The LeRoy Panthers are combining the momentum of this season and lessons learned from last year to hopefully make a deep run in the Class 2A postseason.

Coach BJ Zeleznik indicates his undefeated Heart of Central Illinois Small Division champs had a very veteran team that he knew had a chance to be pretty good. They are enjoying the fun they are having as a team and a community. 

The Panthers have taken care of the football very well this season and as LeRoy seeks to make a deep run in the 1A playoffs, Coach Zeleznik says that's something they're going to have to continue to do to have success.

Last season's second round loss at Belleville Althoff Catholic was a good learning experience for the Panthers that fueled them through the offseason. Coach Zeleznik says his team is using that experience and its momentum of this season to fuel them this postseason.

LeRoy will host Aurora Christian on Friday at 7 pm. 

You wouldn't know the Tri-Valley Vikings are still a pretty young team but the champions of the Heart of Central Illinois Conference large division Vikings are hoping that mature youth will carry them to another deep run this November.

Despite a junior-heavy roster, Tri-Valley football coach Josh Roop says his five seniors are big contributors to their success this 8-1 regular season.

The Vikings got dominated by Coach Roop's good friend Coach Zeleznik and the LeRoy Panthers in week two. Coach Roop says his team was humbled and had to respond and feels they have, rolling off seven straight wins to wrap up the regular season.

Tri-Valley hosts Bloomington Central Catholic High School Friday night at 7 pm in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs. 

Monticello will take on Bloomington Central Catholic High School in a Class 2A Regional championship in Bloomington tonight.

Monticello overcame a pesky Clinton squad Monday to advance to Tuesday's Regional semifinal against Tri-Valley. The Lady Sages started slow and dropped the first set but rallied and won the next two to advance to tonight's Regional Championship.

BCC toppled Prairie Central in two sets Tuesday to advance. 

First serve is at 6 pm tonight. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

The Dee-Mack Indians were able to win some crucial games down the stretch and qualify for the postseason. 

Now they're hoping to make the most of the opportunity in the Class 2A playoffs. Coach Cody Myers is proud of the resiliency of his team and the way they fought through more adversity again this football season.

According to Coach Myers, while the schedule was tough for Dee-Mack, they took their lumps and moved on and he feels that is one of the best attributes of his group.

As Dee-Mack prepares for top-seeded Farmington Saturday afternoon, Coach Myers is stressing to his team the importance of taking care of the football and not giving a good team like that extra, and easy, opportunities.

Game time Saturday in Farmington is 3:30 pm. 

Death. Taxes. Maroa-Forsyth playing into November.

It's just become the standard for the Trojans but Coach Josh Jostes says the excitement of making the postseason and celebrating with his team never gets old.

Coach Jostes calls this year an interesting one for his Trojans. Maroa-Forsyth ended up with just three home games after a cancellation by Riverton before the year started. That added up to almost 1,000 miles traveled for road games in the Sangamo Conference and non-conference matchups.

Maroa-Forsyth came into the year with some big holes to replace but with a D-1 tight end and development of playmakers, Coach Jostes' team had another successful 8-1 season.

The Trojans draw former Okaw Valley Conference rival Decatur St. Teresa in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs. Game time in Maroa is 1 pm Saturday.

The Central A&M Raiders have the tall task of taking on the second seed in the south bracket of the Class 1A playoffs on Saturday when they travel to Hardin-Calhoun. 

Coach Brent Weakly after a tough loss to LeRoy went back to a spread-style offense that his A&M teams have been known for. He felt the tighter, Wing-T formation was a good learning experience for his team but they had success once they spread things back out.

Coach Weakly has been able to expand his playbook recently but recognizes the challenge ahead in its first-round matchup on the road.

Hardin-Calhoun will play a physical brand of football and Coach Weakly believes his team will have to match their physical style of play. 

Game time Saturday will be 1:30 pm for the Raiders who are making its sixth appearance in the playoffs under Coach Weakly.

The Mahomet-Seymoour Bulldogs overcame a slow start and grew up this year to finish 7-2 and qualify for the Class 5A playoffs.

Coach Jon Adkins says his team was and immature and when they started 0-2, he felt his team had a lot of growing up to do. He says they answered the bell.

Coach Adkins once again has a dynamic quarterback leading his offense and has very good playmakers to get the ball to.

The Bulldogs can beat its opponents in a variety of ways and Coach Adkinds feels very good about his team heading in the playoffs.

Mahomet-Seymour draws Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin in the first round of the 5A playoffs for a Friday night game at 7 pm in Mahomet.

Experience in the postseason can be one of the most important things a high school football coach can rely on and Normal Community football coach Jason Drengwitz has plenty of it.

The Ironmen finished the regular season 8-1 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12 to win the conference title again in 2024. On the WHOW/WEZC high school playoff show Saturday night, Coach Drengwitz says his team just got better week to week.

The Normal Community offense is very experienced - particularly in its skill positions. Coach Drengwitz says it starts with their dynamic, multi-sport playmaker Kyle Beaty.

Coach Drengwitz credits his team for being able to be creative in its ways to get the ball to its playmakers, fly to the ball and win on special teams. He says they're going to have to continue to get better at those aspects of the game in the 7A postseason.

The 7A playoffs for Normal Community starts Saturday afternoon when they host West Chicago in a first round playoff matchup.

A rollercoaster season is how Normal West football coach Nathan Finchum described his team's 2024 7-2 campaign.

The Wildcats started the year 2-2 and after some key losses to its team, Coach Finchum explains they reflected on challenging his young team to rise to the occasion and he credits them because they won their final five games. 

Coach Finchum calls Cooper Temple a Swiss army knife and the shifting around he's done this season to go where he is needed. 

Normal West has run into East St. Louis the last two seasons in the second round of the 6A playoffs and it looks to be the projected opponent if they beat Chicago Simeon Saturday. Coach Finchum says they have to win the first one to get to the second one.

Normal West will host Chicago Simeon on Saturday.

After an 0-2 start, Washington football coach Todd Stevens says his team matured a lot and won its way to a second straight Mid Illini Conference title in 2024.

The Panthers lost to Kaneland and Kankakee but won seven straight after that to finish 7-2. Coach Stevens indicates in the process his team grew up and showed a lot of maturity in its response to those two early losses.

Coach Stevens feels they had a lot of kids that could have started at a lot of other programs last year but they sat behind some talented kids that led Washington to the 6A semifinals. This year, those kids stepped up.

Coach Stevens says his team cleaned up a lot of the early issues that plagued them, primarily penalties. Now it's about staying healthy and continuing to play good football.

The postseason journey for the Panthers begins Friday night at 7:30 pm when they host Palos Heights Shephard. 

The Clinton Lady Maroons will battle the Monticello Lady Sages in Class 2A Regional high school volleyball action tonight at Bloomington Central Catholic High School.

Monticello is seeded fifth while Clinton is seeded 12th. 

Game time tonight is 7 pm. The game follows Prairie Central taking on Olympia at 6 pm.

Hear tonight's action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.

Jordan Love injured his left groin on the opening possession against Jacksonville, left the game for good in the third quarter and then had a front-row seat as backup Malik Willis rallied the Packers to a 30-27 victory.

With Love watching from the sideline Sunday, Willis completed a 51-yard pass to Jayden Reed that set up Brandon McManus' second winning kick in as many weeks. Willis completed 4 of 5 passes for 56 yards, with a touchdown and the biggest completion of the day.

It was all the Packers (6-2) needed to rebound from Trevor Lawrence's perfectly placed, 14-yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram that helped tie the game.

Engram caught the ball between three defenders and gave the Jaguars (2-6) all the momentum. But LaFleur dialed up a gut punch on second down that was the difference.

Jacksonville tried to let the Packers score, but Chris Brooks dropped to the ground to help set up McManus' 24-yarder.

Josh Jacobs ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns for Green Bay, including a 38-yard run in which he juked defenders Ventrell Miller and De'Antre Prince.

Lawrence rallied Jacksonville from a 10-point deficit in the fourth and tied the game at 27 with his pass to Engram. But the Jags might not have needed a comeback had Lawrence and his teammates not made so many mistakes.

Lawrence fumbled at the 5-yard line and threw an interception. The Jaguars also kept two Green Bay drives alive with penalties.

The Packers host NFC North rival Detroit next Sunday.

Jayden Daniels scrambled around for nearly 13 seconds and heaved the ball from the Washington 35-yard line with no time on the clock. The pass tipped off the hands of Zach Ertz short of the goal line and into the waiting arms of Noah Brown, who was standing alone in the end zone, for a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown that gave the Commanders an improbable 18-15 victory on Sunday and sent players, coaches and fans into a frenzy.

Daniels' heroics came after the Commanders (6-2) fell behind with 25 seconds left on a TD run by Roschon Johnson after a pass-interference penalty put the ball on the 1-yard line. There were just 19 seconds left after a kickoff return to the 24.

In the NFL’s sixth matchup of rookie quarterbacks taken with the top two picks in the draft, Daniels threw for 326 yards and ran for 52. Caleb Williams, taken first by the Bears (4-3), completed four of his first 16 passes and finished 10 of 24 for 131 yards.

Chicago, which had its winning streak snapped at three, had just 172 yards of offense before the fourth quarter started and did not get on the board until D'Andre Swift's 56-yard TD run late in the third.

The Bears visit Arizona next Sunday.

Michael Jordan won a championship in Phoenix in 1993. Tyler Reddick ensured that his car owner will have a chance to win another title there this year.

Reddick went high and overtook Ryan Blaney on the final turn to win at Homestead-Miami on Sunday to secure a spot in NASCAR’s winner-take-all finale in Arizona in two weeks. Reddick led 98 of the 267 laps, the last of them the one that mattered most.

Michael Jordan won a championship in Phoenix in 1993. Tyler Reddick ensured that his car owner will have a chance to win another title there this year.

