Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Harness

He did not shoot a 63 like he did in the opening round, but Brendan Steele will certainly take it.

The veteran tour player still shot under par nonetheless, and after Friday’s second round at Silverado, he remained on top of the leaderboard by two shots by firing a two-under 70.

As he did in the opening round on Thursday, he got two birdies on the front nine, including one on the very first hole. However, one of those birdies was offset when he bogeyed the par-4 third. However, he birdied the fifth hole to get things back on track quickly.

He birdied holes 10 and 12 as well as the 14th, but he was also brought down by two bogeys at the 13th and 15th holes.

Also keeping pace is Jhonattan Vegas, the Venezuelan native who earned his Tour card back by finishing in the top 25 on the Web.com Tour, who fired a one-under 71 to finish Friday’s proceedings two shots back of the lead.

Making a big move on Friday was Wil Wilcox, who fired a five-under 67 to tie him with Vegas at nine-under par as the weekend rolls around.

He recorded five birdies on the round and did not make a single bogey to make a steady climb toward the top of the leaderboard. He had back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes to start his ascent toward the top, and then finished the front nine with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.

It did not stop there, as he also birdied the par-4 10th, and four holes later, he picked up another shot by birdieing the 14th.

Among those who did not make the cut after two rounds was Zac Blair, who was in the final pairing with eventual champion Sang-moon Bae in last year’s tournament here. He shot 75 and 77 in the opening two rounds, and it was evident early on that he did not have the same rhythm that he did in last year’s run.

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The San Jose Earthquakes kept their Western Conference playoff hopes alive Friday night at Avaya Stadium, besting Sporting Kansas City 1-0 to pick up a critical three points. Anibal Godoy scored in the 47^th minute to put San Jose tied with the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders for the final two slots in the West with 47 points riding a three-game lossless stretch.

If Godoy’s goal is a sign of where the football gods’ allegiance lies, the Quakes should start prepping for postseason travel. The difference maker came after Shea Salinas volleyed the cross into the box, looking to connect with Chris Wondolowski, named team Most Valuable Player in a pregame ceremony, on the right post. Wondolowski’s toe flick skittered past a stumbling Kansas City keeper Tim Melia, but was trickling wide left of the goal. There was Godoy to tip in the ball and give San Jose the lead.

Goalkeeper David Bingham held Sporting KC at bay down the stretch, saving all 3 shots he faced to seal the clean sheet for San Jose in his final regular season home contest as starting keeper.

The Quakes still face an uphill climb to lockdown the sixth and final playoff slot. Seattle and Portland still have a game in hand and can pass the Quakes with a victory. Not only that, but San Jose faces conference leaders FC Dallas, winners of 16 this season, on the road in the season finale next weekend at Toyota Stadium.

 

By Jeremy Harness

Brendan Steele grabbed the early lead in this week’s Frys.com Open at Silverado by firing a 65, which was good enough for a one-shot advantage over Jhonattan Vegas.

His round featured nine birdies and zero bogeys and really kicked it into high gear on the back nine. He recorded back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes to get things started, and then got two more in a row at the 11th and 12th.

After a par at the par-4 13th, Steele closed out the round by stringing together five consecutive birdies to send a statement to the rest of the field.

Vegas, meanwhile, had previously been on the PGA Tour but had to earn his card back by finishing in the top 25 on the Web.com Tour this past season.

He himself got off to a very good start on the front nine, making a birdie on the very first hole, and then seizing control for the moment with an eagle at the par-5 fifth.

He recorded five birdies on the back nine, but a poor iron shot at the par-4 14th led to a bogey that ultimately cost Vegas at least a share of the lead.

No matter what transpires the next few days, this tournament is guaranteed to have a new champion. Sang-moon Bae, who won last year’s tournament by going 15-under par, is currently serving in the military in his native South Korea after representing the international team in this year’s President’s Cup, which was also held in South Korea.

Rory McIlroy, who is quite familiar with being in the winner’s circle in Northern California after winning the Cadillac Match Play Championship at San Francisco’s Harding Park last season, is in the hunt but did not finish the way that Steele and Vegas did.

He finished the front nine a three-under, but thanks to a bogey at the 13th, he picked up only one shot on the back side and finished with a four-under 68 to go into the second day of the tournament three strokes back.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-It seems that the Oakland Raiders still have not found the way to beat their arch-rival Denver Broncos.

