up the Wizards defense, haphazard as it was. Defensively, they were just as disruptive as expected, slipping quickly into passing lanes while hounding Crawford and John Wall.

"I love playing with Rondo," Bradley said. "Even when I'm not in the game, he's still talking to me, coaching me, showing me what plays to run at certain times and teaching me the game. Them doing things like that, it's big. it shows how much they care for you and how they feel you're part of the team."

Told of Bradley's comments, Rondo seemed surprised and mildly touched, letting out a tongue-in-cheek "Awwww…"

"I consider him kind of a young guy and I try to take him under my wing and give him as much advice as possible," Rondo said. "I don't want to try to act like I'm his [mentor] or anything, but whenever he needs me to share some advice with him, I try to give it to him."

Given their complementary talents, Rondo and Bradley have been quick to develop chemistry on the court. just don't ask which one is quicker.

Have a question for Ben Watanabe? Send it to him via Twitter at @BenjeeBallgame. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

Tony Romo Can Sleep Easy, Dallas Cowboys Only Signed Kyle Orton as a Backup

by on March 14, 2012

It is bemusing that both Jason Campbell and Kyle Orton, experienced starters who performed well for the most part on the field last season, signed deals in free agency as backups.

Campbell signed with the Chicago Bears yesterday prior to Orton landing with the Dallas Cowboys today. both moves are fantastic pieces of business for their respective new teams.

Orton, in particular, will be of great value to the Dallas Cowboys as Tony Romo enters the latter stages of his career. Romo is 31 years of age, but still had a phenomenal season last year notching 31 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions and over 4,000 yards.

The biggest worry with Romo is not his clutch ability in the fourth quarter, but rather his need to stay healthy. last season Romo started all 16 games; however, he played a few games with broken ribs and one with a punctured lung as his young offensive line transitioned together.

As admirable as it was for Romo to fight through the pain for his teammates and guide them to victory, the reality is Romo cannot continue to do that and expect to last much longer in the NFL.

Bringing in a proven backup will allow Romo to sit on the sidelines at times should he need to in the future. It may not be the “cool” or “inspirational” move but more often than not, sitting is the smarter move. Teams that are able to sit their starting quarterbacks generally benefit from it in the long term.

The Cowboys didn’t have that option last year with Stephen McGee as the backup; they needed Romo to win them football games. Unlike the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were able to rest Ben Roethlisberger at key stages by bringing in Charlie Batch, the Cowboys had to keep Romo in the firing line constantly.

While it didn’t result in any long-term damage, going forward with that strategy isn’t ideal for a quarterback of Romo’s build, or any quarterback for that matter.

While the Cowboys’ line came together as the season went along last year, there will be another transition period to start next year as the team’s two offensive tackles will swap sides. Tyron Smith was drafted to be a left tackle in the future and the future is apparently this coming season.

Smith will take over for Doug Free, who will take Smith’s position on the opposite side, because of his sheer physical talents. However, adjusting to that new role, a much more difficult role to fill, will be an eye opening and testing experience for Smith. It is very unlikely that he seamlessly transitions to the new position.

While obviously losing Romo isn’t what anybody wants, the idea that Kyle Orton can come in and guide the team over a few games will be reassuring rather than threatening to the Cowboys’ current starter.

Orton, during his time with the Chiefs, Broncos and Bears, has thrown 80 touchdowns to 57 interceptions during his career. if you discount his rookie season, when he started 15 games throwing nine touchdowns to 13 interceptions, Orton has never thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in a whole season.

With 69 starts at 29 years of age, Kyle Orton appears to be the perfect backup for Tony Romo.

Backup, not replacement.

Timberwolves’ Kevin Love wins 3-point contest at NBA all-star festivities

by on February 26, 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. – Kevin love knows something about dunking. he does most of his dirty work inside for the Timberwolves, but he got to show off his outside touch on Saturday night.

Love beat out Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant to win the 3-Point Shootout. the former UCLA star was consistent throughout, but had to survive a tiebreaker in the first round and sweat out the final few shots from Durant to pull out the 17-14 victory in the final.

Love is in the middle for a breakout season for Minnesota, averaging 25 points and 14 rebounds a game. he also has connected on 49 of 141 three-point attempts for the Timberwolves.

“You know, I’m a guy that loves to rebound the ball, a guy that loves to play inside, really a physical player,” love said. “But for me, coming into the league, I was told not to shoot three-point shots, so to be where I am now and continue to work on my game, I think this definitely speaks to my versatility. I think I’ll just continue to improve year in and year out.”