Reddick went high and overtook Ryan Blaney on the final turn to win at Homestead-Miami on Sunday to secure a spot in NASCAR’s winner-take-all finale in Arizona in two weeks. Reddick led 98 of the 267 laps, the last of them the one that mattered most.

NASCAR moves to Martinsville next Sunday for the next-to-last race of the season, one where the remaining spots in the winner-take-all final four at Phoenix will be decided. Blaney won the fall race at Martinsville last season and Byron won when NASCAR made its first of two visits in 2024 there in April.

Central Illinois matchups in Round 1

Class 1A

#16 Aurora Christian (5-4) at #1 LeRoy (9-0)
#14 Salt Fork (5-4) at #3 Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (8-1)
15 Central A & M (5-4) at #2 Hardin-Calhoun (8-1)
#11 Tuscola (5-4) at #6 Toledo-Cumberland (7-2)

Class 2A

#16 Dee-Mack (5-4) at #1 Farmington (9-0)
10 El Paso-Gridley (6-3) at #7 Seneca (8-1)
#14 Bloomington Central Catholic (5-4) at #3 Tri-Valley (8-1)
#9 Carmi-White County (7-2) at #8 Warrensburg-Latham (7-2)
#13 Shelbyville (6-3) at #4 Pana (8-1), TBA
#12 Sangamon Valley (6-3) at #5 Vandalia (8-1)
#15 Decatur St. Teresa (5-4) at #2 Maroa-Forsyth (8-1)
#11 North Mac (6-3) at #6 Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (8-1)

Class 3A

#16 Prairie Central (5-4) at #1 Byron (9-0)
#10 Peotone (6-3) at #7 Eureka (8-1)
#11 Paxton-Buckley-Loda (6-3) at #6 Monmouth-Roseville (8-1)
#16 West Frankfort (5-4) at #1 St. Joseph-Ogden (9-0)
#9 Tolono Unity (6-3) at #8 Roxana (7-2)
#13 Olympia (6-3) at #4 Nashville (8-1)
#15 Mt. Carmel (5-4) at #2 Sullivan-Okaw Valley (9-0)
#14 Carlinville (5-4) at #3 Williamsville (8-1)
#11 DuQuoin (6-3) at #6 Monticello (7-2) - 2 pm Saturday

Class 4A

13 Peoria Notre Dame (5-4) at #4 Rochester (7-2)
#12 Mt. Zion (6-3) at #5 Carterville (7-2)
#10 Normal U-High (7-2) at #7 Manteno (7-2)
#14 Taylorville (5-4) at #3 Waterloo (8-1)

Class 5A

#9 Metamora (6-3) at #8 Centralia (6-3)
#15 Country Club Hills Hillcrest (5-4) at #2 Peoria (7-2)
#14 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (5-4) at #3 Mahomet-Seymour (7-2)
 #11 Jacksonville (6-3) at #6 Joliet Catholic (6-3)

Class 6A

#16 Springfield (5-4) at #1 East St. Louis (8-1)
#9 Chicago Simeon (7-2) at #8 Normal West (7-2)
 #12 Crete-Monee (6-3) at #5 Chatham-Glenwood (7-2)
#15 Dunlap (6-3) at #2 Oak Lawn Richards (8-1)
#10 Palos Heights-Shepard (7-2) at #7 Washington (7-2)
#11 Lemont (6-3) at #6 Bloomington (7-2)

Class 7A

#27 West Chicago (6-3) at #6 Normal Community (8-1)

In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Tolono Unity scored two touchdowns in the first 30 seconds of the fourth quarter propelling the Rockets to a 42-28 victory over Monticello in Illini Prairie Conference high school football action in Tolono.

Monticello senior quarterback Ike Young was picked off twice in two pass attempts. Garrett Richardson scored the second of his two touchdowns on a six-yard run on the first play of the first quarter to give Unity a 35-14 lead.

On the first play of the next drive for the Sages, Young was picked off and the interception was returned for a touchdown to put Unity up 42-14.

Monticello made the score respectable scoring two late touchdowns. Young hit Carter Foran from four yards out and then scored on a 17-yard run with less than a minute left in regulation.

Monticello started the game with a goal line stop after it appeared Unity ran the opening kick 92 yards for a touchdown but the touchdown was called back.

Unity junior quarterback Dane Eisenmenger hit Mason O'Neill on the right side of the end zone on a fourth and goal from the 24-yard line to put the Rockets up 7-0.

Richardson scored his first touchdown to start the third quarter from six yards out to put Unity up 14-0.

Monticello got within a touchdown twice. Young used a quarterback sneak to score from a yard out to get within 14-7. 

The Rockets led 21-7 at the half. Monticello got the ball to start the second half but turned it over on downs in the red zone.

Hunter Romano picked off an Eisenmenger pass deep in Unity territory and returned it 11 yards to get the Sages within 21-14. 

The Rockets would score the next three touchdowns to go up 42-14 and put the game out of reach.

Richardson finished with 33 carries for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Eisenmenger was 9-for-15 passing for 116 yards with a touchdown and interception. He also had nine carries for 53 yards and a touchdown.

Despite a two-interception night, Young threw for 301 yards on 27-of-45 passing with a touchdown. He also had 11 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown.

Foran went over the 100-yard mark again Friday grabbing 11 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. Russ Brown had seven receptions for 75 yards while Nolan Buehnerkemper added seven receptions for 36 yards.

The Rockets finish the regular season 6-3 overall and 6-2 in the Illini Prairie Conference.
 

Monticello finishes the regular season 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the Illini Prairie Conference. 

Both teams will await their Class 3A playoff opponents on Saturday night. 

As heard on WHOW, The El Paso-Gridley Titans defeated the Clinton Maroons by a score of 21-14

The Maroons were led by Keaton Graves who had an impressive 144 passing yards and a touchdown but struggled in the run game with only 24 total rushing yards. Colton Walker also had a touchdown and 104 total yards. 

The Titans were led by Quarterback Owen Adams who had 19 carries and 139 total yards and a touchdown.

Clinton falls to 4-5 and will miss the playoffs, while El Paso-Gridley improves to 6-3 and will be guaranteed a spot. 

Our Servpro of Piatt/DeWitt Counties was Keaton Graves for his stellar passing game, which we have seen improvement on throughout the season.

Tune in on Monday, November 18th, for the start of the basketball season, when the Lady Maroons take on Olympia at Home on WHOW and all our digital platforms. 

The Clinton Maroons will travel to El Paso-Gridley tonight in a situation where they need a win to qualify for the postseason.

Last Week, the Maroons suffered their 4th straight loss falling to Deer Creek-Mackinaw 38-20. Head Coach Ron Bass let his team decide how they wanted to be coached this week in practice. 

This week, the Maroons will travel to El Paso-Gridley who are on a 3-game win streak. Coach Bass says shifting the momentum will be all on the kids. 

The Maroons are still suffering from the injuries of Anthony Westbrooks and Dawson Thayer, this week Center John Smock will be stepping away from the defensive line with a rib injury, and sophomore Micah Wheeler will be stepping into his spot on the defensive line. 

The Maroons will look to upset the 5-3 Titans with their season on the line at 7 PM. Tune into WHOW and all our digital platforms to hear the action. 

Heart of Central Illinois

Ridgeview-Lexington at Dee-Mack
Eureka at Shelbyville
Tremont at Tri-Valley
Fisher at LeRoy
Meridian at Warrensburg-Latham
Fieldcrest at Heyworth
Central A & M at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

Monticello puts a seven game winning streak on the line tonight when they travel to rival Tolono Unity for Illini Prairie Conference high school football action in week 9. 

Coach Cully Welter admits his team is playing well but they still have little details to iron out to be the consistent defensive force he believes they can be. In a 28-13 win over Prairie Central, it was big plays that hurt the Sages. 

Out of last week's win, Coach Welter was calling for his team to put the distractions of the excitement from the attention they are getting as a team and focus on playing football. He feels they did much better about that this week.

The Sages face a Unity team that has a couple of tough losses to its ledger this season and Coach Welter says they will be a handful in the running game and a very tough defense.

Unity comes into action tonight 5-3 overall. 

Game time is 7 pm. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Illini Prairie

Bloomington Central Catholic at Prairie Central

Paxton-Buckley-Loda at St. Joseph-Ogden

Rantoul at Illinois Valley Central

Big Twelve

Champaign Centennial at Bloomington 

Danville at Peoria Notre Dame

Normal West at Urbana 

Peoria at Normal Community

Peoria Manual at Champaign Central

Lincoln Prairie

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at Sullivan-Okaw Valley

Cerro Gordo-Bement at Arcola

Sangamon Valley at Nokomis

Oakland Tri-County at Villa Grove

Toledo-Cumberland at Argenta-Oreana

Mid-Illini

Canton at Limestone

Metamora at Dunlap

Morton at Washington

Pekin at East Peoria

Sangamo

New Berlin at Maroa-Forsyh

Pittsfield at Petersburg-PORTA

Olympia at Auburn

Williamsville at Pleasant Plains

Non-Conference 

Decatur St. Teresa at Highland

Jacksonville at Lincoln

Mahomet-Seymour at Peoria Richwoods

Mt. Zion at Breese Mater Dei

Normal U-High at Springfield Lanphier

Quincy Notre Dame at Decatur MacArthur

Springfield at Chatham-Glenwood

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at Rochester

Springfield Southeast at Decatur Eisenhower

St. Louis TDW Academy, MO at Taylorville

After a brutal loss to Dee-Mack on Friday night, the Clinton Maroons face a win-and-in eligible scenario for the postseason. 

Dee-Mack pulled out all the stops in a 38-20 win over Clinton, putting the Maroons at 4-4 on the season and needing a win Friday night at El Paso-Gridley to qualify for the postseason. Coach Ron Bass says his team got beat at the point of attack.

Coach Bass pulled a few tricks from his sleeve Friday night but he said it ultimately did not matter because of how good Dee-Mack was up front through the course of the game.

After four straight losses and coming into a must-win game in week 9, Coach Bass is putting it on his team. 