Peyton Manning did not throw a touchdown, but did throw for 266 yards, while completing 22 passes and threw two interceptions and the Broncos made it eight straight over the Raiders with a hard fought 16-10 victory before a crowd of 54,500 at the Coliseum.

The two interceptions thrown by Manning were picked off by another future Hall of Famer, Charles Woodson, and it was the first two interceptions by Woodson against Manning in his 18-year career.

These two men have so many things in common, that it was main topic of the week preceding the game between these rivals that have been going at each other since the two teams were founded back in the old AFL in 1960.

When Woodson won the Heisman Trophy in his junior year at the University of Michigan, Manning, a senior at Tennessee was the runner-up. Just four months later, Manning went number one in the 1998 NFL Draft to the Indianapolis Colts and with the fourth pick, Woodson was drafted by the Raiders.

It was the 63rd and 64th interceptions of Woodson’s career, and it moved him into a tie with Ed Reed for 6th place on the all-time interceptions list. Woodson joins Clay Matthews (39) and Darrell Green (41) as the only three players 39-or-older to intercept a pass.

Woodson also moved into eighth place on the Raiders all-time interception list with 26.

Second year quarterback Derek Carr went 26-for-39 for 249 yards, a touchdown and a costly interception with 6:53 remaining in the game that Chris Harris, Jr., returned 74 yards for the backbreaking touchdown.

“From the advantage point that I saw, he was wide open and I don’t know if we missed him (Seth Roberts) or if he didn’t look for the ball. The live view and the quick view I saw on replay, it had a chance to be a catch and run and an explosive play and a first down and points for us and it turned into a pick six going the other way,” said Jack Del Rio.

After getting the ball after the Harris interception for a touchdown, the Raiders began to drive down the field; however on fourth-and-19, the Raiders called for a screen play and Marcel Reece gained four yards and was tackled by Harris and they turned the ball over on downs.

“I really don’t have an answer for that. Plays that don’t end up working end up having a question about,” said Del Rio.

It was an off day for Sebastian Janikowski, as the 16-year veteran became the all-time in games played for the Raiders with 241 games.

On the other side of things, Janikowski saw his 38-yard field goal on the Raiders second series blocked by Sylvester Williams. Janikowski then missed a 40-yard field goal wide left in the opening moments of the fourth quarter.

Brandon McManus kicked three field goals for the Broncos, a 25-yard field goal just 41 seconds into the second quarter, a 29-yarder on the Broncos second series of the third quarter and then McManus nailed a 52-yard field goal that gave the Broncos the lead for good with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter.

Reece gave the Raiders their only points in the first half, as he scored on a three-yard touchdown reception from Carr on the Raiders first series after McManus’ 25-yard field goal that gave the Broncos a 3-0 lead.

Janikowski finally put the ball through the uprights with 1:40 remaining in the game, as he nailed a 50-yard field goal after Bradley Roby was called for pass interference and the Raiders gained 48 yards via the penalty. The onside kick was recovered by Demaryius Thomas.

The Broncos were unable to run out the clock, as Britton Colquitt’s punt with eight seconds remaining was caught by Amari Cooper, then fumbled and recovered by Broncos safety David Bruton to end the game.

NOTES: Following their bye week, the Raiders will head to San Diego, where they will face the Chargers on October 25. The Raiders next home game will be on November 1, against the New York Jets.

Janikowski moved past Lou Groza into 15th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,608 after his field goal and extra point.

The 16-year veteran out of Florida State passed Tim Brown to become the Raiders all-time leader in game played.

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By Morris Phillips

All week, Jared Goff’s abilities as a smart, quick-thinking, pocket passer were trumpeted nationwide.

For three hours on Saturday night, the Utah defense did its best to tear apart the junior quarterback’s reputation and any accessible body parts as well.

Goff threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns, but ultimately Cal and its star quarterback were taken down by Utah’s aggressive defense that forced six turnovers–including a career-worst five interceptions thrown by Goff–in the Utes’ heart-stopping 30-24 win over the Bears.

“Boy, our kids played really hard,” Coach Sonny Dykes said.  “I’m disappointed for them.  It’s one of those games we’ll look back on and wish we could have it over.  Just made too many mistakes to win the football game.”

“The secondary did a great job, especially against a team and quarterback like that,” Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham said.  “They were ball hawks back there tonight.”

