Quick Hitters
Davis runs for school record 328 yards in Weber State win over NAU
OGDEN, Utah — Josh Davis ran for a school-record 328 yards and four touchdowns and Weber State pulled away with three fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat Northern Arizona 51-28 on Saturday.
Davis carried it 34 times and scored a touchdown in each quarter. Kris Jackson added 22 runs for 111 yards and three touchdowns for the Wildcats (5-2, 3-0 Big Sky Conference), who won their fourth straight.
Weber State trailed 21-14 at halftime before outscoring the Lumberjacks 37-7 in the second half. Jackson capped a 16-point third quarter with an 8-yard run that made it 30-21 for the Wildcats.
Northern Arizona (3-4, 1-2) cut the deficit to 30-28 on Case Cookus’ 44-yard TD pass to Hendrix Johnson on the first play of the fourth quarter. Weber State closed it out with three straight touchdown runs, two by Jackson and one by Davis.
No. 15 Texas survives Kansas on last-second FG
AUSTIN, Texas — Cameron Dicker made a 33-yard field goal as time expired and No. 15 Texas survived Kansas’ desperate upset bid 50-48 after the teams exchanged six touchdowns in the fourth quarter Saturday night.
Kansas took a 48-47 lead on Carter Stanley’s 2-point conversion pass to Daylon Charlot with 1:11 to play. Sam Ehlinger then drove the Longhorns into field goal range for Dicker, who calmly drilled the winner.
AWC men beat Artichokes
The Arizona Western men’s soccer team won 2-1 at Scottsdale on Saturday to assure itself of opening the six-team Region I playoffs at home.
Michele Signorelli and Ridwane Boukraa scored for the Matadors (11-4-2 overall, 6-2-1 ACCAC), who have one regular-season game remaining and can finish anywhere from fourth to first in the conference standings.
AWC is currently fourth, and closes out the regular season Wednesday at Pima, who is tied for first.
Lady Mats fall at Scottsdale
The Arizona Western women’s soccer team’s chances of hosting a postseason game took a big blow Saturday with a 3-1 loss at Scottsdale.
Karen Rivas had the lone goal for the Matadors (9-4-3 overall, 5-2-2 ACCAC), who will likely need to win their regular-season finale at Pima on Wednesday to avoid going on the road for the first round of the Region I playoffs.
SALT LAKE CITY — With its star running back and quarterback knocked out of the game in the first half, No. 13 Utah’s hopes for a special season seemed as dim as the dark clouds around Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.
The rain kept falling but the mood changed considerably, with Zack Moss returning to score two touchdowns and break the school rushing record and Tyler Huntley playing long enough to steady the Utes in a 21-3 victory over No. 17 Arizona State.
That said, it was the defense that stole the show on this rainy night.
“Our defense was lights out,” said Kyle Whittingham, a defense-first coach who admitted to exulting in the low-scoring affair. “I can’t remember a better defensive effort, certainly not as of late.”
The Utes (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) ended Arizona State’s modern-era record streak of 125 games with more than 10 points. The last time the Sun Devils were held under double-digits was a 28-0 loss to Southern California in 2008.
Moss was held in check most of the game as Arizona State (5-2, 2-2) keyed on
HOUSTON — Jose Altuve, the 5-foot-6 driving force of Houston, delivered a swing that will play in Astros’ highlights forever.
Altuve homered off Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth inning and Houston outlasted the New York Yankees 6-4 Saturday night to advance to the World Series for the second time in three years.
In a bullpen game with a back-and-forth finish, DJ LeMahieu hit a tying, tworun shot off Astros closer Roberto Osuna in the top of the ninth. Altuve answered with a two-run drive to leftcenter, setting off a wild celebration at Minute Maid Park and earning himself AL Championship Series MVP.
“Beautiful game,” Altuve said.
Astros ace Gerrit Cole was waiting to pitch a potential Game 7 on Sunday. Instead, the postseason star the senior back. But Moss broke through the line and outraced the defense for a 32-yard touchdown run that broke the rushing mark with 5:24 left.
“It was an honor for us as a defense to get the ball back for Zack and then be able to witness history,” Utah defensive tackle Leki Fotu said.
Moss ran for 99 yards on 25 carries to push his total to 3,264. Eddie Johnson set the previous record, running for 3,219 yards from 1984-88.
“If I had 40 yards, 30 — undefeated since May 22 — can be lined up for Game 1 at home against the NL champion Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.
Yuli Gurriel hit a threerun homer in the first inning, and flashy outfield defense helped Houston’s relievers defeat the Yankees and their vaunted bullpen.
It almost fell apart in the ninth. Gio Urshela singled yards, as long as we won that was the biggest thing to me,” said Moss, whose family was able to fly in from South Florida and witness the performance. “But (setting the record) was nice too . it was emotional to have them all here.”
Eno Benjamin ran for 104 yards but Arizona State managed only 136 yards of total offense.
Freshman Jayden Daniels was 4 for 18 for 25 yards and an interception. He was sacked three times and was running from pressure almost every time he off Osuna leading off for his third hit of the game, and LeMahieu put a ball into the first row of seats in right field — inches over the glove of leaping George Springer — to tie it at 4.
Altuve, a sparkplug touted as Houston’s heart and soul, didn’t let this one get away.
“I get asked to describe Jose Altuve all the time,” manager AJ Hinch said. “I dropped back.
“Relentless defense. They’re going to get after the quarterback,” Daniels said after ranking Utah’s front as the best he’s faced.
Utah was one of just three teams in the country without an interception, but Arizona State’s Chase Lucas picked off Tyler Huntley’s pass and returned it to the Utah 28 in the third quarter. In the end, Arizona State couldn’t capitalize on Utah’s four turnovers.
“It’s hard to win when you turn the ball over four times, but we found a way think MVP is what he is.”
The teams combined to use 14 pitchers in a drawnout game that lasted 4 hours, 9 minutes.
Houston’s bullpen got a lift from flashy outfield defense. Right fielder Josh Reddick dove for Brett Gardner’s liner for the second out of the sixth. An inning later, left fielder Michael Brantley laid out for Aaron Hicks’ shallow floater but that’s just another credit to our defense,” Whittingham said.
Huntley, who passed for 171 yards before leaving in the third quarter, was hobbled after he took a hit in the second quarter as he tried to scramble out of a sack. The play was reminiscent of last year against Arizona State when he evaded an initial tackle and sustained a broken collarbone on the ensuing hit that left him out for the rest of the season.
“He’s a fierce competi