The Maroons travel to El Paso-Gridley Friday night to wrap up the regular season. The Titans are playoff-eligible at 5-3 and have won three in a row.

Game time on Friday is 7 pm. Hear the action on 92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and online at dewittdailynews.com.

Monticello is back in the state rankings and has won seven straight.

All the excitement left Monticello football coach Cully Welter feeling like his team was caught up in all the excitement after a 28-13 win over Prairie Central Friday night in Monticello.

The Monticello run game has been a work in progress all season and Friday night, the Sages were able to put the game away with a long, methodical drive that leaned on the run game late. Coach Welter was pleased to see that.

Monticello's run defense kept two dynamic playmakers in check in back-to-back weeks. Coach Welter has been pleased with the defense of late.

The Sages travel to Tolono Unity for a rivalry game to finish out the regular season. Monticello hasn't beaten the Rockets since the 2018 when the Sages went on to win the State Championship. 

Game time Friday is 7 pm. Hear all the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

The annual WHOW/WEZC high school football playoff preview show can be heard this Saturday night from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Hear from high school football coaches from around central Illinois whose teams will be playing postseason football and then hear as the pairings are released where your school lands in the playoffs. 

The show will originate from the WHOW studios and can be heard on 92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, and 95.9 FM WEZC, streaming online at dewittdailynews.com, and on Facebook and YouTube.

That's the annual high school football playoff preview show on Saturday night from 7 pm to 9 pm on WHOW/WEZC and all its digital platforms. 

The New Orleans Pelicans were open to trading Brandon Ingram during the offseason, and the Chicago Bulls were open to trading Zach LaVine.

But neither team received a satisfactory offer for their former All-Star players.

So when these teams meet in the season opener Wednesday night in New Orleans, Ingram will still be a Pelican and LaVine will still be a Bull

Both teams did make significant moves in the offseason to try and break out of the middle of the pack in their conferences.

New Orleans acquired guard Dejounte Murray from Atlanta in exchange for four players, though none of them were starters. Murray was not with team at the beginning of the week because of a family emergency, but he was expected to return late Tuesday.

New Orleans is excited to pair Murray with Ingram and forward Zion Williamson, but it has uncertainty at center after sending Jonas Valanciunas to Washington. Journeyman Daniel Theis, European rookie Karlo Matkovic and first-round pick Yves Missi will rotate in at center. The Pelicans may also play without a traditional center at times.

Last year, Chicago wrapped up the regular season 39-43 and didn't make it past the play-in tournament. In July, Bulls traded leading scorer DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento in a three-team trade that brought them guard Chris Duarte. That deal came after Chicago traded guard Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City for guard Josh Giddey.

In the process, the Bulls got younger and head coach Billy Donovan has prepared them to play with a faster tempo.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, last season’s Vezina Trophy winner, recorded 27 saves to spark the undefeated Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

Scoring for the Jets (6-0) were Nino Niederreiter, Colin Miller and Kyle Connor. All three goals came in the second period. Cole Perfetti assisted on all three goals.

Brandon Saad scored both goals for the Blues. Robert Thomas assisted on both goals.

Hellebuyck, who is 16-5-2 in his career against the Blues, improved to 5-0 this season.

Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for St. Louis, who closed out a four-game homestand.

Winnipeg has owned the Blues the past three seasons, winning 10 of the past 12 matchups.

Saad earned his 500th career point in the first period when he scored his first goal this season at 10:11, giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Saad has 254 goals and 246 assists in his 857-game career. The 31-year-old was drafted in the second round by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011.

The Blues begin a four-game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Danton Heinen scored two of Vancouver's four first-period goals, and the Canucks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.

J.T. Miller had a goal and two assists for the Canucks, who closed out a 3-1 trip. Brock Boeser, Conor Garland and Pius Suter also scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves against his first NHL team.

Heinen finished a pretty passing sequence 21 seconds into the game. He picked up his second goal of the season at 10:46, giving Vancouver a 3-1 lead.

Taylor Hall, Ryan Donato and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for Chicago in its third loss in four games. Petr Mrazek made 24 stops.

Hall's goal with 6:31 left in the first was his second of the season and his 700th career point.

The Blackhawks went 1 for 5 on the power play, and the Canucks were 2 for 3 with the man advantage.

Chicago hosts Nashville on Friday night.

Illinois is up to No. 20 in the week's AP Top 25 college football poll after its win over Michigan on Saturday. 

Oregon became the fourth team this season to hold the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press college football poll, moving into the top spot on Sunday for the first time in 12 years after Texas lost at home to Georgia.

The Illini play the top-ranked team for the first time since 2007. They won 28-21 at Ohio State that year.

Vanderbilt made its first appearance since the 2013 season, at No. 25, and defending national champion Michigan fell out after a second straight loss dropped it to 4-3.

Unbeaten Oregon followed its one-point home win over Ohio State with its first road shutout in 32 years, a 35-0 rout of Purdue, and received 59 of 61 first-place votes.

Georgia, which has won three straight games since its loss to Alabama, made a three-spot jump to No. 2 on the strength of its 30-15 win at previously No. 1 Texas. The Bulldogs got the other two first-place votes.

No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Penn State were idle Saturday and held their spots. Texas dropped to No. 5 after Georgia held it 28 points under its scoring average.

Miami prevailed in a wild game at Louisville and remained No. 6, and Tennessee rose four spots to No. 7 following its win over Alabama. LSU, Clemson and Iowa State rounded out the top 10.

Vanderbilt’s previous ranking was No. 24 in the final poll of the 2013 season. The Commodores, who beat Ball State to improve to 5-2, are off to their best start since opening 5-0 in 2008. That also was the last time Vandy was ranked in the regular season.

Michigan, which scored its fewest points in a game since 2014 in its 21-7 loss at Illinois, had been ranked in 54 consecutive polls since 2021.

Brandon McManus kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired to give Green Bay a 24-22 victory over Houston on Sunday, McManus couldn't help himself.

Green Bay (5-2) overcame three turnovers to win its third straight and snap Houston's three-game winning streak.

The Packers released rookie Brayden Narveson and signed McManus on Wednesday, trusting the 33-year-old veteran's reliability. McManus has made over 90% of his career field-goal attempts from less than 50 yards, while Narveson had gone 12 of 17 without attempting any from beyond 49 yards.

Houston's Joe Mixon rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Ka’imi Fairbairn was 3 of 3 on field-goal attempts and put the Texans (5-2) ahead by making a 35-yarder with 1:44 left.

C.J. Stroud was just 10 of 21 for a career-low 86 yards and was sacked four times in a game that had seven lead changes.

Houston still nearly pulled off what would have been a remarkable victory, considering all the players the Texans were missing.

The Texans didn't have five defensive starters with tackle Mario Edwards Jr. serving a suspension while linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To’oTo’o, cornerback Kamari Lassiter and safety Jimmie Ward were out with injuries. Houston also played without injured receivers Nico Collins and Robert Woods, as well as receiver/punt returner Steven Sims.

Houston was seeking its first four-game winning streak since 2018, when the Texans won nine in a row. The emotions of this game were evident even before the opening kickoff, as Texans receiver Stefon Diggs exchanged words and shoves with Packers cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Keisean Nixon.

The Texans built a 19-14 halftime lead by scoring 16 points off three Packers turnovers.

Josh Jacobs put the Packers ahead midway through the third quarter when he got his first career touchdown catch - on the sixth-year pro’s 212th overall reception. Jacobs had the NFL record for most career catches without a touchdown reception.

But the Packers went three-and-out on their next three possessions, allowing the Texans to come back again on Fairbairn's last field goal. Green Bay trailed 22-21 when it got the ball at its own 30 with one timeout remaining.

The Packers were at midfield when Love hit Romeo Doubs for a 13-yard gain. An offside penalty on Houston's Will Anderson brought the Packers 5 yards closer. After a 6-yard completion from Love to Doubs got Green Bay to Houston's 26, the Packers called a timeout with 3 seconds left to set things up for McManus.

Packers LB Quay Walker left in the first half to get evaluated for a concussion after teammate Kingsley Enagbare's leg inadvertently hit him in the head at the end of a play.

The Packers visit the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday.

Knocked out of the playoffs this time last week, Joey Logano seized on his reversal of fortune to become the first driver locked into NASCAR’s championship finale.

Logano was below the cutline and eliminated from the eight-driver field when he left Charlotte Motor Speedway last Sunday. But when Alex Bowman’s car failed post-race inspection, Bowman was disqualified and Logano was reinstated to the playoff field.

The only two-time Cup champion in the playoff field, Logano passed Daniel Suarez with five laps remaining Sunday for his fourth career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was the second win of the playoffs for Logano and the Team Penske driver makes a Ford the first one locked into the winner-take-all final four at Phoenix Raceway next month.

He needed a massive fuel-saving effort to win.

Logano had to hold off pole-sitter Christopher Bell, who led a race-high 156 laps, over the closing two laps. A late pit stop put Bell 30 seconds behind Suarez, and Bell was cruising in his Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing trying to run down Suarez when Logano got to Suarez first.

Bell didn’t have enough to catch Logano and finished 0.662 seconds back.

Suarez, who was eliminated from the playoffs last week, finished third in a Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.

William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports was fourth as he attempted to qualify for the championship race for a second consecutive year.

Byron was followed by teammate Bowman in fifth and then Gibbs driver Martin Truex Jr., who was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round in his final season of full-time NASCAR racing.

Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin was eighth in a massive recovery on an underwhelming day and only four playoff drivers finished in the top 10.

Kyle Larson, winner of two straight at Las Vegas as well as last week at Charlotte, came from two laps down to finish 11th. He was the top-seeded driver at the start of Sunday and is now third in the standings behind Logano and Bell.

The remaining three playoff drivers had terrible days as reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and regular-season champion Tyler Reddick were all collected in the same early crash.

Logano is locked into the championship race, while Bell, Larson and Byron are above the cutline. Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney and Elliott are all below the elimination mark with two races remaining in the round.