Love was tied for third after the opening round and beat Miami’s Mario Chalmers 5-4 in a tiebreaker. Defending champion James Jones led all shooters in the opening round with 22, and Durant was next with 20.

Orlando’s Ryan Anderson just missed eliminating both love and Chalmers, making 17 shots after missing his final 2-point money ball.

Love and Durant both had 16 in Round 2 to advance to the finals, with Jones posting 12.

– Utah’s Jeremy Evans won the Slam Dunk Contest.

Evans endeared himself to the fans with a mix of props and creativity, and they voted him the winner of one of the marquee events of the NBA’s All-Star Saturday festivities.

Evans, who got into the competition as a replacement for injured new York guard Iman Shumpert, earned 29 percent of the 3 million votes cast. he beat out Houston’s Chase Budinger, Indiana’s Paul George and Timberwolves rookie Derrick Williams for the Jazz’s first-ever trophy in the contest.

In a departure from past dunk competitions, fans were given complete voting power and cast their ballots by text message after each of the four participants competed in three one-dunk rounds.

Evans dunked with a camera on his head, slammed two basketballs while jumping over a seated assistant and donned a Karl Malone jersey to dunk over mailman-dressed comedian Kevin Hart.

Budinger got just as many cheers from the Amway Center fans as Evans, and some in the celebrity-filled crowd sighed when the winner was announced.

“I’ve very happy with my performance. I went out there, I had a plan and I executed the plan and the fans voted and I didn’t win, and that happens sometimes,” Budinger said. “But I had great dunks and they’re going to be great memories as well.”

– San Antonio point guard Tony Parker won the Skills Competition. Parker was the only one of six participants to break 30 seconds in the first round (29.2), and his time of 32.8 in the final run on the obstacle course was better than Boston’s Rajon Rondo (34.6) and new Jersey’s Deron Williams (41.4).

NFL Scores – Playoff fates being decided

by on January 14, 2012

The Weekends NFL Scores 2011 kicked off on Thursday where the Eagles headed west to face the Seattle Seahawks in a must win game if they had any chance of getting into the NFL Playoffs.

The dream of getting to the playoffs hit a roadblock in the form of the Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch who terrorised the Eagles defence with a 148 yard and 2 touchdown performance on their way to a 31-14 victory.

The loss for the Eagles effectively stopped any hopes of the Eagles getting into the Playoffs and could end Andy Reid’s tenure as head coach after the money spent during the off season.

Moving onto Sundays NFL Scores and the biggest game of the weekend when the undefeated Green Bay Packers travelled to new York to face the Giants and the match was decided on the final play of the game.

The Giants had tied the game with under a minute to go when Eli Manning hit Nicks for a touchdown and D.J Ware scored the 2 point conversion. however Aaron Rodgers manufactured a drive to get his team in field goal range and Mason Crosby hit a 31 yarded to win the game 38-35 as time expired.

With the win the Packers moved to 12-0 whilst the Giants moved to 6-6 after their 4th loss in a row but are only 1 game back from Dallas in the NFC East who lost 19-13 away at the Arizona Cardinals.

NFL Scores – Tebow performs miracles again

In other latest NFL scores Tim Tebow did it again for the Denver Broncos as they won a close one in Minnesota with a last second field goal to win 35-32. The new England Patriots continued their charge to the playoffs with a 31-24 win over the hapless Colts.

In more NFL scores the Chicago Bears lost their star running back Matt Forte in a 10-3 loss at home to the Kansas City Chiefs & Miami defeated a slumping Oakland Raiders team 34-14.

In other NFL Scores Tennessee defeated the faltering Bills, Pittsburgh romped to a victory over Cincinnati & Cam Newton led his Panthers past Tampa Bay.

Well that wraps up our look at the NFL Scores week 13 be sure to check back next weekend for Live NFL scores from week 14.

