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49ers offense feasts on Seahawks in 31-13 win on Thanksgiving night

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San Francisco 49ers players gathered on the field to eat celebratory turkey after their 31-13 over the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on Thursday NOV 23, 2023. (Kym Fortino-49ers)

by Marko Ukalovic

Seahawk and touchdowns were served on Thanksgiving in the Pacific Northwest.

In front of a national audience, the San Francisco 49ers were in a festival mood after dominating the Seattle Seahawks in a 31-13 blowout win on Thanksgiving evening at Lumen Field.

San Francisco opened up a two-game lead on their NFC West division rival with its third win in a row. They jumped up to second in the NFC with the Detroit Lions loss to the Green Bay Packers earlier on in the day. Seattle’s hopes of winning the division were shot down with its second loss in a row and three out of its last four games.

It was a steady serving of Christian McCaffery for the 49ers. The all-pro running back rushed for 114 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. McCaffery also had five catches for 25 yards.

San Francisco (8-3) scored on its opening drive. McCaffery had the big play with a run of 27 yards. Deebo Samuel finished off the nine play 75-yard drive with a two-yard end around rushing touchdown as Seattle won the coin toss but elected to receive the second half kickoff.

McCaffery scored his first touchdown early in the second quarter when he powered his way through for a one-yard touchdown. Then he scored his second touchdown with 5:11 remaining in the second quarter when he scampered in from eight yards out after breaking a couple of tackles to complete an eight play 58-yard drive to give the 49ers a 21-3 lead.

McCaffery has 11 rushing touchdowns on the season and is tied for the league lead with former 49ers running back Raheem Mostert. His 939 rushing yards currently leads the NFL.

“I think anytime you’re behind this offensive line you have to have a lot of trust and patience,” said McCaffery on his second rushing touchdown. “They did such a great job all day. The tight ends blocked well. Juice (Kyle Juszczyk) always blocks well. I mean these guys work so hard in the run game. So, you just got to trust it and stay on your landmarks. You never know when the hole can open (up)”.

San Francisco took advantage of a special team’s turnover late in the first half. DeeJay Dallas muffed a punt when he took his off the ball. The ball was recovered by Ronnie Bell at the Seattle 22-yard line. The 49ers converted the gift into three points with a Jake Moody 32-yard field goal for a comfortable 24-3 lead at halftime.

“We needed to start faster. We gotta play complimentary football that’s just how it is. You can’t spot them 24 points in the first half. At the end of the day, we gotta be better,” Seattle safety Quandre Diggs said.

Seattle (6-5) changed the momentum of them game to start the second half when Jordyn Brooks intercepted Brock Purdy and returned it 12-yards for a pick six.

After a three and out by the Seahawk defense, Geno Smith marched Seattle down the field on a 14 play 78-yard drive. However, the 49ers defense held its ground as the drive stalled out at their 23-yard line. The home team settled for a Jason Meyers 30-yard field goal.

San Francisco’s defense shutout Seattle in the fourth quarter as they front line put pressure on Smith and sacked him twice. They also made back-to-back short yardage stands when Seattle run the ball unsuccessfully on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 as Seattle turned the ball over on downs late in the fourth quarter.

“The way the defense played tonight was unbelievable. They kept them out of the endzone the whole game and had six sacks. I thought the way our corners played on the outside was a real impressive game, really excited to watch it,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said.

Nick Bosa had two sacks and Javon Hargrave had 1.5 sacks as the front four dominated the trenches in the second half. Ambry Thomas chipped in with an interception and Charvarius Ward had an impressive game pass defending the deep ball against DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

Purdy iced the game for San Francisco when he connected with Brandon Aiuyk for a 28-yard touchdown reception with 7:51 remaining in the game.

Purdy finished 21 of 30 for 209 yards to go with his one touchdown and interception. Samuel led all receivers with seven catches in 79 yards. Elijah Mitchell chipped in with 39 yards on seven carries.