Reddick rolled his car early to drop into a deep playoff hole.

Reddick, who had just won the first stage to pick up 10 bonus points, was involved in a multicar wreck moments after the start of the second stage. The Toyota from 23XI Racing made contact with Elliott to trigger the crash.

NASCAR moves to Homestead-Miami Speedway next Sunday for the middle race of the round of eight. Bell is the defending race winner.

In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Monticello ate up enough clock on a long drive in the fourth quarter and held off Prairie Central 28-13 to win its seventh in a row in Illini Prairie Conference high school football action Friday in Monticello.

Both teams started slow offensively but Monticello struck first on a three-yard scramble by Ike Young to go up 6-0 at the 3:02 mark of the first quarter.

The Sages weren't done in the first. Carter Foran scored his first of two touchdowns on an end-around with 56 seconds left and the Sages converted the two-point conversion to make it a 14-0 lead.

The Hawks' scores came on big plays. Tagen Fehr took a kickoff 99 yards to bring Prairie Central within 14-7. 

After a slow offensive second quarter by both sides, Monticello finished the half with a score as Nolan Beuhnerkemper scored on a shovel pass from Ike Young to make it 21-7 at the break.

Prairie Central came out of the half and turned the ball over on the second play from scrimmage, setting up a short field for the Sages but Monticello could not score and 31-yard field goal by Buehnerkemper was wide to the left. 

The next possession by Prairie Central was its most sustained of the night but the Hawks stalled out and late in the third, Foran caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Young to make it 28-7.

The first play of the next drive, Hudson Ault ran 65 yards for a score to make the score 28-13.

Monticello was able to put the game away with a long, methodical drive and while they did not get points, they did not give Prairie Central enough time to come back and held on for its seventh straight win.

Young finished 26-for-35 through the air for 286 yards and had 64 yards on 23 carries. The senior passed for two touchdowns and ran for another.

Young was the ServPro of Piatt/DeWitt Counties Player of the Game.

Foran hauled in 11 catches for 150 yards with a touchdown and ran for another.

Buehnerkemper caught seven passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. 

Ault ran for 109 yards on 17 carries highlighted by the 65-yard touchdown run.

Prairie Central falls to 4-4 overall and 3-4 in the Illini Prairie Conference. They will need a win next week against Bloomington Central Catholic to qualify for the postseason.

Monticello is 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the Illini Prairie Conference. They will wrap up the regular season next week at Tolono Unity. Game time is 7 pm. Hear the action on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

As heard on WHOW, the Dee-Mack Chiefs defeated the Clinton Maroons by a score of 38-20. The Maroons were led by Josh Bass, Keaton Graves, and Colton Walker, who all threw for a touchdown. Graves rushed for 94 yards and passed for 68 yards.

The opposing team was led by Quarterback Chuck Hathaway III who had 83 yards of total offense, and players like Max Eccles and Drew Swdinski both recieved direct snaps fo rushing plays throughout the game. 

Our Servopro of Piatt/DeWitt Counties Player of the game was Colton Walker for his impressive performance recieving and rushing the ball, as well as his passing touchdown. 

The Maroons fall to 4-4 and the Chiefs improve to 4-4. 

Tune in next week as Clinton takes on El Paso-Gridley at 7 PM on WHOW and all our digital platforms.

With two games to play, the Clinton Maroons are still looking for that playoff-eligible fifth victory.

Last week the Clinton Maroons suffered a 30-22 Loss at home to the Shelbyville Rams, bringing their record to 4-3. Maroons Head Coach Ron Bass explains it's tough to be on a three-game losing streak and his team will have to dig deep to become playoff-eligible this week. 

Although Dee-Mack is only 1-4 in conference play, Coach Bass says not to discount their team. It's a winnable game, but Dee-Mack has been getting better every week. He notes with Dee-Mack's backs against the wall, it will be a good test for the Maroons. 

Although the Maroons are still looking for eligibility, Coach Bass feels confident that they can win one of if not both of their next two games. He says it's all about how bad his players want it. 

The Maroons will strive to make it over the 5-win hump tonight against The Dee-Mack Chiefs tonight at home. Game time is 7 PM, catch the game right here on WHOW and all our digital platforms, beginning just before kick off. 

Heart of Central Illinois

Tri-Valley at Eureka
El Paso-Gridley at Tremont
Shelbyville vs. Ridgeview-Lexington at Ridgeview
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at LeRoy
Heyworth at Central A & M
Meridian at Fisher
Fieldcrest at Tuscola

Avoiding complacency is the theme of the week in Monticello. 

The Sages are ranked in the high school football state rankings and are coming off a huge upset victory over previously state-ranked Paxton-Buckley-Loda 33-0 last Friday night. Coach Cully Welter says if his team is getting too comfortable after last week's win, he isn't seeing it.

PBL was short an offensive lineman and lost both its quarterbacks in the duration of the game. Coach Welter feels despite the injury issues for the Panthers, his team played very well.

Monticello welcomes Prairie Central to town tonight. The Hawks need one win to become playoff-eligible and Coach Welter says they feature the fastest runningback in the Illini Prairie Conference. 

Game time tonight is 7 pm. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Illini Prairie

Illinois Valley Central at Pontiac

St. Joseph-Ogden at Rantoul

Tolono Unity at Paxton-Buckley-Loda

Apollo

Effingham at Mt. Zion

Mattoon at Mahomet-Seymour

Taylorville at Charleston

Big Twelve

Bloomington at Peoria 

Champaign Central at Normal West

Normal Community at Champaign Centennial

Peoria Richwoods at Danville

Urbana at Peoria Manual (Sat.)

Lincoln Prairie

Arcola at Arthur -Lovington-Atwood-Hammond

Argenta-Oreana at Cerro Gordo-Bement

Nokomis at Toledo-Cumberland

Sullivan-Okaw Valley at Oakland Tri-County

Villa Grove at Sangamon Valley (Sat.)

Mid-Illini

Limestone at Pekin

Dunlap at Morton

East Peoria at Metamora

Washington at Canton

Sangamo

Auburn at Pittsfield

Maroa-Forsyth at Williamsville

New Berlin at Athens

Petersburg PORTA at Riverton

Pleasant Plains at Olympia

Non-Conference

Breese Mater Dei at Decatur St. Teresa

Chatham-Glenwood at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin

Decatur Eisenhower at Springfield Lanphier

Decatur MacArthur at Jacksonville

Lincoln at Quincy Notre Dame

Peru St. Bede at Bloomington Central Catholic

Rochester at Springfield (Sat.)

Springfield Southeast at Normal U-High

Warrensburg-Latham at Westmont

St. Louis (Christian Brothers), MO at Peoria (Notre Dame)

Pawnee at Decatur Unity Christian (Sat.)

Kincaid-South Fork at Champaign St. Thomas More (Sat.)

In a game heard on WEZC, and online at dewittdailynews.com, Monticello withstood a big run by Prairie Central in the first set and steamrolled to a win in the  second set, rolling to a 25-20, 25-9 two-set match win over the Lady Hawks in on a special night at the Sievers Center in Illini Prairie Conference volleyball action Thursday.

The two schools joined forces to feature pink in their uniforms for 'Pink Out Week' at Monticello High School. At tonight's football game, money raised by the two schools will be donated to breast cancer awareness.

The two sides played nearly even volleyball in the first set. Monticello got up 20-13 but the Lady Hawks stormed back to tie the set up at 20-20. 

Monticello finished out the first set and scored the first nine points of the second set, easily putting Prairie Central away for the victory.

Sierra Downey led Monticello with 12 kills, nine digs and seven aces. She was the ServPro of Piatt/DeWitt Counties Player of the Game.

Addison Finet had a team-best 16 assists. Maddie Melton had 15 digs and Sadie Walsh added 12 digs.

Hear more Monticello volleyball action next Thursday night on senior night at 7 pm. 

Michigan endured two losses and a pair of quarterback changes before its bye last week. Now, the Wolverines' schedule gets even more difficult.

The defending national champions will play four teams currently ranked in the Top 25 among their six remaining regular-season contests, including a road matchup against No. 22 Illinois on Saturday afternoon in Champaign, Ill.

No. 24 Michigan (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) is coming off a 27-17 road loss to unranked Washington on Oct. 5. Wolverines first-year coach Sherrone Moore benched starting quarterback Alex Orji in the second quarter. Orji had replaced opening-game starter Davis Warren after the latter struggled with turnovers.

Orji's replacement, Jack Tuttle, completed 10 of 18 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown, although he was intercepted once. Tuttle's college career began at Utah in 2018, but he never appeared in a game for the Utes. He spent four seasons with Indiana before transferring to Michigan before the 2023 campaign.

Tuttle will start against the Fighting Illini (5-1, 2-1) in a pivotal game for the Wolverines. Michigan still has games against No. 2 Oregon (Nov. 2), No. 16 Indiana (Nov. 9), and No. 4 Ohio State (Nov. 30).

Luke Altmyer has been razor sharp, throwing for 1,426 yards and 14 touchdowns with just one interception this season. Altmyer had 13 touchdown passes and was intercepted 10 times last season.

Illinois survived a 50-49 overtime thriller against one-win Purdue last weekend. The Fighting Illini needed a 38-yard field goal from David Alano as time expired to force overtime.

Illinois has dropped its last six meetings with the Wolverines, with its most recent victory coming in 2009. Illinois lost 19-17 in Ann Arbor two seasons ago.

Game time is 2:30 pm Saturday.

Coming off a tough loss at home last weekend to nationally-ranked Missouri State, No. 21 Illinois State will look to bounce back this weekend in Murray, Kentucky when the Redbirds (4-3, 1-2 MVFC) take on the Racers (1-5, 0-3 MVFC) at Roy Stewart Stadium in their final game before their bye week.

Illinois State lost to 25-ranked Missouri State 41-7 last week. 

he Racers are off to a 1-5 start to the 2024 campaign under the leadership of first-year head coach Jodi Wright.