NFL Scores – Playoff fates being decided

High school boys soccer: Hawken blanks Wickliffe (with video)

by on November 12, 2011

Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.com

The last time the Hawken boys soccer team had to deal with Wickliffe, it was the Shaquille Bridges show.Bridges, the area’s leading scorer, scored a hat trick in that regular-season game, a 3-2 Wickliffe win. on Saturday, the Hawks were well aware of the Blue Devils senior. still, Bridges nearly scored in the game’s first minutes, as goalie Grant Gilchrist just got a piece of Bridge’s wide-open strike.from there, host Hawken put on a show of its own in a 6-0 Division III Kent District victory. In the final 79 minutes, the defense swarmed, Gilchrist made key saves and the offense did more than enough.with the victory, the Hawks (17-4) advance to a D-III regional semifinal Tuesday at Brunswick against either Elyria Catholic or Independence."the difference today is we attacked," said Hawken coach Dani Giulvezan. "We put pressure on them. the first time we played Wickliffe, they defended well. of course, we knew we had to target (Bridges) to make sure he didn’t do to us what he did last time."Mission accomplished.David Nelson scored two goals in the first 11 minutes and Hawken was on its way to a district championship. Nelson’s first goal came on a breakaway in which he gave Wickliffe goalie a Ivan Luketina a nifty move and sent home his shot. his second came at the 29-minute, 14-second mark."It was good to get that first overhead ball and I knew I had to put it in the back of the net," said Nelson. "I was happy we got on the board early. We knew after we got the first two (goals), we had to keep it going."the pressure kept coming on the Blue Devils’ end but Luketina held firm. still, the Hawks were dominating possession. Inevitably, Hawken broke through again, this time in a flurry. Team captain Tom Granot dribbled through several defenders and scored at 10:43 to make it 3-0. Brian Drockton’s first of two goals at 8:10 made it 4-0."We had breakdowns everywhere. I don’t know exactly what happened," said Coach Mike Gamiere, whose team bows out at 11-5-3. "really, nothing went our way."Wickliffe tried desperately to give itself a chance with some pressure at the start of the second half, but couldn’t break through against the Hawks’ defense and Gilchrist. Drockton and Eric Arnold each scored second-half goals to cap the victory for the Hawks."I think we were a bit nervous the first five minutes of the game, but we were able to pressure them after that," said Giulvezan. "the boys stayed hungry the entire game."

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High school boys soccer: Hawken blanks Wickliffe (with video)

Sweet revenge!?TC knocks out Streaks

by on November 7, 2011

zbaker@advertiser-tribune.com

SANDUSKY – It’s generally accepted that sequels are ill-advised and rarely match the quality of the original.

Whether Columbian’s playoff-opening 25-20 victory over Sandusky Friday night was as good as when the teams met two weeks ago is a matter of opinion, but one thing is certain.

Tornado fans preferred this ending.

Jack Jacoby carried the ball 43 times, ran for 154 yards, ran and threw for a touchdown, and picked off a Lucas Poggiali pass with 1:53 left in regulation to help send TC to the second round, where it will face Shaw next week.

With the win, TC avenged a 35-34 loss to the Streaks in week nine. Jacoby was in the center of that game too, running for more than 200 yards.

“He’s just really grown up in the last three weeks,” said Columbian coach Brian Colatruglio, whose 9-2 Tornadoes didn’t even attempt a pass in the second half. “He’s learning how to be a running back and what it takes, and he had some tough physical yards. He just grinded out first downs, and he was our horse.”

A horse whose team won’t be riding into the sunset for at least another week.

Jacoby took plenty of hits Friday night, but kept pushing for more behind an offensive line that controlled the line of scrimmage when the Tornadoes had the ball

“It took it’s toll on me, but I’ll be all right,” Jacoby said afterward.

While the Tornadoes offensive numbers were impressive, it was three key defensive stops that made the difference. Sandusky got the ball to start the game, but was forced to punt. Starting at its 31, TC ran 15 plays and drained more than seven minutes off the clock. on third-and-7 from the Blue Streaks’ 9, Jacoby found Jordan Dye over the middle at about the 2. Dye made a cut and found the end zone. Kicker Donovan Walker missed the point after, but Columbian established the grinding style it used for most of the game.

The Streaks scored on the ensuing possession, with Poggiali throwing a perfect over-the-shoulder pass to a wide open Tristen Jeffries down the left sideline. The 22-yard TD came on fourth-and-7, and on the final play of the first quarter. It gave Sandusky a 7-6 edge.

It took all of two plays for Columbian to get the lead back. on a first down from the Streak 37, Jacoby took the snap out of the shotgun. Sandusky defensive back Dameyion Smith, expecting a run, left receiver Jonah Boyer.

Jacoby, in his only pass of the night, lofted one down the right side, where Boyer caught it and ran to the end zone untouched.

