Category: Uncategorized

By: Phillip Torres and Kahlil Najar

DALY CITY-The San Francisco Bulls (11-15-2-1) hosted the Stockton Thunder (14-10-0-4) on Friday night at the Cow Palace. The paid crowd of 3,238 witnessed a very heated game between the two rivals from the Pacific West, as the game consisted of three brutal fights with two Thunder players being ejected from the game. Friday night’s contest was the first of five consecutive meetings between the San Francisco Bulls and the Stockton Thunder, and the Bulls took the early advantage in the five game set with a 5-2 victory on Friday night.The two teams will face off Saturday, Sunday and next Friday in Stockton, and then the fifth game will be played at the Cow Palace next Saturday January 4th.

The Bulls took the early lead with a first period goal from Adrian Foster at 14:56. Dean Ouellet and Steven Tarasuk earned the assists on the goal. The score was the lone goal by both teams as the score heading into the first intermission was 1-0 San Francisco.

Stockton scored the next two goals, one coming in the second and one in the third to take the 2-1 lead. Shawn Boutin and Corey Trivino were the two goal scorers for the Thunder.

San Francisco’s offensive surge started midway through the third period. Tyler Gron tied the game at two goals apiece with a at 11:27. Less than one minute later Jordan Morrison gave the Bulls the lead for good with a goal passed the glove side of goaltender Brian Foster as he skated behind the net. Brett Findlay and Gron assisted on the goal.

Luke Judson extended the Bulls lead with a slapshot to make it a 4-2 lead late. Foster and Kalvin Sagert assisted on the score. The final goal was scored by Morrison as he scored on an empty netter 19:22. Findlay and Ouellet earned the assists on the insurance goal.

Head coach Pat Curcio was very pleased with the performance of his team after the big victory against the Thunder. The head coach talked about it after the game.

“I’m very pleased with how the guys played. We’ve been talking about playing good five on five hockey and that’s what we did today,” Curcio said.

The Bulls will need to play great five in five hockey against Stockton in the remaining four games of the five game stretch. If the Bulls can win the remaining four games they would pull ahead of the Thunder in the standings and have sole possession of second place in the Pacific West Division.

The two rivals will meet again on Saturday night in Stockton. The puck will drop at 7:30 P.M.

By George Devine, Sr.

In the last annual Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Washington and Brigham Young universities were evenly matched with 8-4 records. TB Bishop Sankey made a big difference for the Huskies with 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His accomplishment was honored with the award for Outstanding Offensive Player of the game.

At 8:55 to go in the first, Sankey’s 11-yard touchdown run drew first blood, to cap a 12 play, 17 yard drive. It was his fifth carry (total 27 yards). That was the only scoring in a defensive initial frame, in which the Dawgs dominated in offensive stats. . But with 12:10 to go in the half, a one-yard touchdown run by BYU’s Jason Hill evened the score. Immediately afterwards, though, the Brigham Young kickoff was returned 101 yards by John Ross to restore UDub’s one-touchdown advantage. A 45 yard field goal by Justin Sorensen was the best the Cougs could produce after a 10 play drive ending at 8:22. At 3:46 another, this time for 31 yards, still left Brigham Young a point short. Within a little over a minute, Sankey’s second 11-yard touchdown run extended the margin once more, and Sorensen’s 32-yarder still left BYU with a deficit despite a dramatic shift in offensive statistical values in the period.

In the third, Keith Price’s 16 yard pass to Seferian Jenkins made it 28-16 in favor of Washington, for the only scoring play of the period. The fourth quarter began with distribution of Outstanding Player Awards ballot forms in the press box, with Sankey’s name showing up prominently in the offensive category. Travis Coons’ 45 yard field goal stretched the lead to an insurmountable 31-16 halfway through the final frame.

This was the first bowl win for Washington since the 2010 Holiday Bowl.

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{NCAA}

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-In his final game as the quarterback of the Washington Huskies, Keith Price looked like a former Huskies student-athlete who calls AT&T Park home during the baseball season.

Price, a senior out of St. John Bosco in Bellflower, CA looked like two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum, who played baseball for the Huskies went 17-for-22 with 123 yards passing with one touchdown, as the Huskies defeated the Brigham Young Cougars 31-16 in the 12th Fight Hunger Bowl before 34,136 at AT&T Park.