Goff led the Bears on a potential game-winning drive in the final minutes only to misfire on his final two throws allowing the Utes to take over on downs at their 21-yard line with 26 seconds remaining.  The tremendous burden Goff assumed Saturday as Cal’s best player trying to lead his team to a historic 6-0 start was illustrated on that final drive.  Of the 11 plays on the drive, Goff threw nine passes—completing six—ran twice for short gains, and absorbed a painful hit that resulted in a roughing the passer penalty.

Utah preserved its No. 5 ranking and became the Pac-12’s lone unbeaten team with the win.  The Utes find themselves squarely in the middle of the College Football Playoffs’ discussion regarding which teams will grab the coveted, four spots despite being picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 South.  Cal falls from the unbeaten ranks, and will have to plenty of adjustments to make in advance of their critical meeting with UCLA on October 22.

The Utes battled through an uneven, offensive effort as well, but were boosted by Devontae Booker, who rushed for a season-best 222 yards on 34 carries.  Booker’s big night helped mask quarterback Travis Wilson’s uneven effort.  Wilson was picked twice and completed 16 of 26 passes for just 170 yards. Utah also failed to convert Goff’s turnovers into a comfortable lead in the first half.  Five of Cal’s six turnovers came in the first half, but Cal trailed just 24-17 at the break.

The Bears led only once, 7-3, late in the first quarter.  Six plays later, Booker broke free on a 40-yard touchdown down the near sideline that gave Utah a 10-7 lead that they never lost.

Cal tied it 10-10 on Matt Anderson’s 22-yard field goal halfway through the second quarter, but the Utes answered right back, coming up with a pair of touchdowns less than two minutes apart to take a 24-10 lead.

The Bears responded right before halftime on Goff’s pass to Darius Powe to draw with 24-17.  The touchdown marked the sixth time in six games that Cal scored points in the final two minutes of the first half.  But with Utah coming out conservative offensively to start the second half and fashioning a drive, the Bears failed to score within the first 5 ½ minutes of the second half for the first time all season.

Cal was even more dependent on Goff in this one, as Utah’s big and fast defensive front virtually eliminated the Bears’ run game in the second half.  Vic Enwere led the Bears in rushing with just 33 yards, and Daniel Lasco fumbled in the first quarter on his only carry of the game.

Kyle Kragen had a huge game along the Cal defensive front with 14 tackles and a sack.

The Bears were attempting to beat a Top-5 team on the road and start 6-0 for the first time since 1950.  Cal also failed stay unbeaten in their sixth game of a season in 2005 and 2007.

While Cal maintains the best overall record in the Pac-12 North at 5-1, Stanford—idle on Saturday—remains the only undefeated team in conference play at 3-0.

By Jeremy Harness

STANFORD – It appears now that Stanford is back to the form that it showed in winning the Pac-12 championship in 2013.

The latest installment, however, did come against a team that was, to say the least, not exactly firing on all cylinders.

Arizona traveled to Palo Alto without their vital components on both sides of the ball, as quarterback Anu Solomon missed the game while recovering from a concussion he suffered in last week’s loss to UCLA. After returning from a knee injury, star linebacker Scooby Wright sprained his right foot in that same game and is expected to be out several more weeks.

The end result was a beatdown in Stanford’s favor, a 55-17 win at Stanford Stadium that kept the 18th-ranked Cardinal (4-1) undefeated in Pac-12 play.

Christian McCaffrey led the way in gouging the Wright-less Arizona defense with 156 rushing yards, 113 of them coming in a first half that saw Stanford send a clear message that it was the dominant team, while the Cardinal defense held Arizona to 102 total first-half yards, most of which came on one drive in the second quarter that netted a field goal. The Wildcats (3-2, 0-2 Pac-12) finished with 314 total yards, but most of that came when the game had already been decided.

The only thing the two teams had in common was the fact that neither turned the ball over once.

McCaffrey got his game going right away. His first touch of the game was a 12-yard run for a first down and eventually led to a field goal, and on Stanford’s second possession, the sophomore running back dashed the Arizona defense for a career-long 49-yarder. On the very next play, quarterback Kevin Hogan used his legs to get out of trouble and complete a 19-yard pass on the run to Trenton Irwin to the Wildcats’ 19.