“(Smith), he makes a lot of tackles,” Jacoby said. “He’s the leading tackler in the league, and he flies up. So gameplanning, we knew we might be able to fool him one play and get him up. Jonah ran a great route.”

But Jacoby was stopped on a conversion run, and the score stayed 12-7 with 11:17 left in the half.

Again, Sandusky responded. A Marquis Winston jaunt from 7 yards out capped a seven-play drive, and the Streaks grabbed the lead again, 14-12.

With less than nine minutes to go in the half, Columbian started driving again. Davis, who finished 6 of 6 in the half for 56 yards through the air, made four of his completions on the drive, including a 7-yard TD strike to Boyer with 1:24 left. TC missed a two-point conversion attempt, but led, 18-14.

The second big stop for the Tornado defense came here. though the Streaks drove into TC territory, and reached the 18-yard line for an untimed down after an interference call in the end zone, it held.

The Tornadoes went to the half with the lead, and the ball coming to them to start the second half.

And as both teams were aware, TC’s offense had yet to be stopped.

“We were trying [to score], it wasn’t like we weren’t trying,” said Sandusky coach Mike Franklin, whose team bowed out at 9-2. “We just couldn’t get that score at the end [of the first half], and time of possession at to be about 500-to-1.”

It certainly seemed that way after the Tornadoes took the second-half kickoff and marched 70 yards on 16 running plays, bleeding more than eight minutes off the clock.

Jacoby ran the ball 13 times on the drive, but it was the offensive line, led by Chandler Hoover, who got credit.

“They were phenomenal,” Jacoby said. “I really wouldn’t be anything without them.”

Hoover made the line’s philosophy for Friday sound simple.

“We just tried to get up there and be as physical as we can,” he said. “They were a great defensive line, and we just tried to push them around a bunch, as much as we could, and we really succeeded.”

Jacoby’s plunge from the 1 on fourth down put the Tornadoes up, 25-14 with 3:42 left in the third.

After each defense made a stop, Sandusky drew close when Mike Delk made a brilliant one-handed catch in the back of the end zone with 6:40 left in regulation. After a failed 2-point try that made the Streaks’ deficit five points, Sandusky made another defensive stand. TC drove the ball to the Streaks 39, but on fourth and 2 with less than four minutes left, Jacoby was stopped for no gain.

Which set up a grand finale for Jacoby and the TC defense.

A third-down completion to Anthony Jones pushed the Streaks to the TC 45, but two plays later, Sandusky faced a third-and-6 from the 41 as the clock reached the 2-minute mark..

Poggiali dropped back and attempted a pass over the middle, but the ball was tipped and went into the waiting arms of Jacoby for an interception.

Jacoby said he thought it was senior linebacker Derec Blodgett who got his hand on the pass.

“Instinct. just went and grabbed it,” he said. “I was kind of getting mad that everybody was celebrating already. I was like, ‘All right, we’ve got to go finish this.’”

The Tornadoes did, getting a pair of first downs to kill the clock.

“I thought we played good football, but once again we weren’t able to stop no. 1 (Jacoby),” Franklin said.

Colatruglio said the game two weeks ago was one of the best games he’d been involved in. But something was missing to make it complete.

“When you win, it’s a lot better,” he said.

Like a Hollywood ending.

Behind Jackson’s Big Day & Five Turnovers, Bills Hold Off Eagles and Hang On for 31-24 Victory » Bills Gab

by on October 9, 2011

Close games and heart stoppers are becoming the norm for the Buffalo Bills.  For the fourth consecutive week, it came down to the final minutes of the game.  Speaking of fours, the Bills are now 4-1 matching their win total from a year ago and the Philadelphia Eagles have lost four straight following Sunday’s 31-24 victory by the Bills. 

Fred Jackson was the workhorse for the Buffalo offense totaling 196 yards from scrimmage and the Bills’ defense forced five Philadelphia turnovers including four interceptions by Eagles quarterback Michael Vick.  Bills linebacker Nick Barnett had two of the four picks including a 31-yard intercpetion returned for a touchdown in the second quarter.  It’s the third game in a row the Bills have scored a defensive touchdown all coming off of interceptions.

Barnett’s second interception of the game came in a very critical moment late in the fourth quarter.  with the Eagles at the Bills’ 25 yard line and knocking on the door to try and tie the game, Barnett was the recipient of a fortnuate bounce off of a Jason Avant stripped fumble.  Moments later, with the Bills facing a fourth-and-inches scenario, Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to induce Eagles defensive end Juqua Parker to jump offsides giving Buffalo a first down, a fresh set of downs and the ability to run off the last minute of the game with the Eagles out of timeouts.

