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Lewandowski, Cancelo lead Barcelona to 3-2 comeback win over Celta with 3 goals in final 10 minutes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Robert Lewandowski scored two late goals before João Cancelo snatched the 89th-minute winner to lead Barcelona to a 3-2 comeback win over Celta Vigo at home in the Spanish league on Saturday.Rafa Benítez was eying his first big win since returning to coaching in Spain with his team ahead 2-0 before Lewandowski struck in the 81st minute. Cancelo then set up Lewandowski to equalize in the 85th before the Portugal right back completed the turnaround.“It was a great fightback,” said Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández, who signed a contract extension through 2025 on Friday. “It is true we were disorganized at times and didn’t make the ball flow like in other games, but the team won in faith and courage.”Barcelona is tied on points with the surprising Girona at the top of the table after its fellow Catalan club routed Mallorca 5-3. Real Madrid is one point behind both before visiting Atletico Madrid on Sunday.Jorgen Strand Larsen put Celta ahead in the 19th and substit...

Kimani Vidal scores twice and Troy holds off Western Kentucky 27-24

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

TROY, Ala. (AP) — Kimani Vidal scored a pair of touchdowns and Troy defeated Western Kentucky 27-24 on Saturday.Vidal, coming in ranked third nationally at 131.7 yards rushing per game, finished with 156 on 26 carries. His 8-yard touchdown run after initially being stopped behind the line, gave the Trojans (2-2) a 27-17 lead with 5:37 to go.Chris Lewis caught a Hail Mary from Gunnar Watson for a 40-yard score to end the first half and take the lead for good at 10-7. The Hilltoppers’ second muffed punt of the game led to Vidal’s 19-yard score and a 17-7 lead.Watson was 22 of 35 for 349 yards passing and one touchdown. Lewis, who had a pair of highlight reel receptions on his Hail Mary catch and a one-hander that led to a Scott Taylor Renfroe field goal for a 20-14 edge, finished with 101 yards on three catches. Deshon Stoudemire had 99 yards on six catches.After Vidal fumbled the ball out of the WKU end zone for a touchback, the Hilltoppers (2-2) went 80 yards in a minute...

Kendarin Ray intercepts a pass with 26 seconds left to help Tulsa hold off Northern Illinois 22-14

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) — Anthony Watkins rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown, Kendarin Ray intercepted a pass with 26 seconds left, and Tulsa beat Northern Illinois 22-14 on Saturday for the Huskies’ seventh straight home loss.Tulsa went on a nine-play, 76-yard drive to take a lead on Tahj Gary’s 17-yard run with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter. NIU fumbled it on the ensuing kickoff. Tulsa took over at the NIU 34 before settling for a 22-yard field goal to make it 22-14 with 4:50 left.The NIU defense forced a punt near midfield with 2:14 left and the offense went 57 yards in 11 plays before Ray made an easy interception over the middle to seal it.Cardell Williams was 8 of 20 for 102 yards with two interceptions for Tulsa (2-2), which opened the season with a 27-24 overtime win at Boston College. Ethan Hampton came on in relief of three-year starter Rocky Lombardi and had one touchdown and one interception for Northern Illinois (1-3). Tulsa led 2-0 at the end of the first quarter. T...

Jackson Kennedy kicks 3 FGs, including winning 30-yarder as time expires; Colgate beats Yale 23-21

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Jameson Wang passed for a touchdown and ran for another TD, and Jackson Kennedy kicked the winning 30-yard field goal as time expired to help Cornell beat Yale 23-21 Saturday. Nolan Grooms threw a 30-yard TD pass to Mason Tipton that gave the Bulldogs a 21-20 lead with 3:14 to play but Wang led a 13-play, 56-yard drive —including a third-and-10 pass to Doryn Smith for a 22-yard gain to midfield — to set up Kennedy’s winner. Wang completed 26 of 36 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown for Cornell (2-0, 1-0 Ivy League)Yale (0-2, 0-1), which lost 49-24 to then-No. 5 (FCS coaches’ poll) Holy Cross in its home opener, is 22-6 at home since the start of the 2017 season but has lost back-to-back games at the Yale Bowl. Colgate went 70 yards in 12 plays — including a fourth-down conversion — on the opening drive of the third quarter capped by Wang’s 1-yard run and, after Yale went three-and-out, the Big Red took over at the Bulldogs 40. Wang ran for...

Bubba Wallace on pole at Texas after making 2nd round of NASCAR’s playoffs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Bubba Wallace will start from the pole at Texas, the first race after he just made the cut to get into the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Wallace turned a lap of 188.337 mph in the final round of qualifying Saturday, finishing ahead of fellow playoff contenders and RFK Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski.“Was I expecting it? I don’t know,” Wallace said. “Qualifying, you know, I tend to try too hard and overthink things. And that’s my problem with life, I need to stop doing it, I just need to just go out and do. So that was a good surprise.”It is the second career pole for Wallace, the 23XI Racing driver who entered the round of 12 in 12th place after the points were reset following the first three playoff races.Buescher will start on the front row Sunday with Wallace after a final lap of 188.081 mph. Keselowski, who is the owner of Buescher’s No. 17 car, qualified third at 187.891 mph.Christopher Bell was among the 10 drivers ...