Green Bay’s Jordan Love and Houston’s C.J. Stroud both grew up in Southern California and consider themselves good friends.

Now they’re two of the NFL’s top young quarterbacks, and they’ll face off against each other for the first time Sunday as the AFC South-leading Texans enter Lambeau Field on a three-game winning streak.

Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, went to Rancho Cucamonga High School in San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles, before starring at Ohio State. He and Love both led their respective teams to divisional playoff appearances as first-year starters last season, and both players are off to strong starts this fall.

Houston (5-1) is seeking its first four-game winning streak since 2018, when the Texans won nine in a row. Green Bay (4-2) has won two straight and is coming off a 34-13 triumph over Arizona in which Love threw four touchdown passes.

Both QBs have reason to be wary heading into this matchup.

Houston ranks third in the NFL in total defense and fourth in pass defense. Green Bay has an NFL-leading 17 takeaways and has intercepted nine passes.

Packers safety Xavier McKinney recorded an interception in each of his first five games. That streak ended against the Cardinals, but the Packers recovered fumbles on three straight Arizona possessions.

The Texans have just one win in this series, and it came at Green Bay in 2008. Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, a former linebacker, had nine tackles and a sack in Houston’s 24-21 victory.

Green Bay switched kickers this week, signing 33-year-old veteran Brandon McManus and releasing rookie Brayden Narveson.

McManus had been out of a job since the summer, when two women sued him and the Jacksonville Jaguars alleging he sexually assaulted them when they were working as flight attendants on the Jaguars’ trip to London. The NFL said late last month it didn’t find sufficient evidence that McManus violated the league's personal conduct policy, and attorneys on both sides said this week that the civil claims had been settled.

The former Jaguars and Denver Broncos kicker has made 54.9% of his career attempts from 50-plus yards (45 of 82) and has been accurate on 90.8% of his other attempts (208 of 229). Narveson was 12 of 17 on field goals without attempting any from beyond 49 yards.

Texans defensive end Will Anderson had eight tackles, three sacks, four tackles for losses and deflected a pass last week to earn AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He has 12 1/2 sacks through his first 21 games, which ranks second in franchise history in that span behind J.J. Watt, who had 13 from 2011-12.

The Packers are 10-2 at home against AFC opponents under coach Matt LaFleur, who took over in 2019. The Packers have won their last four games against AFC teams, including a 16-10 home victory over the Indianapolis Colts and a 30-14 triumph at Tennessee this season.

Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Thursday night in the Blackhawks' home opener.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall's first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

The Blackhawks host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.

Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours' goal at 2:04 of overtime in the St. Louis Blues' 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

Thr Blues host Carolina on Saturday night.

After its big win over Paxton-Buckley-Loda this week, Illinois AP sports writers rewarded the Sages with its first appearance in the high school football rankings in a few years.

The Sages came in no. 8 in this week's Class 3A poll. Monticello takes the place of Eureka who dropped a spot to no. 9 and Princeton remains no. 10 this week.

Byron keeps its stronghold on the top spot in 3A followed by Wilmington at no. 2. Montini and St. Joseph-Ogden swap places at third and fourth followed by Monmouth-Roseville, up a spot to round out the top five.

In Class 1A, the top three of this week's rankings remains unchanged. Belleville Althoff Catholic is No. 1 this week followed by Lena-Winslow and LeRoy. 

GCMS moves up to No. 4 this week and Camp Point Central rounds out the top five. 

Casey-Westfield, Calhoun, Princeville, Newman Central Catholic, and Sesser-Valier round out the top 10 in 1A.

Maroa-Forsyth remains the top team in Class 2A followed by Farmington. Bismarck-Henning makes a big jump from No. 6 to No. 2 this week followed by Quincy Notre Dame and Tri-Valley to round out the top 5. 

Chester, Johnston City, ALAH, Momence, and Chicago Christian round out the top 10 in 2A.

In Class 4A, Rochester remains No. 6 while Normal U-High jumps a spot to No. 8. The Class 3A top five is unchanged with Breese Central No. 1 again this week followed by Dixon, St. Laurence, Wheaton Academy, and Maneno. 

The top three of Class 5A is unchanged this week with Nazareth Academy coming in at No. 1 followed by Sycamore and Joliet Catholic. Peoria jumps two spots to come in at No. 4 followed by St. Francis rounding out the top 5. 

Mahomet-Seymour jumps into this week's rankings in Class 5A at no. 10.

In Class 6A, East St. Louis is the top team again this week as the top five remained unchanged. Cary-Grove, Geneva, Kankakee, and Libertyville round out the top five. 

Bloomington High School jumps into this week's rankings at no. 10.

In Class 7A, there's a new no. 1. Chicago Mt. Carmel takes over the top spot after Downers Grove North's loss to Lyons last week. Quincy is No. 2. Normal Community remains at No. 6 and receives a first-place vote. 

Batavia, Downers Grove North, and St. Charles North rounds out the top 5 in Class 7A.  

In Class 8A, Lincoln-Way East remains No. 1. 

Following a convincing win over state-ranked Paxton-Buckley-Loda Friday night, it was Monticello's defense that was the story.

The Sages rolled to a 33-0 upset of the Panthers in week seven action and Coach Cully Welter says his 18 seniors helped set the tone Friday as he felt his team was ready to go against what became a beat up PBL squad throughout the night.

The Sages were penalized eight times for 85 yards and while some flags were frustrating, Coach Welter says they have the weapons this year to get them out of those holes. 

The upset over PBL was a positive step forward in the most challenging stretch of the Monticello schedule this year. Going into this week's matchup with Prairie Central, Coach Welter says it is nice to not have their backs against the wall.

Nolan Buehnerkemper led the way for the Sages with nine catches for 180 yards and kicked two field goals in the victory. 

The Sages limited PBL to 23 yards of total offense and the Panthers' dynamic runningback, Robert Boyd-Meents was limited to ten yards on nine carries.

Prairie Central comes to Monticello 4-3 overall and winners of three of its last four. Game time Friday night is 7 pm. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

After its elite eight run, Illinois is tops among teams receiving votes in the AP Top 25 college basketball poll. 

The Illini have just two returning players from last year's elite eight roster in guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and forward Ty Rodgers.

Terrance Shannon, Jr. was the 27th overall pick in the NBA draft to the Minnesota Vikings. Marcus Domask is currently in the NBA G-League. Coleman Hawkins trasferred to Kansas State. Sincire Harris, Luke Goode, Amani Hansberry, and Dain Dainja all transferred from last year's team. 

Illinois welcomes Kylan Boswell - a four-star transfer from Arizona highlights a dynamic transfer group to Illinois. Ben Humrichous is a four-star transfer from Evansville. Carey Booth is a four-star transfer from Notre Dame while Tre White comes to Illinois as a four star transfer from Louisville.

Five star freshman Will Riley headlines a dynamic prep recruiting group for Coach Brad Underwood. 

The Illini will have some international flavor on their team this year. Kasparas Jakucionis comes to Champaign by way of Lithuania and Tomislav Ivisic is a Croatian big man - both four star recruits.

Kansas was picked first in the AP Top 25 preseason men’s basketball poll Monday, getting the No. 1 nod on half of the 60 ballots from a national media panel to start the season ahead of Alabama and two-time defending national champion UConn.

Kansas scooped up 30 first-place votes from the AP panel. The Crimson Tide, led by All-American guard Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson, earned 14 first-place votes and UConn, which is trying to become the first school since John Wooden’s teams at UCLA to win three straight titles, received 11 first-place votes and is third.

Houston earned four first-place votes and is fourth ahead of Iowa State, which returns its top four scorers from a team that was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga received one first-place vote and is the sixth.

Duke, led by consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, is seventh ahead of Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona in the top 10.

Hendrick Motorsports said Monday it will not appeal Alex Bowman’s disqualification at Charlotte Motor Speedway that eliminated him from NASCAR title contention.

Bowman finished Sunday’s race at The Roval in 18th-place — high enough to eliminate Joey Logano of Team Penske from the playoff field by four points.

But NASCAR said the No. 48 Chevrolet failed a post-race inspection and disqualified Bowman for failing to meet minimum weight requirements. It dropped him to 38th and Logano claimed that spot in the playoff field.

Hendrick had the right to appeal but said in a statement it would not.

All playoff cars go through inspection after a race.

NASCAR said Hendrick was given multiple opportunities to fuel the car, purge the water system, and add water in attempt to make minimum weight. But when the car went back through the weight station, the Chevy was still light.

The news was especially disappointing to Bowman sponsor Ally, whose chief marketing officer Monday posted on social media that Bowman had earned a spot in the playoffs. He was the highest points getter in the first round of the playoffs.

The eight drivers who will now compete through the third round of the playoffs are Hendrick drivers William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, Team Penske drivers Logano and reigning series champion Ryan Blaney, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin, and Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing.

It was a particularly brutal disqualification for Hendrick Motorsports, which celebrated Sunday night claiming half the spots in the playoff field of eight. Now the team heads to this Sunday’s race at Las Vegas will only three of its cars still eligible.

The Monticello volleyball team will take on Clinton in a Class 2A regional quarterfinal matchup on Monday, Oct. 28 at Bloomington Central Catholic High School. 

The Lady Sages received the fifth seed in the Regional while Clinton is seeded 12th. 

Game time will be 7 pm following another quarterfinal matchup between Prairie Central and Olympia at 6 pm.

The winner between Clinton and Monticello will meet Tri-Valley Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7 pm while the winner between Prairie Central and Olympia meets BCC at 6 pm in the first game.

The Regional Championship will be at 6 pm on Thursday, Oct 31.

Hear Monticello postseason action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Tune in this Thursday night as Clinton hosts Prairie Central in Illini Prairie Conference volleyball action at 7 pm on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Cole Kmet scored two touchdowns and was called into emergency long-snapping duties in Chicago's 35-16 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

The tight end successfully snapped after each of Caleb Williams' four TD passes and D’Andre Swift's 1-yard plunge as the Bears (4-2) won their third straight game for the first time in nearly four years.