Buffalo built up a 21-7 halftime lead with touchdowns from Jackson (five-yard run), a six-yard touchdown reception by David Nelson and Barnett’s 31-yard interception returned for a touchdown.  The Bills would race out to a big lead, 28-7 with 9:11 left to play in the third quarter following Brad Smith’s five-yard wildcat touchdown run.  less than two minutes later, LeSean McCoy and the Eagles answered back with McCoy’s 10-yard touchdown run.  Six minutes later, the Bills would counterpunch with a 25-yard field goal by Rian Lindell taking a 31-14 lead into the fourth quarter.

But the Eagles didn’t slunk away quietly and the Bills had to endure a gut-wrenching comeback.  Philadelphia scored 10 points in the first 5:31 of the fourth quarter and then shot themselves in the foot when it really mattered with Vick’s fourth interception and Parker’s costly offsides penalty that essentially ended the game.  Buffalo’s defense allowed 489 total yards to the Eagles’ offense, but the unit rose to the occassion in the final quarter, keeping the Eagles out of the end zone the final nine minutes of the game and came up with a game-saving turnover.

Jackson rushed for 111 yards on 26 carries and caught five passes for 86 yards.  He led the Bills in both rushing and receiving. Fitzpatrick completed 21 of 27 passes for 193 yards with a touchdown and an interception.  George Wilson led the Bills defense with 11 tackles, three passes defended and an interception. 

It was another huge day for Vick and another day of huge mistakes for the Eagles on both sides of the ball.  Vick went 26 of 40 for 315 yards and two touchdowns, but threw a career-worst four interceptions.   He finished with 90 rushing yards on just five carries.  three of the Eagles’ first four possessions ended with a Vick interception.  Despite 24 first downs and nearly 500 yards of total offense, the Eagles’ defense didn’t do their part.  they allowed 21 first downs, 331 yards of total offense and allowed Jackson to run loose and often untouched into the secondary and beyond.  The Eagles missed too many tackles, made costly mistakes and mental errors, and allowed the Bills to score points on each of their four trips inside the red zone. 

For the first time since 2008 the Bills are 4-1 and for the first time since ’08, the Bills have scored 30+ points in four of their first five games.  So, the Bills are able to rally the troops, hold off Philly’s late, furious rally and bounce back with a big win after a big letdown a week ago against Cincinnati. 

With the win, Buffalo assures themselves, at the worst, a first place tie in AFC East at the end of Week 5.  next Sunday, the Bills will stay in-state and square off against the New York Giants.