It was a long night for Smith, who was dealing with an elbow injury he suffered this past Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, as he was 18 of 27 for 180 yards with one interception and was sacked a total of six times. Zach Charbonnet, who was the lead back in place of injured Kenneth Walker III, led the Seahawks in rushing with 47 yards on 14 carries. Jaxon Smith-Njigba chipped in with two catches for 41 yards.

Numerous 49er players enjoyed turkey on the field during the postgame interview on NBC. It has become tradition for the members of the winning team to celebrate a win with food.

GAME NOTES: San Francisco finished 5-for-11 on third down conversions. Seattle was 3-for-11.

UP NEXT: San Francisco take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday 12/3 at 1:25pm at Lincoln Financial Field.

Barracuda shoot down Gulls with second period blitz in 5-4 win

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San Jose Barracuda forward Justin Bailey (#90) celebrates a goal with his teammates during his team’s 5-1 win over the San Diego Gulls at Tech CU Arena on Tuesday NOV 21, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda scored four goals in the second period en route to a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Gulls on Tuesday night at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose snapped a two-game losing streak. San Diego suffered its season worse 12 straight loss (0-9-3) after winning its first two games.

San Jose (4-6-4-0) drew first blood early in the first period on the power play. Cole Cassels sent a shot in from the point. Justin Bailey made a backhand pass back into the crease where Thomas Bordeleau tapped it home past Gulls netminder Calle Clang for his fourth goal of the season at the 5:46 mark.

Despite outshooting San Jose by a two-to-one margin (12-6), San Diego (2-9-3-0) weren’t able to get a puck by ‘Cuda netminder Georgi Romanov in the opening frame.

The Barracuda doubled its lead with its second power play goal at the 7:00 mark. Leon Gawanke centered a pass over to Jacob Peterson who buried a one-timer past Clang for his second goal of the season.

San Jose scored its third unanswered goal 27 seconds later thanks to a gift by San Diego. Olen Zellweger turned over the puck to Brandon Coe right in front of the net. Coe snuck a backhander past Clang for his fifth goal of the season at the 7:27 mark.

“Obviously it’s good to get the two points,” said ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy regarding his team’s overall performance. “A couple of things I’d like to cleanup. I’d like to see us close out the game a little bit firmer than we did. But wins have been hard to come by, so I’m happy for the guys.”

The Gulls broke the seal on the power play thanks last season’s Barracuda captain. Andrew Agozzino’s wrist shot from up by the point beat Romanov up high for Agozzino’s second goal of the season at the 10:00 mark.

Boredleau scored his second goal of the game Ethan Cardwell’s attempted pass hit off the skate of Zellweger and ricochet off the shoulder of Bordeleau for his fifth goal of the season at the 15:07 mark.

“It feels good, I mean I got a couple of bounces, (was) lucky to be at the right place at the right time. Our whole line played really good, so it was easy to count on things going our way,” Bordeleau said.

San Jose scored its fourth goal of the middle frame Cardwell cleaned up a rebound off a shot by Peterson that was initially saved by Clang. Cardwell’s fourth goal of the season came at the 18:34 mark.

Former ‘Cuda defenseman Trevor Carrick found Pavol Regenda right along the crease as he buried home a point-blank shot for his team leading ninth goal of the season at the 10:13 mark of the third period.

San Diego cut the Cuda lead to two when Nathan Gaucher scored into an open net when Jacob Perreault centered the puck right to the tape of Gaucher’s stick right in front of the crease at the 13:56 mark. It was Gaucher’s second goal of the season.

Carrick scored the Gulls third unanswered goal of the period when he wired in a wrist shot from the point through traffic for his third goal of the season with 17 seconds left in the game.

Romanov (3-2-2) finished the night stopping 26 of the 30 shots he faced to earn his third victory of the season. Clang (1-5-2) gave up five goals on 24 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-5 on the power play. San Diego was 1-for-3.