Bishop Sankey scored two touchdowns in the first half, as the Huskies under interim head coach Marques Tuiasosopo ended the season with their ninth win of the season.

Sankey got the Huskies on the board on their first drive of the evening, as he took a Price handoff and scampered 11 yards to the end zone for the first of his two touchdowns in the first half.

Taysom Hill tied up the game, as the quarterback scooted in from one-yard out, but that would not be the score for very long.

John Ross took the ensuing kickoff a Fight Hunger Bowl record 100 yards to give the Huskies the lead once again.

The Ross touchdown return broke the record of 95 yards set by Gee Gee Greene of the United States Naval Academy in the 2012 game versus the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Cougars got back into the game, as Justin Sorensen kicked a 45 and 31 yard field goal to get the Cougars back within one.

After a 47-yard kickoff by Jesse Callier to the Cougars 35-yard line after Sorensen’s second field goal of the half, Sankey scored for the second time and once again from 11 yards out.

Sorensen kicked his third field goal of the game as time expired to end the first half, and shortened the Huskies down to five at the end of the first half.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins, the 2013 John Mackey Award winner as the best tight end in College Football gave the Huskies a 12-point lead, as he scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Price for the only scoring in the third quarter for either team.

Price was forced to leave the game after sustaining a hit to his ribs that required x-rays.

Travis Coons put the finishing touches on the scoring, as he nailed a 45-yard field goal with 7:53 remaining in the ballgame.

Hill did it all for the Cougars, as he went 25-for-48 for 292 yards passing, and gained 31 carries for 133 on the ground.

Cody Hoffman caught 12 passes for 167 yards in his final game as a member of the Cougars.

This is the 12th and final Fight Hunger Bowl to be played at AT&T Park, as the game will be heading to Levi’s Stadium, the future home of the San Francisco 49ers beginning in 2014.

Not only will it be there a new home, but a new matchup as well, as the PAC-12 will matchup with the Big 10.

By George Devine, Sr.

As the teams prepare for the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco, the Cougars of Brigham Young University feel confiden in opposing the Huskies from the University of Washington. Both teams finished their regular season schedules with 8-4 records, considerably better than the standard for bowl eligibility. This will be BYU’s ninth consecutive postseason game. “We feel we’re playing a fantastic opponent,” said coach Bronco Mendenhall, “the best postseason opponent in nine years! Washington will play very hard. Washington plays very fast and they are very strong defensively; I expect them to be tough!”|

When asked what effect the game would have on the 2013 experience for his team, Mendenhall said, “I’m already considering the season a success,” pointing to the tough opposition his players faced in their regular schedule opponents. “I’m very proud of my team,” he remarked, singling out senior linebacker Kyle Van Noy. “He kept his word. He graduated in four years and kept his commitment”, acknowledging the fact that the Reno native could have chosen otherwise by entering the draft.

Van Noy himself said, “I just want to make plays and be a difference maker,|” acknowledging that the Huskies have “great receivers and running backs, and a quarterback that can throw!”

Oddsmakers expect the game to be decided by as few as three points. Kickoff will be at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, December 27.

This will be the twelfth installment of the game, and the last to take place at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Beginning in 2014 the contest will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the new home of the San Francisco 49ers. From that year through 2019 the game will be played by opponents from the Pac-12 and Big 10.

{NCAA}

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Heading into their first ever Fight Hunger Bowl appearance, the Washington Huskies were hit a blow to the stomach that would have erupted Mt. St. Helens again.

Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, who was hired prior to the 2009 season, replacing Tyrone Willingham, who was fired after going 0-12 during the 2008 season left the program and headed to the University of Southern California as head coach.

Sarkisian is eventually being replaced by Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, but during the bowl game, the Huskies will be coached by Marques Tuiasosopo, who led the Huskies a Rose Bowl victory over the Purdue Boilermakers and current New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees on January 1, 2001.

The Huskies, who enter the game with an 8-4 record will face the Brigham Young Cougars, who also enter the game with an identical 8-4 record.

Bishop Sankey is the Huskies leading rusher, as the junior out of Spokane’s Gonzaga Prep High School topped the 1,000 yard plateau for the second year in a row, gaining 1,775 yards after gaining 1,439 yards in his sophomore season.