Syracuse scores 29 unanswered points after sluggish start to defeat Army 29-16 and stay unbeaten

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Garett Shrader threw for one touchdown and ran for another, Syracuse overcame a first-half dominated by Army and scored 26 unanswered points to defeat the Black Knights 29-16 Saturday and remain unbeaten.Army totally dominated the first half statistics, but not on the scoreboard, where it led just 10-3. The Black Knights held the ball for 23:24, had 149 yards to the Orange’s 77, ran 41 plays to Syracuse’s 17. Army gained 129 yards on the ground, while the Orange could muster just 18.Syracuse (4-0) came alive in the second half, scoring on five straight possessions. LeQuint Allen scored on a 13-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 10 midway through the third and a 13-yard pass from Shrader to Umari Hatcher on the Orange’s next possession gave Syracuse a 16-10 lead over the Black Knights (2-2). The Orange defense held Army to just five first downs, minus four yards rushing yards, sacked Bryson Daily three times and intercepted him twice after intermission.Shrade...

TCU tops SMU 34-17 in long-running Dallas-Fort Worth rivalry that isn’t scheduled beyond 2025

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Chandler Morris threw for three touchdowns, Emani Bailey ran for 126 yards and a score and TCU wore down SMU in the second half of a 34-17 victory in the Dallas-Fort Worth rivalry Saturday.The Horned Frogs (3-1) intercepted Preston Stone twice after halftime in a second consecutive victory in the “Iron Skillet” game, which was played for the 102nd time but isn’t scheduled beyond 2025.Tight end Jared Wiley caught two short touchdown passes in the first half from Morris, who was 23 of 32 for 261 yards in his first game against the school near the Dallas high school he attended, Highland Park.Morris’ third touchdown came on fourth-and-2 to another tight end, Chase Curtis, with the TCU trying to get a first down to run out the clock in the final two minutes. Curtis got behind the defense for the 36-yard score.The Horned Frogs got 13 points out of three long drives to start the second half and should have had more after Josh Newton’s 53-yard int...

No. 2 Michigan starts slow but finishes strong in a 31-7 win over Rutgers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — J.J. McCarthy threw a tiebreaking, 18-yard touchdown pass to Semaj Morgan late in the first half and No. 2 Michigan went on to beat Rutgers 31-7 on Saturday with coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline for the first time since serving a school-imposed three-game suspension.The Wolverines (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) went ahead by 17 points on Mike Sainristil’s 71-yard interception return with 4:31 left in the third quarter. Blake Corum’s second rushing touchdown of the game — his eighth score of the season — put Michigan up 31-7 early in the fourth.The Scarlet Knights (3-1, 1-1) took a 7-0 lead on the third snap of the game on Gavin Wimsatt’s 69-yard touchdown pass to Christian Dremel, but they missed chances to score more in each quarter.Corum capped a 94-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to help Michigan pull into a tie on its second possession and the All-American running back finished with 97 yards on 21 carries. McCarthy was 15 of 21 for 214 yard...

Renzi’s 40-yard FG as time expires lifts Sacred Heart past St. Francis 37-34

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

LORETTO, Pa. (AP) — Jon Moccia’s 34-yard kickoff return set up Sam Renzi’s 40-yard field goal as time expired expired, lifting Sacred Heart to a 37-34 win over St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday afternoon.St. Francis tied it on Cole Doyle’s pin-point 17-yard pass to Aaron Tutino with 2:29 to play. Doyle kept the drive alive with a 17-yard gain on 4th-and-4 from from his own 31.Moccia’s return put the Pioneers at their 45 and Rob McCoy calmly drove the team into range for Renzi’s third field goal.McCoy was 14 of 23 for 285 yards and two touchdowns for the Pioneers (1-3, 1-1 Northeast Conference). Malik Grant had 120 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.Doyle was 16 of 28 for 193 yards and three touchdowns for Sacred Heart (0-4, 0-1).The Red Flash took a quick 10-0 lead but after three-straight punts, Sacred Heart scored on five-straight possessions, taking a 20-17 lead at the half on a 40-yard field goal as time expired. The Pioneers added a touchdown to open the th...

Coastal North Carolina hit by flooding as Tropical Storm Ophelia moves inland

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:49:04 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Residents in parts of coastal North Carolina and Virginia experienced flooding Saturday after Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near a North Carolina barrier island, bringing rain, damaging winds and dangerous surges.The storm came ashore near Emerald Isle with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph (113 kph) at around 6:15 a.m. but was expected to weaken as it moves north Saturday and then shifts northeast on Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, noting that the maximum sustained winds had dropped to 45 mph (80 kph) by the afternoon.Videos from social media showed riverfront communities in North Carolina such as New Bern, Belhaven and Washington experiencing significant flooding.Even before it made landfall, the storm proved treacherous enough that five people had to be rescued by the Coast Guard on Friday night from a boat anchored down near the North Carolina coastline.Ophelia promises a weekend of windy conditions and heavy rain as it churns ...