‘Cuda Winger Ozzy Wiesblatt left the game during the first period after throwing a big hit with an injury and did not return to the game. There was no further update regarding his condition.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Bordeleau 2) Cardwell 3) Peterson.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Ontario Reign for a Thanksgiving weekend two-game series on Friday 11/24 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Purdy is perfect as 49ers dominate Bucs in 27-14 convincing win

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy attempts a pass play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday NOV 19, 2023. (San Francisco 49ers)

by Marko Ukalovic

It’s been 34 years since a San Francisco 49ers quarterback has had a perfect QB rating.

Brock Purdy matched a couple of quarterback legends in a 27-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.

San Francisco has won two games in a row after dropping its past three and are in sole position of first place in the NFC West after the Los Angeles Rams upset victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Tampa Bay has lost five of its last six games.

Purdy recorded a QB rating of 158.3 for the first time in his NFL career. A feat that hasn’t been done in San Francisco since both Joe Montana and Steve Young did it during the 1989 season.

San Francisco scored on its second possession when Purdy led the team on a 12 play 80-yard drive against Tampa Bay’s defense that forced a punt on the 49ers first possession. Purdy connected with running back Christian McCaffery on a four-yard touchdown reception.

“I kind of hope the critics keep coming cause it pisses him off,” said McCaffery on Purdy’s detractors. “He plays really well.”

After a Jake Moody 37-yard field goal, the Buccaneers marched down the field on a 10 play 75-yard drive for it first touchdown. Baker Mayfield threw a one-yard touchdown reception to Mike Evans who tight-roped the back of the endzone.

The 49ers received a 28-yard field goal from Moody with :16 left in the second quarter to close out the first half on a positive note.

Purdy and the offense opened up the game on its first possession of the second half as they went 98 yards in just three plays for its next touchdown. Purdy threw a deep pass to the left to Brandon Aiyuk who raced into the endzone for a 76-yard touchdown reception.

The 76-yard touchdown reception is the longest in the NFL this season. Purdy has the two longest touchdown receptions in the league this season. Last week’s 66-yarder to Geroge Kittle was the longest till Aiyuk’s catch.

The 49ers offense kept the pedal to the metal when Purdy threw for his third touchdown of the game when he found Kittle in the back of the endzone all alone for a three-yard touchdown reception with 1:42 left in the third quarter for a 20-point lead.

Rachaad White rushed for a one-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give Tampa Bay hope, but San Francisco’s defense shut down Mayfield and company the rest of game with two turnovers on downs and one interception.

Ji’Ayir Brown intercepted Mayfield in the endzone with 3:38 remaining in the game to seal the deal for San Francisco. It was the first interception in the red zone by Mayfield in four years.

Fred Warner, who celebrated his 27th birthday, was the defensive player of the game with 12 total tackles, a forced fumble and half a sack. Nick Bosa led the 49ers in quarterback hits with three. Chase Young had a sack in back-to-back games since being acquired at the trade deadline by San Francisco.

Purdy finished his career day going 21 of 25 for 333 yards with no interceptions or sacks to go along with his three touchdowns and perfect QB rating. Aiyuk led all receivers with five catches for 156 yards. Kittle, overshadowed by Aiyuk, had eight catches for 89 yards. Deebo Samuel chipped in with three catches, including a 40-yarder, for 63 yards.

“Brock (Purdy) is solid, a really good quarterback, anything he can do. I don’t know if he can run a 4.3 (40-yard dash), do a lot of Wildcat stuff. But everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s done at a really high level,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said.

McCaffery, who started a new touchdown game streak, led all rushers with 78 yards on 21 carries. He also tallied five catches for 25 yards for another game with 100 plus all-purpose yards.

Mayfield was 29 of 45 for 246 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked four times. White led the Bucs in rushing with 30 yards on nine carries. Cade Otton led Tampa Bay in receiving with four catches for 49 yards. Evans chipped in five catches for 43 yards.