Senior Keith Price is the Huskies quarterback, and enters the game with 216 completions out of 330 attempts with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The senior out of Compton, CA was named All PAC-12 Honorable Mention, and was a captain for the second consecutive season.

This is the fourth consecutive bowl game for the Huskies, who are just the second team in the last 50 years to have gone from a winless season to four bowl games in five seasons, joining the 1982 Florida Gators.

 By Morris Phillips

Questionable shot selection and poor shooting don’t add up to a good night on the hardwood.   Given that toxic mix, the Cal Bears spent the majority of the evening trailing by double digits before falling in their big test at Creighton on Sunday, 68-54.  And as a result, the Bears will enter Pac-12 conference play without a signature non-conference win.

The Bears shot just 33 percent in the first half and trailed the Bluejays, 30-19 at the break.  But what was surprising was the lack of aggressiveness at the offensive end where the Bears managed just 24 shots–half of those 3-point attempts—and one trip to the free throw line.  Creighton’s sticky man-to-man defense in part explains why the Bears’ offense got pushed out on the floor, but impatient Cal shooters deserve their share of the blame.

All-American Doug McDermott didn’t start off shooting much better, missing seven of his first eight attempts, but after that the coach’s son carried the Jays, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  McDermott also settled for some long distance shots, but made eight of his final 14 shot attempts by getting to his sweet spots inside the arch and relying on his signature step back jumpers.  McDermott has scored 20 or more points in all but one of Creighton’s games this season.

The Bluejays led by as many 19 points in the second half as Coach Mike Montgomery substituted frequently in attempt to find a hot hand.  But Montgomery was unable to find one as the Bears shot just 36 percent for the game and never made a sustained push in the second half. 

Justin Cobbs led Cal with 13 points and four assists, and  Tyrone Wallace (12) and David Kravish (11)  also scored in double figures.  

The Bears played without Ricky Kreklow who suffered a broken hand in practice this week.  Freshman Jabari Bird got the start in place of Kreklow but left early when he sustained an ankle injury.

The Bears final non-conference contest comes next Saturday against Furman at Haas Pavilion.   Cal opens Pac-12 play on January 2 at Stanford.   

 

{Raiders} {NFL}

By Jeremy Kahn

Entering halftime, things looked to be going well for the Oakland Raiders, but unfortunately things did not end that way for the Silver and Black.

Two huge turnovers and 12 penalties did not help the hapless Raiders, as the San Diego Chargers outscored their longtime rivals in the second half 16-3 and defeated them 26-13 at Qualcomm Stadium.

The Chargers, who are playing for their playoff lives won their third straight, their longest winning streak of the 2013 season.

Philip Rivers put the Chargers up for good with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, as the veteran found former CAL star Keenan Allen for a four-yard touchdown pass.

Ryan Mathews gained 99 yards for the Chargers, as he eclipsed his career high with 1,111 yards on the ground.

Chargers kicker Nick Novak kicked four field goals for the victors, as the two rivals from old American Football League split their season series, with each team winning on their home turf.

Trailing by 13 with 4:39 in the game, Matt McGloin found Rod Streater, but Streater was unable to hold onto the ball; however the Raiders challenged the incompletion but the ruling on the field stood after it was reviewed by the replay officials.

McGloin got the Raiders all the way down inside the Chargers 10-yard line, but Marcel Reese was unable to hold to a sure touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal and the Chargers took over with :56 remaining the game.

Mike Jenkins committed a huge penalty, as he was called for taunting after he pushed Mathews out of bounds and then Allen scored six plays later.

Darren McFadden scored on a five-yard run to give the Raiders a 7-3 lead, but Mathews gave the lead back to the Chargers on a seven-yard run with 3;13 remaining in the half.

Sebastian Janikowski tied up the game with just 10 seconds remaining in the first half, as he kicked a 20-yard field goal.

Rashad Jennings led the Raiders in rushing, as he carried the ball 10 for just 45 yards, while McFadden carried the ball four times for eight yards, including that five-yard touchdown run.

McGloin ended the afternoon, going 20-for-36 with 206 yards passing and an interception.

The Raiders return home for the final game of the season against the Denver Broncos, as they look to stop a five-game losing streak and avoid going 4-12 for the second consecutive season.