1/30/23 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday
30 January 2023 Sports
Monday Sports
From Wayne Mausser
Patrick Mahomes scrambled for a first down on his badly sprained right ankle, then was shoved late out of bounds by Joseph Ossai, giving Harrison Butker a chance to kick a 45-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining and give the Kansas City Chiefs a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC title game Sunday night.
The Chiefs finally beat the Bengals after three straight losses, including a three-point overtime defeat in last year’s title game, and will play the Philadelphia Eagles — coach Andy Reid’s old team — in their third Super Bowl in four years.
Mahomes, who hurt his ankle against Jacksonville in the divisional round, threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns, even though he was missing three of his wide receivers to injuries by the end. Marquez Valdes-Scantling led the way with 116 yards and a touchdown, while Travis Kelce — bad back and all — had seven catches for 78 yards and a score.
Yet it was Mahomes on his balky right ankle, rather than with his strong right arm, that rescued the Chiefs.
The Chiefs got a crucial sack from Chris Jones to force a punt with 39 seconds left, and shaky return man Skyy Moore broke free for 29 yards on the return. On third-and-4 at the Bengals 47, Mahomes eluded pressure and scrambled toward the Bengals sideline, barely picking up the first down before Ossai gave him a shove from behind. The penalty flags flew, the ball moved 15 yards closer and Butker’s kick barely had enough to get over the crossbar.
Joe Burrow, who was sacked five times and wobbly by the end, finished with 270 yards passing to go with a touchdown and two interceptions for the Bengals. Tee Higgins had six catches for 83 yards and the score.
The Chiefs were able to do early what the Buffalo Bills could not in last week’s divisional round: They ran roughshod over an ailing Bengals offensive line missing two starters to injury with another bothered by a sore knee.
Burrow was sacked three times in the first quarter alone and the Bengals offense did not gain a single yard.
Mahomes, whose ankle had been the subject of speculation all week, looked just fine leading Kansas City to a field goal on its opening possession. And when the Chiefs got the ball back, Mahomes did it again, but only after Kadarius Toney failed to pull in a nifty throw for a would-be touchdown — the incompletion was upheld upon review.
Cincinnati finally moved the ball in the second quarter, but it also had to settle for Evan McPherson’s chip-shot field goal.
Jalen Hurts had one of Philadelphia’s four rushing touchdowns and the Eagles soared into the Super Bowl, forcing both of San Francisco’s quarterbacks out of the game with injuries and beating the wounded 49ers 31-7 in the NFC championship game on Sunday.
The Eagles, who won the Super Bowl five years ago with a different coach and quarterback, will try to do it again behind the formidable duo of Hurts and coach Nick Sirianni.
Hurts had a modest game by his standards after a season in which he was a finalist for MVP. He was 15-of-25 passing for 121 yards and ran for 39, improving to 16-1 as a starter this season. The Eagles (16-3) lost two games that he missed with a sprained right shoulder.
Miles Sanders ran for two touchdowns and linebacker Haason Reddick made the hit that forced 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy out of the game with an elbow injury. Reddick also recovered a fumble by Purdy’s replacement, Josh Johnson, who later suffered a concussion.
That forced Purdy back into the game, but his injury was clearly a factor as the 49ers all but gave up on the passing game, even while trailing by multiple scores. Purdy said he was unable to throw the ball more than 10 yards after his elbow got hurt.
The game disintegrated in the waning minutes and Philadelphia’s K’Von Wallace and San Francisco’s Trent Williams were ejected for their roles in a brawl. Williams yanked Wallace from behind and slammed him to the ground.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points while playing only 30 minutes as the Milwaukee Bucks rolled to a 135-110 victory over the slumping New Orleans Pelicans. Antetokounmpo shot 20 of 26 from the floor – including 3 of 4 from 3-point range – and 7 of 12 from the foul line.
Antetokounmpo’s 50 points were five off the career high he set Jan. 4 in a 123-113 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Jrue Holiday scored 17 and Brook Lopez added 15 for the Bucks, who shot 55.2%.
New Orleans never led and lost its eighth straight. The Pelicans were playing for the second consecutive night –they lost 113-103 at home to the Wizards on Saturday – and were missing their top three scorers.
Zion Williamson hasn’t played since January 2nd due to a strained right hamstring Brandon Ingram (toe injury on left foot) and CJ McCollum (sprained right thumb) also were out Sunday.
The Bucks host Charlotte on Tuesday. The Bucks won at Charlotte and a month later lost to them at home.
Max Homa came from five shots off the lead to win the Farmer’s Insurance Open by two strokes over Keegan Bradeley on Saturday at Torrey Pines. Colin Morakawa finished three strokes back.