GAME NOTES: San Francisco finished 4-for-10 on third down conversions. Tampa Bay went 7-for-14.

49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga suffered a knee injury during the game and did not return.

UP NEXT: San Francisco travels to the Pacific Northwest for a Thanksgiving (11/23) showdown with the Seattle Seahawks at 5:20pm at Lumen Field.

Eagles take down Barracuda 3-2 in overtime to sweep series

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Colorado Eagle Cedric Pare checks San Jose Barracuda Tanner Kaspick into the benches at Tech CU Arena on Saturday NOV 18, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Callahan Burke scored the game winning goal 1:07 into the overtime period to give the Colorado Eagles a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at Tech CU Arena.

On a delayed penalty, a pass against the boards found Burke’s stick and he fired a shot for the game winner for his second goal of the game.

San Jose has lost three out of its past four games. With the sweep, Colorado have won three out of its past four games.

Colorado (8-5-3-0) drew first blood late in the first period with an even strength goal. A shot from the left wing by Tanner Kero was initially saved by ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona but Wyatt Aamodt swooped in from the left and wrapped around the puck into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season at the 16:12 mark.

Despite out shooting Colorado 11-9 in the opening frame, San Jose (3-6-4-0) were down by one at the first intermission as Eagles goalie Justus Annunen kept them off the scoreboard.

The Eagles doubled its lead late in the second period thanks a bad giveaway by Leon Gawanke inside his own zone. Burke cleaned up the rebound on a Cedric Pare shot as he roofed a point-blank shot past Chrona for his first goal of the game and of the season at the 14:03 mark.

San Jose cut the lead in half near the end of the middle frame with an even strength goal from their fourth line. Brett Kemp centered a pass over to Bradley Marek who beat Annunen with a one-timer for his first career AHL goal at the 18:02 mark.

Thomas Bordeleau scored the equalizer at the halfway mark of the third period on a great individual play. On an odd man rush, Bordeleau carried the puck into the Eagles’ zone. He waited for an Eagles defenseman to bite on his fake before beating Annunen to the far side with a wrist shot for his third goal of the season at the 9:37 mark.

Annunen finished the game stopping 31 of the 33 shots he faced to earn back-to-back victories. Chrona made 31 saves on 34 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-4 on the power play. Colorado was 0-for-3.

San Jose has lost nine consecutive games to Colorado dating back to last season.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Burke 2) Bordeleau 3) Marek.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the San Diego Gulls on Tuesday 11/21 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Meyers hat trick help Eagles take down Barracuda 5-2

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San Jose Barracuda forward Justin Bailey jams home a puck past Colorado goalie Justus Annunen at Tech CU Arena on Friday NOV 17, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Ben Meyers scored early and scored late for his first hat trick of the season as the Colorado Eagles defeated the San Jose Barracuda 5-2 on Friday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose is 2-3 in its past five games and have not won back-to-back game this season. Colorado is 3-2 in its past five games.

Colorado (7-5-3-0) drew first blood early in the first period. A turnover inside the ‘Cuda zone led to an odd man rush for the Eagles. Riley Tufte slid a pass over to Ben Meyers who tapped home the puck into an open net for his second goal of the season at the 3:07 mark.

The Eagles doubled its lead on the power play near the halfway mark of the opening frame. A failed clearing attempt by Ethan Cardwell led to Oskar Olausson’s backhander that deflected off ‘Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov up into the air and into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season at the 8:01 mark.

San Jose (3-6-3-0) cut Colorado’s lead in half on the man advantage late in the period. A shot from the point by Henry Thrun bounced off Eagles goalie Justus Annunen that laid right in front of the crease. After a mad scramble in front of the net, Justin Bailey poked the puck into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season at the 17:14 mark.

Colorado regained its two-goal lead 25 seconds to start the second period on a power play that carried over from the first period. Meyers scored his second goal of the game when he beat Romanov to the short side with a one-timer from the right slot. Corey Schueneman set up Meyers third goal of the season with a rink wide pass.