The Programming Insider: Tuesday 8/16/11

by on August 16, 2011

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In Today's Issue Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings: Fox Wins; Bachelor Pad Keeps Monday Alive for ABC Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s not On the Air Tonight: Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits: Notes of interest TV Trivia Time: not Spun Off __________________________________________________________________ PRIME-TIME METERED MARKET MONDAY RATINGS: Fox Wins; Bachelor Pad Keeps Monday Alive for ABC Monday 8/15/11 Household Rating/Share Fox: 4.4/ 7, ABC: 4.1/ 7, CBS: 3.2/ 5, NBC: 2.8/ 5, CW: 0.4/ 1 Note: Comparisons to the year-ago period are not available today. -Yesterday’s Winners: Bachelor Pad (ABC), Hell’s Kitchen (Fox), Masterchef (Fox) -Percent of Line-Up in Repeats: 69 Ratings Breakdown: two hours of chef Gordon Ramsay led Fox to overnight Monday victory, with Hell’s Kitchen tied for No. 1 (with the first hour of Bachelor Pad on ABC) with a 4.6 rating/8 share at 8 p.m., and part one of the season-finale of Masterchef at a second-place 4.3/ 7 from 9-10 p.m. Comparably, Fox bested second-place ABC by three-tenths of a rating point in the overnights, and is expected to win the evening among adults 18-49. third overall was a night of repeats on CBS, followed by all encore telecasts as well on NBC and The CW. Over at ABC, two-hours of sophomore Bachelor Pad resonated, with a comfortable 4.6/ 7 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. and the half-hour breakdown as follows: Bachelor Pad (ABC) 8:00 p.m.: 4.7/ 8 (#1) 8:30 p.m.: 4.4/ 7 (#2) 9:00 p.m.: 4.6/ 7 (#1) 9:30 p.m.: 4.7/ 7 (#1) Comparably, Bachelor Pad is right on par with recent occupant The Bachelorette. a repeat of Castle, which airs out of returning Dancing With the Stars this fall, closed the night for the alphabet network with a second-place 3.0/ 5 in the overnights at 10 p.m. elsewhere, CBS filled the evening with encore telecasts of two episodes of how I Met Your Mother (#4: avg. 2.8/ 5 from 8-9 p.m.), two and a Half Men (#3: 3.8/ 6), Mike & Molly (#3: 3.5/ 5) and Hawaii Five-O (#1: 3.2/ 5). NBC aired repeats of America’s Got Talent (3.0/ 5 from 8-10 p.m. – #3 from 8-9 p.m.; #4 from 9-10 p.m.) and Harry's Law (#3: 2.4/ 4 at 10 p.m.), which moves into the Wednesday 9 p.m. hour (out of new comedy Free Agents) this fall. and The CW capped it off with repeats of Gossip Girl (#5: 0.4/ 1) and one Tree Hill (#5: 0.3/ 0), which returns in midseason for its ninth, and final season. as a reminder, here is what is coming up on Monday this fall (with new shows in caps): ABC 8:00 p.m.: Dancing With the Stars (two hours) 10:00 p.m.: Castle CBS 8:00 p.m.: how I Met Your Mother 8:30 p.m.: 2 BROKE GIRLS 9:00 p.m.: two and a Half Men 9:30 p.m.: Mike & Molly 10:00 p.m.: Hawaii Five-O NBC 8:00 p.m.: The Sing-Off (two hours, new time) 10:00 p.m.: The PLAYBOY CLUB Fox 8:00 p.m.: TERRA NOVA 9:00 p.m.: House (new time) CW 8:00 p.m.: Gossip Girl (new time) 9:00 p.m.: HART OF DIXIE Source: Nielsen Media Research data ________________________________________________________________ RATINGS BOX: What’s Hot/What’s not Lackluster Start for In the Flow with Affion Crockett on Fox: New Fox sketch comedy In the Flow with Affion Crockett was off, but not necessarily running on Sunday. The two-episode debut finished fourth in the 9 p.m. hour in total viewers (2.45 million), with a third-place 1.2 rating/3 share among adults 18-49, according to the fast affiliate results.  Erosion out of a repeat of lead-in Family Guy (Viewers: 3.52 million; A18-49: 1.7/ 5 at 8:30 p.m.) was 70 percent in total viewers and 29 percent in the demo. Effective this Sunday, Aug. 21, In tThe Flow with Affion Crockett airs at 9:30 p.m. out of an encore telecast of Family Guy. Speaking of Sunday: here are the fast affiliate results by network in total viewers and adults 18-49 for Aug. 14: Total Viewers: CBS: 7.30 million, ABC: 5.77, NBC: 3.82, Fox: 2.57 Adults 18-49: CBS: 1.9 rating/5 share, ABC: 1.4/ 4, Fox: 1.2/ 4, NBC: 1.0/ 3 Cable Scorecard – Friday, Aug. 12: Disney Channel led the Friday troops in total viewers care of A.N.T. Farm and PrankStars, while WWE Smackdown! on Syfy was top-rated among adults 18-49, with a 0.8 rating in the demo.  here are the results, ranked in order of total viewers, for Friday, Aug. 12: a.N.T. Farm (Disney Channel) – Viewers: 3.72 million (#1), A18-49: 0.4 (#6t) PrankStars (Disney Channel) – Viewers: 3.40 million (#2), A18-49: 0.4 (#6t) WWE Smackdown (Syfy) – Viewers: 2.64 million (#3), A18-49: 0.8 (#1) Haven (Syfy) – Viewers: 1.89 million (#4), A18-49: 0.5 (#4t) Thundercats (Cartoon Network) – Viewers: 1.84 million (#5), A18-49: 0.6 (#2t) four Weddings (TLC) – Viewers: 1.15 million (#6), A18-49: 0.4 (#6t) Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta (TLC, 9 p.m.) – Viewers: 1.14 million (#7), A18-49: 0.3 (#9t) The Soup (E!) – Viewers: 1.03 million (#8), A18-49: 0.6 (#2t) Whale Wars (Animal Planet) – Viewers: 964,000 (#9), A18-49: 0.5 (#4t) Man vs. Wild (Discovery) – Viewers: 944,000 (#10), A18-49: 0.3 (#9t) Fashion Police (E!) – Viewers: 772,000 (#11), A18-49: 0.3 (#9t) Surviving the cut (Discovery) – Viewers: 612,000 (#12), A18-49: 0.3 (#9t) Whale Wars: War Stories (Animal Planet) – Viewers: 598,000 (#13), A18-49: 0.3 (#9t) Whale Wars: The Battle Unfolds (Animal Planet) – Viewers: 503,000 (#14), A18-49: 0.2 (#14) ArenaBowl XXIV (ESPN) – Viewers: 280,000 (#15), A18-49: 0.1 (#15) Source: Nielsen Media Research data _________________________________________________________________ ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Prime-Time Programming Options Tuesday 8/16/11 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Wipeout (R) 8:30 p.m. take the Money and Run  9:00 p.m. Combat Hospital CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (R) 10:30 p.m. Hawaii Five-O (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. It’s Worth what? 9:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (two hours) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Masterchef (season finale, two hours) CW: 8:00 p.m. 90210 (R) 9:00 p.m. Shedding for the Wedding (R) _______________________________________________________________ TV TIDBITS: Notes of interest TLC Cancels Kate plus 8: for the first time in four years, TLC will be without a Gosselin. The cable network has canceled docudrama Kate plus 8, which started as Jon & Kate in 2007 as they raised a pair of twins and their young sextuplets. after Jon and Kate called it quits, TLC pared the show down to Kate and her brood only, but the novelty quickly wore off. TLC is hoping to feature periodic specials on the family in the future. The Talk on CBS Axes two: CBS daytime chatfest The Talk, which returns for season two Sept. 6, is not expected to be inviting back co-hosts Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete. Originally hosted by a crowded panel of six, The Talk fired outside correspondent Marissa Jaret Winokur just three months into its run in January, paring it down to five. only Julie Chen, creator Sara Gilbert and Sharon Osbourne, who will be taking a temporary family leave, are expected to be back, with no word at present who will fill the empty chairs. More Awkward on MTV: MTV has picked-up scripted comedy Awkward for a second season, with an unconfirmed number of new episodes in 2012. Last week’s Tuesday installment rose to a series-high 2.0 rating among persons 12-34, which built by 21 percent from one week earlier. Upcoming at Travel Channel this Fall: Travel Channel will air three original series on Tuesdays, beginning Oct. 4. The night will open with made in America, a 13-episode series at 8 p.m. ET/PT hosted by George Motz as he explores 39 different factories that produce some of the most unusual products in the country. next at 9 p.m. ET/PT is Mysteries at the Museum, a 12-episode series that follows explorer Don Wildman as he unearths treasures from the past that helped shape our history. and 10 p.m. ET/PT will feature returning Off Limits, also hosted by Don Wildman, as he travels to hidden and unseen places across America. Seven new episodes have been ordered. __________________________________________________________________ TV TRIVIA TIME: not Spun Off Note: to respond to the trivia, please click HERE. do not click Reply four of the following five TV movies segued into TV series. which one did not? a) Foul Play b) Freebie and the Bean c) Goodfellas d) Paper Moon e) Serpico The answer to yesterday’s question… which one of the following sitcoms was created by Mel Brooks? a) Car 54, Where Are You? b) Hogan’s Heroes c) Holmes and Yoyo d) Soap e) when things Were Rotten Is: e) When things Were Rotten, which was a satire on Robin Hood that briefly aired on ABC in the fall of 1975. Current kudos goes to: mark Binda, Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, John Brooker, Paul Certo, Steve Clements, Bruce Cohen, Larry Collins, Larry Corsa, Audrey Davis (2x), Robert Eisenstaedt, Jan Frazier, Julie Friedlander, George Gardner, Gerry Gibbons, Maureen Goldman, Ed Griffis, Michael Holland, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Ken Jobe, Marie Lefevre Karp, Todd Koerner, Synda Kollman, Steve Kurtzer, Paul Neace, Aaron Paquette, Greg Phelan, Francine Purcell, Gordon Purcell, Cynthia Qualich, Michael Ratliffe, Colleen Roth, David Ruckman, Mindy Staley, Michelle Stanton, Ronnie Tallant, Carol Teichman, Larry Weinstock, Rob Wilson, Abbott Wool, Jim Wright, Ted Zavales

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