After long snapper Scott Daly left the game early with a knee injury, Kmet got the call. Even though he's the designated emergency long snapper - because the team found out he did it in high school - he only takes a couple of snaps a week in practice.

Keenan Allen also caught two touchdown passes. He led a tea party celebration after his 9-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter, and his second score gave Chicago a 28-10 early in the fourth.

The Jags (1-5) started fast but Gabe Davis dropped a pass in the end zone - after he was whistled for a false start - and Jacksonville settled for a field goal on its opening drive.

Davis later caught two second-half touchdown passes from Trevor Lawrence - the second made the score 35-16.

Kmet broke two tackles on a 31-yard touchdown reception to give Chicago a 7-3 lead in the second quarter when the Bears mixed in no-huddle to spark their offense.

Williams found Kmet in the end zone with 13 seconds left in the half to complete an 85-yard drive than included the rookie quarterback scrambling for 23 yards on one play and 19 on another.

Williams, the No. 1 pick in this year's NFL draft, finished 23 of 29 for 226 yards with the four TD passes and one interception. He picked up 56 yards on four carries.

Kmet had five receptions for 70 yards. Swift ran 17 times for 91 yards.

Jags tight end Evan Engram, who returned from a hamstring injury that cost him four games, fumbled after a reception on Jacksonville’s first drive of the third quarter. The Bears turned that into points when Allen scored his first touchdown with the team.

Lawrence completed 23 of 35 passes for 234 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception. Engram had 10 catches for 102 yards.

It's Chicago's first three-game winning streak since late in the 2020 season.

Louis Rees-Zammit, the Welsh rugby star who is on Jacksonville's practice squad, made the trip and chatted with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on the field before the game. Goodell has led the league's push for international growth.

The Bears played without two starters in their secondary: S Jaquan Brisker (concussion from last week) and CB Tyrique Stevenson (calf injury from practice Thursday)

The Bears are on the bye week and then visit the Washington Commanders in Week 8.

Romeo Doubs responded to a one-game suspension by returning and catching two of Jordan Love's four touchdown passes in the Packers' 34-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Doubs' first two touchdowns of the season included a 10-yard score to open the second quarter and a 20-yard reception in the third quarter.

Doubs was suspended from the Packers’ 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams last week after missing two practices. A regretful Doubs didn’t go into specifics Friday about the reasons for his absences, but acknowledged he had to communicate better.

Love also threw touchdown passes of 5 yards to Jayden Reed and 44 yards to Watson while going 22 of 32 - completing throws to nine players - for 258 yards with one interception. His four touchdown passes matched a career-high.

Arizona (2-4) played losing football while showing an uncharacteristic lack of discipline. The Cardinals had been averaging a league-low 3.8 penalties per game, but they were penalized 13 times for 100 yards Sunday. They also committed three turnovers.

Arizona also lost several players to injuries, the most notable coming when rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. left with a concussion in the second quarter after his head hit the thigh of Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie on an incompletion.

Love threw three touchdown passes in the first 25½ minutes as the Packers took a 24-0 lead. The Cardinals got back into it by scoring 13 straight points – 10 in the final two minutes of the first half and a field goal on the opening drive of the second half.

Murray went 22 of 32 yards for 214 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown to Michael Wilson. Arizona's James Conner gained just 24 yards on seven carries as the Packers outrushed the Cardinals 179-89.

After the teams exchanged punts to start the game, the Packers scored three touchdowns and a field goal on their next four series to take command.

Even when it appeared the Cardinals were finally gaining some momentum in the second quarter, a turn of events enabled Green Bay to extend its lead.

Offsetting penalties wiped out a fumbled punt return by Reed that would have given Arizona the ball at Green Bay’s 23-yard line with the Cardinals trailing 17-0. Arizona punted again, and this time Keisean Nixon returned it 39 yards.

On the next play, Love's deep ball to Watson made it 24-0 with 4½ minutes left in the first half. Watson was back after missing the Rams game with an ankle injury.

Arizona started its comeback attempt when Murray found Wilson in the end zone with 1:56 left in the first half. After intended receiver Bo Melton fell on a route and Sean Murphy-Bunting picked off Love at Green Bay’s 44, Arizona’s Chad Ryland made a 38-yard field goal just before halftime.

Ryland added a 40-yarder to make it 24-13 early in the third quarter. Ryland was kicking in place of Matt Prater, who missed a second straight game with a knee injury.

Green Bay extended the lead on its ensuing series as Love threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Doubs to cap a drive that included two holding penalties on Murphy-Bunting. The Cardinals then lost fumbles on their next three series.

Packers WR Dontayvion Wicks left with a shoulder injury in the first half. C Josh Myers left in the second half.

The Packers host the Houston Texans next Sunday.

Kyle Larson raced to his Cup Series-high sixth victory of the season Sunday to easily advance to the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs, winning on The Roval — the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Larson led a race-high 62 laps in the No. 5 Chevrolet to win in a runaway. He beat longtime rival and title contender Christopher Bell by 1.511 seconds.

It was Larson’s second victory of the playoffs, but he’s the first championship-eligible driver to win in the round of 12. The elimination race cut the field from 12 drivers to eight, and among those knocked out of title contention was Hendrick driver Alex Bowman, who was disqualified for failing post-race inspection.

Bowman’s disqualification was for not meeting minimum weight, NASCAR said. It knocked him out of the playoffs and moved Joey Logano back into title contention.

Eliminated from title contention after the Bowman disqualification was Bowman, Team Penske driver Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing and Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Three of the four Hendrick drivers — Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott — have officially advanced into the round of eight.

Joining them for the next three-race series are reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney of Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Bell in Toyotas, and Tyler Reddick, the regular-season champion who squeezed through in a Toyota for 23XI Racing.

There are two Fords driver still eligible for the Cup title in Blaney and Penske teammate Logano.

Bell finished second and was followed by Byron, Cindric, Elliott, defending race winner AJ Allmendinger and Shane Van Gisbergen. Logano was eighth, while Bubba Wallace and Blaney rounded out the top 10.

Reddick won the first stage but was involved in a spin with Austin Dillon in the second stage that dropped him to 37th in position and below the cutline. He had to scramble the rest of the race to finish 11th and preserve his spot in the playoffs.

Michael Jordan, Hamlin’s business partner in the ownership of 23XI Racing, embraced both Hamlin and Reddick on pit lane after they advanced.

Logano, meanwhile, finished eighth and had been eliminated by four points from advancing to the next round until Bowman’s disqualification.

Briscoe was eliminated when he went to the garage with 66 laps remaining with mechanical damage that officially ended Stewart-Haas Racing’s shot at a championship. The team is scaling back from four cars to one next year without Tony Stewart as part of the ownership group and Briscoe will drive for Gibbs in 2025.

NASCAR opens the third round of the playoffs Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Larson is not only the defending race winner but also won in the spring.

Central Illinois High School Football Scores

Clinton        22

Shelbyville 30

Mt. Zion      42

Charleston 10

Bloomington HS        34

Peoria (Notre Dame) 7

Lincoln    0

Chatham 57

Rochester                   46

Decatur(MacArthur) 0

Colfax(Ridgeview) 13

Tri-Valley                 42

St. Teresa             27

St. Louis (Priory) 21

East Peoria 7

Morton       64

Mahomet 49

Effingham 0

Mackinaw 14

El Paso      19

Farmer City           0

St. Thomas More 68

Heyworth 20

Tuscola     25

Maroa-Forsyth 61

Olympia            33

Mattoon    7

Taylorville 21

Paxton(Buckley-Loda) 0

Monticello                    33

Central A & M 40

Fisher               6

Nokomis 20

Sullivan   33

Normal (Community) 71

Danville HS                  12

Richwoods 46

Urbana HS 6

Peoria (Manual)                  6

Normal Community West 49

St. Joseph 59

Pontiac     8

Toledo (Cumberland) 42

Oakland (Tri-County) 8

Rantoul           12

Tolono(Unity) 51

Tremont 14

Eureka    46

Warrensburg 7

LeRoy             41

Washington 31

Dunlap         10

Athens         22

Petersburg 24

Illinois Valley Central 28

Bloomington C. C.      49

Decatur Eisenhower 12

Normal(University)    40

In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Monticello won its sixth straight game shutting out a depleted Paxton-Buckley-Loda team 33-0 Friday night in Illini Prairie Conference high school football action in Monticello.

Nolan Buehnerkemper helped lead a complete effort by Monticello Friday. The junior had nine receptions for 158 yards with a touchdown. He had an interception and kicked two field goals - one of 31 yards and the other of 39 yards. 

Monticello's defense was stout all night. The Panthers lost their starting quarterback Carter Vaughn in the second quarter and the offensive struggles only got worse. 

Monticello did not allow a first down in the first half and limited PBL to just nine total yards of offense. 

The Sages bottled up the Panthers' dynamic playmaker, Robert Boyd-Meents, holding him to just ten yards on nine carries.

PBL had just 23 yards of total offense for the game. 

While Buehnerkemper was the story for Monticello Friday, senior quarterback Ike Young had another standout performance. He finished 17-of-28 for 228 passing with a touchdown and added 105 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown. 

He scored the game's first touchdown from eight yards out with 4:14 to go in the first quarter.

After the Sages defense forced PBL into a three-and-out to start the second half, Young hit Buehnerkemper on a 58-yard touchdown on the Sages' first possession of the second half to put the game nearly out of reach at 27-0. 

With Monticello ahead 14-0, Buehnerkemper kicked a 31-yard field goal with 3:41 to play in the third quarter and then a 39-yarder with three seconds left in the half.

Carter Foran was limited to seven catches and 47 yards Friday.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda suffers its first loss of the season going to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the conference. 

Monticello has won six in a row to go to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the Illini Prairie Conference.