The Barracuda made it a one-goal game near the halfway mark of the third period. Brett Kemp won a battle along the boards before centering a feed to Ozzy Wiesblatt who got Annunen to go down before beating him with a wrist shot to the glove side for his second goal of the season at the 7:31 mark.

Nick Cicek thought he had evened the score at the 16:13 mark when he beat Annunen with a one-timer from the right point, but the goal was waived off when Nathan Todd was called for goalie interference.

San Jose pulled Romanov with 2:10 remaining in the third period but Meyers spoiled the comeback with when he completed his hat trick to ice the game for the Eagles at the 19:05 mark.

Former Barracuda defenseman Keaton Middleton completed the scoring with an empty net goal with one second remaining for his first goal of the season.

Annunen finished the game stopping 26 of the 28 shots he faced to earn the victory. Romanov made 22 saves on 25 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-6 on the power play. Colorado was 2-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Meyers 2) Tufte 3) Bailey.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Colorado conclude their two-game series on Saturday 11/18 at 6:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Sacramento Manhandles Lakers – Win Fourth In a Row 125-110; Kings beat LA despite LeBron’s triple double in the Southland

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Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) arms raised and forward Harrison Barnes (40) during a time out as the Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Wed Nov 15, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings (6-4) had an amazing first quarter en route to a 125-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers (6-6). They handed the Lakers their first home loss of the season as they outplayed them through the first three quarters. This is the first of a six game road trip for Sacramento and a very positive way to start it.

Game recap: The Kings got a great start in the opening quarter scoring 32 points in nine minutes. With less than two minutes left in the first quarter Sacramento had a 37-19 lead. Both Domantas Sabonis and Kevin Huerter had ten points apiece in the quarter. The Kings made six shots from downtown and were looking to continue to control the pace of this game going into the second quarter with a 38-25 lead.

After leading by as much as 20 points in the opening quarter, the Lakers erased that lead pulling to within eight points in the early minutes of the second quarter. Fast break points favored the Kings so far in this game and at 8:59 Sacramento held a 46-35 lead. With 0.1 left on the clocks the second quarter Fox hit a 27-foot jumper and the Kings took a 72-59 lead into the locker room.

Fox already had a 21 point game with Sabonis coming in with 19 points. So far in this game the Kings were dominating the glass. Sacramento finished the half with ten shots from downtown.

Sacramento finished the third quarter with an amazing 16 shots from downtown with Kevin Huerter responsible for six of them. He was having another solid game as the Kings continued to dictate the pace of this game going into the fourth quarter with a 104-80 lead.

The Kings were leading the Lakers in points from the field, shots from downtown, rebounds and only had ten turnovers through three quarters. The 24 point Sacramento lead was the largest they had in the game so far.

The Lakers got a fast start in the fourth quarter scoring six unanswered points. The Kings called a hasty time-out needing to get their offense back on track. It was a horrible start in the final quarter for Sacramento. They let their 24 point lead dwindle to 16. After missing numerous shots to start the quarter the Kings offense started to heat up again although they were committing too many turnovers with five in the quarter.

Both teams were shooting at 50% and the Sacramento offense began to struggle with five minutes left in the game. The 24 point lead that the Kings took into the fourth quarter had been cut in half with the Lakers trailing by a dozen. Sacramento was able to pull it together enough to win this game. This was the Laker’s first home loss of the season.

LeBron James gave his team an outside chance to win this game in the fourth quarter finishing with 28 points. D’Angelo Russell also had 28 points for Los Angeles. The Lakers did have 23 turnovers which hurt them.

Sabonis had the high for the Kings with 29 points and 16 rebounds. Fox and Huerter had 28 points apiece. Harrison Barnes chipped in double digits with 13.

Game notes: Wednesday night the Kings traveled to Los Angeles taking on the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. The Kings had embarked on a six game road trip that started Wednesday night. The Kings came off a win over the Cavaliers Monday night 132-120 that saw the long-awaited return of Fox.