Matthew Mayer scored 18 of his career-high 26 points in the second half and Illinois defeated Wisconsin 61-51 on Saturday. Mayer tied his career high with five 3-pointers and shot 9 of 19 overall. Jayden Epps added 13 points for the Fighting Illini (15-6, 6-4 Big Ten), who have won six of their last seven. Chucky Hepburn scored 15 points and Max Klesmit returned from a two-game injury absence to score 12 for the Badgers (12-8, 4-6), losers of three straight and six of seven.
Mayer scored 10 points in a 22-4 run that began midway through the second half, erasing Wisconsin’s only lead in the half and putting the Illini up by 17 with four minutes remaining. After the teams combined for the conference’s lowest-scoring first half this season, Illinois got off to a quick start in the second with Mayer scoring eight of the Illini’s first 12 points in taking a 12-point lead. But Wisconsin responded with a 15-2 run with Hepburn hitting a pair of 3-pointers plus a drive that put the Badgers up by a point. Illinois led 20-16 after the first half.
The Illini opened 1-of-7 shooting and Wisconsin 1 of 10 as the teams combined for just five points by the first media timeout. Illinois shot 33% and Wisconsin a dismal 18%, the teams combining to go 15 of 60 overall and 5 of 24 from 3-point range. The teams rebounded to both go 13 of 24 from the floor for 54% in the second half. But Illinois was 11 of 18 at the line for the game while Wisconsin was 4 of 7. Illinois, which beat Wisconsin at home 79-69 on Jan. 7, has won six straight in the series and three in a row in Madison. Wisconsin is at Ohio State on Thursday.
Cornell College 73, Ripon College 66-Jalen Mahone led the Red Hawks with 20 pints, Ryan Steffes had 11 and David DeValk chipped in with 10. Ripon drops to 11-10 on the season and 5-5 in the conference.
Women’s College (Sat.)
Ripon College 59, Cornell College 52-Bonnie Jensen scored 19 points for Ripon, Alison Leslie had 16 and Skylar Brescia had 12. Ripon improves to 13-overall and 9-1 in the conference.
David Joplin made eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 28 points, helping No. 16 Marquette beat DePaul 89-69 on Saturday. Joplin went 8 for 11 from deep and also had five rebounds in Marquette’s third straight win. Tyler Kolek had 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Golden Eagles (17-5, 9-2), who moved into a tie with No. 13 Xavier atop the Big East.
Marquette pulled away in the second half. Oso Ighodaro’s basket started an 11-0 run and Joplin followed with three consecutive 3s to extend the lead to 50-38 with 14:30 left. Umoja Gibson scored 25 points for DePaul (9-13, 3-8). Marquette leading scorer Kam Jones appeared to injure his right hip during the game. He was checked on by a team trainer and returned, but was grimacing on the court. He played limited minutes and was held to seven points. Guard Sean Jones also missed the game with a right hand injury.
Marquette was 11 of 23 from 3-point range in the second half after going 4 for 13 from deep in the first half. Marquette hosts Villanova on Wednesday.
Boys Basketball (Mon.)
Lomira at Deerfield
Mayville at Watertown Luther Prep
New Holstein at Winnebago Lutheran
Wild Rose at Rosholt
Brillion at Freedom
River Valley at Wisconsin Dells
Wayland Academy at Valley Christian
Girls Basketball (Mon.)
Campbellsport at Ripon
Plymouth at Berlin-Tipoff at 7:15 on FM 1023, The Bug
Winneconne at Waupun
Cambridge at Mayville
Oshkosh North at Green Bay East
Nekoosa at Portage
Central Wisconsin Christian at Princeton/Green Lake
Williams Bay at Dodgeland
Turner at Horicon
Wayland Academy at Lourdes Academy
Johnson Creek at Cambria-Friesland
Waterloo at Fall River
Joseph Ray has been selected to serve as the next Oshkosh West High School head football coach. Ray will lead the Wildcat football program beginning in the fall 2023 season. Ray previously served as a defensive coordinator at Grafton High School and most recently at Hamilton High School, where he was named the 2022 Greater Metro Conference Assistant Coach of the Year. In 2021 and 2022,
Ray helped secure Hamiton’s place as the Greater Metro Conference Outright Champions for the first time in school history. In 2022, Ray helped advance the team to State Semifinals in the largest classification for the first time in school history. Under his leadership, the team finished the season as first in the conference in overall defense, and the defense led the conference in rushing yards per carry allowed and passing yards per attempt allowed. Ray was recommended by an interview committee. He will begin meeting with Oshkosh West football players and family members on February 1st. Ray graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran College with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education – broad field social sciences and psychology
The Wisconsin Herd split a weekend series at home with the Greensboro Storm. The Herd came back from a 33-point deficit to win Friday night 115-112, but lost Saturday night 116-102. The Herd is on the road tonight taking on the Long Island Nets.
Share |