The Sages will host Prairie Central next Friday night. Game time is 7 pm. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

As heard on WHOW, The Shelbyville Rams defeated the Clinton Maroons by a score of 30-22. The Maroons were led by Keaton Graves who had an impressive run game. He rushed for 165 yards but threw three interceptions, the last one being on what would have been the game-winning drive. 

The Rams were led by running back Landon Wallis who rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Chase Wells had three passes over 20 yards and a touchdown as well. 

Clinton falls to 4-3 and Shelbyville improves to 5-2, becoming playoff-eligible. 

Tune in next week as Clinton takes on Dee-Mack at 7 PM on WHOW and all our digital platforms.

As heard on a game on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons were taken down by the Tri-Valley Vikings 47-6 and received their second loss of the season. 

Head Coach Ron Bass says he and his team were disappointed with the outcome of the game. After what he calls an embarrassing performance, they changed up things in practice this week. 

Coach Bass predicts lineman Dawson Thayer will miss the rest of the season with a lower leg injury, and wide receiver Anthony Westbrooks will not be playing at least this week due to a separated shoulder. He hopes newcomer Michael Hurtt will be the difference in their defensive line. 

Coach Bass says Shelbyville is creative in their offense, so the Maroons' defense must be ready for anything. 

Hear all the action right here on WHOW and all our digital platforms. Game time tonight is 7 PM.

Heart of Central Illinois

Ridgeview-Lexington at Tri-Valley
Eureka at Tremont
Dee-Mack at El Paso-Gridley
Fisher at Central A & M
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at Fieldcrest
LeRoy at Warrensburg-Latham
Tuscola at Heyworth

After a couple of easy wins, Monticello puts a five-game winning streak on the line tonight against state-ranked Paxton-Buckley-Loda.

The Sages beat Rantoul 46-13 last Friday night and rolled Pontiac 49-0 the week prior. Coach Cully Welter says you always hope your kids stay focused on getting better in those weeks.

PBL has a big offensive line and a good complement of athletes highlighted by a four-year starting running back.

Coach Welter anticipates more pressure from the Panthers this week - something a lot of teams have been showing to Monticello this year.

The two teams have alternated wins and losses with the home team winning the last four matchups since COVID. Hear tonight's action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Game time is 7 pm on Friday. 

Illini Prairie Conference

Bloomington Central Catholic at Illinois Valley Central

Pontiac at St. Joseph-Ogden

Rantoul at Tolono Unity

Apollo

Mahomet-Seymour at Effingham 

Mt. Zion at Charleston

Taylorville at Mattoon

Big Twelve

Danville at Normal Community

Normal West at Peoria Manual

Peoria at Champaign Central

Peoria Notre Dame at Bloomington 

Urbana at Peoria Richwoods

Central State Eight 

Lincoln at Chatham-Glenwood

Normal U-High at Decatur Eisenhower

Rochester at Decatur MacArthur

Quincy Notre Dame at Jacksonville 

Springfield Lanphier at Springfield Southeast (Sat.)

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at Springfield

Lincoln Prairie

Arcola at Sangamon Valley (Sat.)

Argenta-Oreana at Villa Grove

Cerro Gordo-Bement at Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond

Oakland [Tri-County Coop] at Toledo-Cumberland

Sullivan-Okaw Valley at Nokomis

Mid-Illini

Dunlap at Washington

Metamora at Limestone

Morton at East Peoria

Pekin at Canton

Sangamo

Athens at Petersburg PORTA

Pittsfield at Pleasant Plains

Olympia at Maroa-Forsyth

Williamsville at New Berlin

Non-conference

Champaign Centennial at Lincoln-Way West

Herrin at Prairie Central (Sat.)

Lewistown at Meridian

St. Louis Priory, MO at Decatur St. Teresa

8 Man Football

Champaign St. Thomas More at Blue Ridge

Decatur Unity Christian at St. Anne

Milford at Danville Schlarman (Sat.)

Illinois has resided in the AP Top 25 for the past few weeks, is coming off a bye week and surely is looking forward to playing on its home field for the first time in a month.

Purdue has lost in each of the last four weeks by a combined 140 points, fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell after a 10-point showing vs. Nebraska at home on Sept. 28 and has lost commitments from some top high school recruits.

This all sounds promising for No. 23 Illinois (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten), which enters Saturday afternoon's conference game vs. Purdue (1-4, 0-2) in Champaign, Ill., as a double-digit favorite. However, recognize that everyone on both sides understands Purdue has beaten Illinois each of the last four years to maintain possession of the Purdue Cannon that goes to the yearly victor.

Now, throw in the fact that Purdue head coach Ryan Walters served as Bielema's defensive coordinator for two seasons before getting the top job for the Boilermakers in in December 2022 -- and there will be no taking anybody lightly on Saturday.

Purdue's issues are all over the tape. Last week at Wisconsin, the Boilermakers surrendered 52 points and 589 yards. The Badgers outscored Purdue 31-0 in the second half.

For Illinois, Luke Altmyer has starred at quarterback this season, completing 70 percent of his passes for 1,047 yards, with 11 touchdowns against just one interception. His passing efficiency rating (164) ranks sixth in the Big Ten.

His counterpart, Hudson Card, is 71-for-112 (63.4 percent) for 738 yards, seven TDs and four picks.

Game time is 3:30 pm on Saturday.

For the second straight week, No. 16 Illinois State will face off against another ranked FCS foe as the Redbirds welcome in No. 25 Missouri State for a home game at Hancock Stadium on Saturday. T

The Redbirds head into the contest after picking up a big 45-10 road win at Southern Illinois last weekend, while the Bears come into the game refreshed after a bye week.

ISU  linebacker Tye Niekamp had a stellar day for the No. 18 Redbirds in their 45-10 road win at No. 19 Southern Illinois, and for his efforts he was named the Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week and the MVFC Defensive Player of the Week. The Normal, Illinois, native was all over the field for ISU and recorded a season-best 11 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, and one pass break up against SIU. 

The Illinois State offense had another big day in its 45-10 win over No. 19 Southern Illinois, spreading the ball around while scoring touchdowns in impressive fashion. None of the Redbirds' six touchdowns came cheaply, with each being scored on plays of 20 yards or more. ISU scored on passes of 38, 28 and 20 yards from quarterbacks Tommy Rittenhouse and Jake Rubley and wideout Daniel Sobkowicz, and tallied touchdowns on runs of 36, 29 and 26 yards by Rittenhouse, freshman Matt Lawson and transfer Seth Glatz. In all, six different Redbirds scored touchdowns in the victory and Rittenhouse (1 pass, 1 rush) and Sobkowicz (1 receiving, 1 pass) each accounted for two.

The Bears have cracked the American Football Coaches Association FCS Top 25 this week, debuting in Monday's poll at No. 25. MSU was last ranked in the October 3, 2022 poll. MSU is off to a 3-2 start to the season and are coming off a bye week. The Bears are winners of three-straight games after dropping their first two contests of the year at Montana and against FBS foe Ball State.

Game time is noon on Saturday.

Eastern Illinois looks to rebound from an 0-2 start to Big South OVC play when the Panthers hit the road for the first time during the conference slate on Saturday at Tennessee State.  

EIU fell to 1-5 overall, 0-2 in the Big South OVC following a home loss to No. 13 Southeast Missouri.

NiJhay Burt picked off a pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 27 yards on Saturday against Southeast Missouri for what proved to be the games only turnover.  

MJ Flowers rushed for 48 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries on Saturday against Southeast Missouri.  Flowers also ended the day as the Panthers top receiver as he caught 11 passes for another 72 yards.  

Cooper Willman hauled in a 12-yard touchdown pass for the Panthers first score of the game on Saturday against Southeast Missouri.  Willman finished with four catches for 70 yards. 

Tennessee State is 4-2 overall, 2-1 in the Big South OVC.  The Tigers have come-from-behind in each of their last two games to pick up wins over Charleston Southern and Lindenwood.

Game time is 5 pm on Saturday. Hear the action starting with the pregame at 4:30 pm right here on WHOW and all its digital platforms. 

The Chicago Bears prepare to face the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday.

No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams completed 20 of 29 passes for 304 yards with two touchdowns to DJ Moore and zero interceptions, leading Chicago to a 36-10 victory. His 126.2 passer rating was the best by a Bears rookie since the AFL-NFL merger. The previous high was Jim McMahon’s 121.1 against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 26, 1982.

Williams has another big opportunity facing a struggling defense for the second week in a row. Jacksonville (1-4) ranks 31st overall and last in the NFL against the pass.

The Bears (3-2) are coming off their most lopsided victory since they pounded the New York Giants 29-3 in Week 17 of the 2021 season. A win would give them three straight for the first time since a three-game run late in the 2020 season. That streak was capped by a victory over Jacksonville.

Beating the Jaguars this time would make Chicago 4-2 at its bye. For a franchise trying to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2018, that is no small feat.

The Jaguars look to make it two straight wins after losing their first four games. They beat Indianapolis 37-34 last week.

The Bears have held opponents to 21 points or less in 11 straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL. It doesn't hurt to have a top-10 defense.

The Bears rank seventh overall and sixth against the pass. They had three takeaways last week and are third in the NFL with 11 this season. Only Green Bay (14) and Minnesota (13) have more.

D'Andre Swift had a combined 285 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina. He ran for 73 yards and a touchdown and added 47 yards receiving in the win over the Panthers after picking up 165 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown the previous week. It's a big jump after he had 68 yards rushing and 46 yards receiving through the first three games.

Swift had 1,049 yards rushing and 214 receiving with Philadelphia last season and made his first Pro Bowl. He signed a three-year contract in March.

While Chicago opted to fly out Monday night in order to have more time to shake off the jet lag, Jacksonville planned to leave Thursday, as it regularly does when it plays there. Then again, the Jaguars won't be heading home after the game.

Game time is 8:30 am Sunday morning. 

The Green Bay Packers will look to continue their trend of creating turnovers when they host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. 

The Packers (3-2) have an NFL-leading 14 takeaways. McKinney has intercepted passes in each of Green Bay’s first five games.