Fox did not disappoint and finished with 28 points. Sacramento had four starters with 20 plus points in that game and they extended their winning streak to three games. Huerter had a terrific night with 20 points and going 6 of 9 from downtown against Cleveland. Keegan Murray and Sabonis also had an outstanding game last Monday.

The Kings sure started this road trip on a positive note with the win Wednesday night. They will be looking to extend their four game winning streak Friday night taking on the San Antonio Spurs with a scheduled 4:30 PM tipoff.

Sharks Lose 5-3 to Panthers In Their Return Home

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The San Jose Sharks center Luke Kunin (left) celebrates scoring against Florida Panthers goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Nov 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, November 14th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – At the SAP Center it’s the San Jose Sharks who are looking for a third win on the season against the Florida Panthers who are 9-4-1 and second in the Atlantic division. The Sharks lost their last game against the Ducks 4-1, but San Jose had their eyes set on last year’s Eastern Conference champions but couldn’t seal the deal in a two goal 5-3 loss.

Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks with 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) entering tonight’s game alongside William Eklund, the offense looks to shake things up against a defense who isn’t afraid to get physical. Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was pivotal in the Sharks only wins this season, but if the Sharks want any traction, Blackwood can’t be the only defensive presence out there on the ice. 

 The first period was a tale of two parts. The first part was a combination of sloppy play and bad rotation on defense where Ryan Lomberg scored the first goal of the game unassisted. 1-0 Panthers. The Sharks this season are notoriously bad when the opponent scores first (0-9).

The Sharks got the tying goal three minutes after the Florida goal and it was from the Sharks Mike Hoffman, his first of the season (assisted by Jan Rutta and Ryan Carpenter) making it 1-1. The Sharks strengthened up the defense to keep it tied at the end of the period and a sense of optimism was held over the SAP Center. 

The goalies were the highlight for the majority of the second period, both goalies showing out as they controlled the momentum. That changed when a roughing call to Givani Smith led to a power play goal by Panthers points leader Sam Reinhart, who scored his 12th goal of the season so far, assisted by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Matthew Tkachuk 2-1 Panthers.

Smith even with the penalty still upheld his role as an enforcer, because his style of play started to frustrate the Panthers. Smith wasn’t the only guy throwing his body around, the Sharks physicality was clearly something to highlight in this period. As the period came to a close a tripping call with 18 seconds left on Panthers center Nick Cousins gave San Jose an advantage going into the third. 

Sharks third period had high hopes. Tomas Hertl scored on a powerplay goal from a beautiful pass by Zetterlund to make it 2-2. Right after that Luke Kunin scored on a rebound with a backhand shot and now it was 3-2 San Jose and the SAP Center was electric. “We Want Tacos!” chants started to circulate as the fans didn’t just want the win, they wanted free tacos, but that would come with a price.

Carter Verhaeghe on a power play hit a diving goal that tied things up and special teams was something that Coach Quinn stressed for his Sharks players, “a focus before the game” he said, but it would end up being a thing that kept them away from victory.

Kevin Stenlund put the Panthers back on top with a redirect on Balinskis shot that went five hole on Blackwood and now it was 4-3. 38 seconds later Sam Bennett appeared to close the game out for Florida, but Coach Quinn successfully challenged the play for offside and it was no goal, still 4-3. With 2:30 left in the game Quinn emptied his net, but the strategy would fail as Barkov scored into an empty net and it was a 5-3 to end the game. 

The Sharks lose another game, but the beauty of the NHL is there’s always a game around the corner and for the Sharks that game comes after one day’s rest. San Jose will be back in the Shark Tank to face the St. Louis Blues, a team that Coach Quinn credits for “having good forwards”. Last time the Sharks were in the Tank they had a two game win streak, but now it’s back to fighting from underneath and trying to find out what works and what doesn’t for this team. 