However, the Wildcats defense tightened up and eventually forced the Cardinal to settle for another field goal.

Stanford finally cashed in on their third drive by running and throwing to their tall tight end, the two long-standing staples of the Cardinal offense. After McCaffrey picked up 12 yards and a first down, Hogan found Devon Cajuste down the middle for 32 yards to the Arizona 9-yard line. Two plays later, McCaffrey punched it in to give the Cardinal a 13-0 lead.

Hogan completed 17 of his 19 passes and finished the game with 217 passing yards and threw for two scores along the way, while his running game did the heavy lifting.

Without Solomon manning the controls, Arizona could not get its offense on track in the first half and did not get into Stanford territory for the first time until early in the second quarter. At that point, the Wildcats embarked on a 20-play, 73-yard drive but blew a great scoring opportunity in the process.

Jerrard Randall, a redshirt senior who started in Solomon’s spot and finished 178 yards on 15-of-28 passing and a touchdown, missed a wide-open Nate Phillips in the corner of the end zone from the Stanford 8, and the Wildcats settled for a field goal to narrow the Cardinal’s lead to 13-3.

Arizona, however, got things moving slightly after halftime, getting into the end zone on their first possession of the second half, courtesy of a 15-yard touchdown throw to Johnny Jackson. Late in the quarter, the Wildcats scored again, this time cashing in with a 1-yard dive by running back Nick Wilson.

However, Stanford answered each Arizona touchdown with one of their own, and by the end of the third quarter, the Cardinal were increasingly getting runs in huge chunks with their backups on the field. Immediately following the punch-in by Wilson, Barry Sanders, Jr. bolted past the demoralized Wildcats defense for a 65-yard touchdown that extended Stanford’s lead to 48-17.

The Cardinal will now enjoy the benefit of a bye week, and they will play Oct. 15 at home against a UCLA team that was shocked by Arizona State on Saturday.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-There are not many home runs hit at AT&T Park, but it is rare when all the runs scored by the winning team, it helps a lot.

Kelby Tomlinson hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first inning, and then after a Matt Duffy ground out, Marlon Byrd hit a solo home run into the center field seats and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Colorado Rockies 3-2 before a 41,505, the 407th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

The Tomlinson inside-the-park home run was the first by a Giants player since Angel Pagan hit against the Rockies on May 25, 2013.

Brandon Crawford rounded out the scoring for the Giants in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit his 21st home run of the season. All three home runs came off of Rockies starter Chris Rusin.

Jake Peavy went five innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while walking one and striking out two and finished the 2015 season with a record of 8-6.

Rusin went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out three, as he finished his season with a 6-10 record.

NOTES: Matt Cain will take the ball in the season finale for the Giants, while Christian Bergman will take to the mound for the Rockies.

Prior to the game, there was a retirement ceremony for Tim Hudson, who is retiring after 17 seasons in the major leagues.

In a tribute video to Hudson, Bruce Bochy, Madison Bumgarner, Jake Peavy, Barry Zito, Billy Beane, Bobby Cox and Fredi Gonzalez all spoke to Hudson and thanked him for everything.

Since the opening of AT&T Park on April 11, 2000, this was only the ninth inside-the-park home run.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-In his final start of the 2015 season, this was probably not the way that Chris Heston wanted it to end.

Nolan Arenado hit a solo home run and a double in his first two at-bats, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Francisco Giants 9-3 before a crowd of 41,505, the 406th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the 42nd home run of the season for Arenado, who added two more runs batted in with his double in his second at bat against Heston.

After Arenado hit his home run in the top of the second inning, the Giants tied up the game, when Jarrett Parker doubled to score Brandon Crawford, who singled to lead off the inning.

Heston was out of the game with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, after he allowed eight runs on eight hits, walking just one and striking out three and his season ends with a 12-11 record.

Charlie Blackmon was the last batter that Heston faced this season, and the Rockies planted a Heston offering into the netting that protects the garden in straightaway centerfield.

Kyle Kendrick ended his season on a high note, as he went six innings, allowing one run on five hits, while walking one and striking out six and ended the 2015 season with a 7-13 record.

Prior to the game, the Willie Mac Award was given to third baseman Matt Duffy and it was a historic event for the team and the award.

Duffy is the first Giants rookie to ever receive the Award that annually given to the Most Inspirational member of the team, and is voted on by his teammates.