49ers completely dominate Jaguars in 34-3 route

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The San Francisco 49ers defense celebrates one of their four takeaways over the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank ST on Sunday NOV 12, 2023. (San Francisco 49ers).

by Marko Ukalovic

It was an emphatic way to snap a three-game losing streak.

The San Francisco 49ers destroyed the Jacksonville Jaguars in a 34-3 blowout victory on Sunday afternoon at EverBank Stadium.

San Francisco snapped its longest losing streak of the season with the win. Jacksonville fell back down to earth as it had its four-game winning streak also came to end.

The 49ers set the tone from the get-go as they forced back-to-back three and outs the ended with sacking quarterback Trevor Lawrence twice. The ferocious defense held Jaguars to 11 yards in first quarter.

Brock Purdy threw 13-yard touchdown reception after scrambling out to his left and threw the ball over a sea of traffic in the endzone to Brandon Aiyuk to complete a four play 57-yard drive in just 2:05 on San Francisco’s opening drive.

Newly acquired defensive end Chase Young sacked and stripped Lawerence of the ball early in the second quarter. Nick Bosa, who was also in on the play, recovered the ball. San Francisco traded for Young at the deadline for a compensatory third-round pick to the Washington Commanders.

San Francisco opened the second half when Purdy connected with tight end George Kittle 66-yard touchdown reception. Kittle beat Devin Lloyd on a in route. It was the longest touchdown of Purdy’s career.

The 49ers defense made Lawrence’s life hell in the second half as the shutdown the Jaguars offense. Talanoa Hufanga intercepted Lawrence on a 3rd and 1 on Jacksonville’s first possession of the first half.

Ambry Thomas stripped Christian Krik at the 6-yard line, picked up the ball and ran down the right sideline for what appeared to be a 92-yard touchdown return. But there was an illegal substitution called on San Francisco when players ran onto the field during the play.

San Francisco’s defense finished with five sacks and four takeaways, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries after being humbled the past three games during the losing streak.

Deebo Samuel, back from his injury he suffered on October 15th against the Cleveland Browns, put the game away late in the third quarter when he ran an end around for 23 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the season.

Purdy found a wide-open Kyle Juszczyk for 22-yard touchdown reception with 12:40 left in the fourth quarter for his third touchdown of the game. The second-year quarterback out of Iowa St. finished 19 of 26 for 296 yards to go along with his three scores and no interceptions.

The only drama late in the game was if running back Christian McCaffery would break the all-time record for consecutive games with a touchdown. It didn’t happen as his last attempt was an incomplete pass on 4th and Goal with 2:56 left in the fourth quarter. McCaffery rushed for 95 yards on 16 carried and had six receptions for 47 yards.

Kittle led all receivers with three catches for 116 yards. Aiyuk chipped in three catches for 55 yards. Samuel had four catches for 30 yards.

Lawrence was 17 of 29 for 185 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Kirk led the Jaguars in receiving with six catches for 104 yards. Travis Etienne Jr chipped in with 35 yards on nine carries.

GAME NOTES: Both teams were 4-for-12 on third down conversions.

UP NEXT: San Francisco returns home to host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday 11/19 at 1:05pm at Levi’s Stadium.

Martinez runs wild in Beavers’ 62-17 rout of Stanford

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By Daniel Dullum

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Damien Marttinez put on a show for Oregon State Saturday, rushing for 146 yards and a career-best four touchdowns for the No. 12 Beavers, as they trounced Stanford 62-17 at Corvallis, Ore.

Martinez was the Pac-12 freshman offensive player of the year in 2022. He passed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season, doing most of his damage in the first half as Oregon State (8-2 overall, 5-2 Pac-12) kept its conference championship game hopes alive while winning its ninth straight home game.

The Cardinal (3-7 overall, 2-6 Pac-12) had troubler keeping up with Oregon State’s high-powered attack as they trailed 34-10 at halftime.

Martinez set the tone, but there were others who had a big day for the Beavers. Quarterback DJ Ulagalelei completed 12 of 19 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns, and Andrew Chatfield Jr. had two sacks, a forced fumble and an interception.

Martinez scored his first touchdown with 9:52 left in the first quarter. Four minutes later, Martinez ran in from 59 yards out. With 623 seconds to go in the quarter, Ashton Daniels put the Cardinal on the board with a 7-yard touchdown run, cutting OSU’s lead to 14-7.

A minute and 26 seconds into the second quarter, Martinez’s 15-yard touchdown run put the Beavers up 21-7, and OSU added another score two minutes later on a 40-yard scoring pass from Ulagalelei to Jermaine Terry II.

Stanford’s Joshua Karty kicked a 28-ya5-yard run, rd field goal with 3:04 left In the second quarter, cutting the OSU lead to 28-10. But Martinez scored his fourth touchdown, a 5-yard run with 15 seconds left in the half, to give the Beavers a 24-point lead at the intermission.

Oregon State proceeded to outscore the Cardinal 28-7 in the second half. With 1:30 left in the third quarter, Stanford scored one last time when Daniels threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Elic Ayomanor.

Daniels completed 10 of 16 passes for 200 yards, one touchdown, an interception and he was sacked three times. Daniels was also the Cardinal’s leading ground gainer with 37 yards on nine carries. Ayomanor caught three passes for 122 yards.

Oregon State racked up 29 first downs and 598 yards in total offense.

Stanford returns home for the 126th renewal of the Big Game against California next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Barracuda flip script against Wranglers in 4-1 win to end losing skid

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San Jose Barracuda players celebrate their 4-1 win over the Calgary Wranglers at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday NOV 5, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Mark Ukalovic

Dustin Wolf is human after all.

It was a game of firsts as the San Jose Barracuda defeated the Calgary 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

San Jose snapped its six-game losing streak while earning its first road win of the season. Calgary suffered its first regulation loss of the season and first loss at home.

Wolf, who was 12-0 against the Barracuda in his career, had his first defeat against the Sharks organization as he also had a win against the Sharks last season when he was on the Calgary Flames.

San Jose (2-4-3) drew first blood early in the first period with a four-on-four goal. Henry Thrun was credited with his first career goal. The rookie defenseman’s pass intended for Cole Cassels went off the skate of a Wranglers defenseman at the 6:50 mark. It was the first time the Barracuda have had a lead in the Saddledome since last season.

Calgary (6-1-1) despite outshooting San Jose 9-6 in the opening 20 minutes, weren’t able to capitalize on their power play opportunities when Brandon Coe went off for a double-minor for high sticking at the 6:33 mark.

The Wranglers once again dominated the shot clock in the second period (12-6) but the combo of the ‘Cuda defense and goalie Gregori Romanov kept the home team off the scoreboard in the middle frame. Romanov made a sprawling save on a point-blank chance by Adam Klapka at the 7:51 mark.

San Jose doubled its lead to start the third period with an even strength goal. Jacob Peterson found Danil Gushchin in the neutral zone. Gushchin skated in and beat Wolf top-shelf with a wrist shot for his team-leading fourth goal of the season at th 1:02 mark.

The Barracuda scored its third unanswered goal 58 seconds later. A Ozzy Weisblatt threw a shot toward the middle that was blocked. Tanner Kaspick picked up the loose puck and wired a wrist shot past Wolf for his second goal of the season.

Calgary spoiled Romanov’s first shutout bid when Mitch McClain scored his second goal of the season at the 18:04 mark.

Radim Simek completed the scoring with an empty net goal, his second goal of the season with 23 seconds left.

Romanov (2-0-2) finished with 34 saves on 35 shots to earn his second victory of the season. Wolf (5-1-0) made 14 saves on 17 shots in suffering his first lost of the season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for 3 on the power play. Calgary was 0-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Romanov 2) Thrun 3) Kaspick.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Charlote Checkers for a two-game series on Friday 11/10 at Tech CU Arena.