McKinney has a pick in six straight games, a streak that started in the final week of the 2023 season when he was with the New York Giants.

Green Bay is coming off a 24-19 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in which McKinney recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass on back-to-back series, with both takeaways leading to Packers touchdowns.

The Cardinals (2-3) want to make sure they’re not dwelling on their 24-23 triumph at San Francisco.

Murray and James Conner rushed for a combined 169 yards against the 49ers. They face a Packers defense that allowed 134 yards rushing against the Rams, with Kyren Williams gaining 102.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love has thrown for 873 yards and eight touchdowns in three starts while showing plenty of big-play ability. He had a 66-yard touchdown completion to Tucker Kraft and threw a 53-yard strike to Jayden Reed that set up a touchdown.

But he also has been picked off five times. Love took care of the ball much better last season: He threw 21 touchdown passes with only one interception during one nine-game stretch.

Reed had six catches for 78 yards and two carries for 19 yards against the Rams. He has 21 catches for 414 yards and two touchdowns plus eight carries for 110 yards and a TD.

The only other players ever to have at least 400 yards receiving and 100 yards rushing in the first five games of a season were Washington’s Wilbur Moore (1943), the New York Giants’ Frank Gifford (1959), Philadelphia’s Timmy Brown (1965), San Francisco’s Paul Hofer (1980) and San Francisco’s Roger Craig (1985).

The Cardinals have committed a league-low 3.8 penalties per game. They were penalized just one time for 5 yards against San Francisco.

Game time is noon on Sunday afternoon. 

William Byron leads Christopher Christopher Bell by 17 points and Kyle Larson by 22. Byron is locked into the round of eight as the NASCAR playoffs head to the Charlotte road course this week. 

The Cup playoff field will be cut from 12 to eight drivers.

Defending series champion Ryan Blaney stands sixth, 49 points back and 25 above the cut line. He’s the only Ford driver in the top eight. Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are on the bubble below the cutline.

Charlotte’s 17-turn “roval” course has been reconfigured to provide additional passing opportunities for drivers. Changes include an extended straightaway coming out of Turn 5, a new Turn 6 and sharper hairpin in Turn 7. There’s also a 35-foot elevation change, among other tweaks.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. became the second consecutive non-playoff driver to win as he conquered Talladega in overtime to end a 65-race drought dating back to last year’s Daytona 500.

It was typical Talladega with a late crash collecting 27 of 40 cars, including Stenhouse’s Chevy, which was missing some safety foam on his driver’s side door. The race was red-flagged for nine minutes, and the chaotic cleanup left some teams livid after the race about NASCAR’s handling of the crash scene. Just four active playoff drivers finished in the top 10.

AJ Almendinger won at the Roval last year.

Practice and qualifying is 11:30 am Saturday. Race time is 1 pm Sunday.

Sammy Smith surged from last in the playoff standings to become the first driver to reach the second round with an overtime win in the United Rentals 250 at Talladega as the XFinity Series head to the Charlotte Roval for its next playoff race.

The JR Motorsports driver entered the weekend 12th in points and started 27th but steadily made his way forward in the No. 8 Chevy owned by Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was second when the race restarted with a two-lap sprint and outdueled several drivers before holding off non-playoff driver Ryan Sieg by .177 seconds to break a 56-race drought with his second career win. Riley Herbst was third, Sheldon Creed fourth and Chandler Smith fifth.

Mayer (16th) was disqualified after his No. 1 Chevy failed the postrace inspection height requirement for being too low in the rear. The team has appealed the decision. 

Chandler Smith (2,122 points) leads Cole Custer and Austin Hill by 27 points with Sheldon Creed 32 back and Jesse Love 42 behind. Initial top seed Justin Allgaier and fellow contenders AJ Allmendinger, Shane Van Gisbergen and Parker Kligerman were involved in a late accident and are in danger of elimination.

Mayer won at the Roval last year. 

Practice and qualifying is at 9 am Saturday. Race time is 3 pm Saturday.

The Craftsman Truck Series returns to action at Homestead-Miami on Oct. 26. 

The Clinton Maroons were humbled in a 47-6 loss to Tri-Valley last Friday night.

Head Coach Ron Bass hopes his team learned some valuable lessons about what it takes to be a winner on Friday night. Ultimately, he say the buck stops with him. 

Coach Bass was the defensive coordinator at Tri-Valley before coming to Clinton and knows full well, what the Vikings do isn't complicated but they do it effectively and put pressure on their opponent to make the adjustments to stop it.

The road to the postseason for the 4-2 Maroons doesn't get easier as they host Shelbyville Friday night. The winner Friday night qualifies for the postseason with its fifth win as the Rams come to Clinton 4-2 overall. 

Hear the action right here on WHOW and all its digital platforms. 

The final third of the Monticello schedule for the last few years has been a make-or-break stretch. 

After a couple of easy wins over Pontiac and most recently Rantoul, Coach Welter has been pleased with his team's execution to put those teams away.

Carter Foran took the open play from scrimmage 70 yards on a jet sweep and was easily over 100 yards in the first half and didn't see action in the second half. Coach Welter is still looking for a complementary playmaker for his senior receiver.

The teeth of the schedule begin Friday when the Sages host state-ranked Paxton-Buckley-Loda. While Monticello clinched playoff eligibility, Coach Welter knows it is a pivotal stretch.

Monticello hosts PBL on Friday night at 7 pm. The home team has had the edge in this series since the COVID season with the teams alternating wins and losses with the home team winning the last four matchups. 

Hear Friday's action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.

Caleb Williams threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns in his best performance to date, DJ Moore caught both scoring passes and had 105 yards receiving against his former team, and the Chicago Bears beat the Carolina Panthers 36-10 on Sunday.

Williams found Moore wide-open on a crossing pattern early in the game for a 34-yard touchdown. From there, just about everything else looked easy, too.

The Bears (3-2) won their second straight after dropping two in a row, with the two key pieces they acquired as a result of a blockbuster trade with Carolina in 2023 leading the way.

Chicago also got a big performance for the second straight week from D’Andre Swift. He had 120 yards from scrimmage and a TD.

Swift ran for 73 yards and a touchdown and added 47 yards receiving after picking up 165 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown the previous week against the Los Angeles Rams.

Roschon Johnson ran for two touchdowns, including one in the fourth quarter that was followed by a skirmish in the end zone and ejections for Chicago’s Matt Pryor and Carolina’s Jaycee Horn. The Bears then went for a 2-point conversion, and the pass failed.

Kevin Byard got his 29th career interception. Gervon Dexter had a sack and a fumble recovery.

The Bears extended the longest current home winning streak in the NFL to eight games. It’s their best stretch at Soldier Field since they won 10 in a row from the 2005 to 2006 seasons.

Andy Dalton had a rough outing in his third start since Carolina (1-4) benched last year’s No. 1 pick Bryce Young. The veteran was 18 of 28 for 136 yards with an interception and got sacked three times.

Young replaced him in the closing minutes and was 4 of 7 for 58 yards and got sacked once. But Canales said Dalton will start next week against Atlanta.

Chuba Hubbard ran for 97 yards and a touchdown after going for a combined 218 yards in the previous two weeks. He gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter when he broke through a hole and went 38 yards for a touchdown, but it was all Bears after that.

Chicago scored touchdowns on its next two possessions, including its first in an opening quarter this season when Williams found Moore wide open that 34-yarder.

Former Bulls star Derrick Rose got a huge ovation when he was shown on the videoboard before the second quarter. Chants of “MVP! MVP!” rang through Soldier Field for the recently retired point guard from Chicago.

The Bears gave their fans more to cheer on their next possession when they went 80 yards for a TD, with Johnson scoring from the 1 to make it 14-7, and they kept rolling from there.

Bears LG Teven Jenkins, who was questionable with a rib issue, left with an ankle injury.

The Bears play Jacksonville in London next Sunday.

Jordan Love completed nine straight passes after the interception, including a pair of touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft in the second half as the Packers rallied for a 24-19 victory Sunday.

The Packers trailed 13-7 late in the second quarter after Jaylen McCollough intercepted Love's off-balance attempt to throw the ball away and ran it in from 4 yards. But Love, a California native who grew up in Bakersfield, led Green Bay (3-2) to points on its next three drives and benefited from a pair of turnovers to beat the Rams (1-4) for the ninth time in their last 10 regular-season meetings.

Kraft had four receptions for a career-best 88 yards. Two plays after Xavier McKinney recovered a fumble by Rams running back Kyren Williams and returned it 7 yards to the Green Bay 30, Love connected with Kraft for a 66-yard touchdown to give the Packers a 17-13 lead.

Kraft caught the ball at the Rams 49, stiff-armed Rams cornerback Darious Williams at the 30 and eluded a diving tackle attempt near the left sideline by Quentin Lake at the 20 before reaching the end zone.

After McKinney became the first player since the 1970 merger with an interception in each of his first five games with a team, Kraft completed a seven-play drive when he scored from 7 yards out for the first two-TD game of his career.

Josh Jacobs had 19 carries for 73 yards and scored his first TD with the Packers in the first quarter on a 2-yard run around right end.

The Rams are off to their worst start since moving to Los Angeles in 2016. The last time they dropped four of their first five to start the season was when they were in St. Louis in 2014.

Kyren Williams had 102 yards rushing on 22 carries and scored for the eighth straight game when he plowed in from 1 yard in the second quarter to even it at 7. Williams has the longest TD streak by a Rams running back since Greg Bell scored in 10 straight during the 1988 and ’89 seasons.

Matthew Stafford’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson - the 2-point conversion attempt failed - with 3:30 remaining pulled the Rams within 24-19.

Los Angeles forced Green Bay to punt on the ensuing possession and took over on their own 29 with 2:57 remaining. The Rams drove to the Packers 38, but Stafford was unable to connect with Colby Parkinson on fourth-and-5 with 1:01 remaining.

Love's first pick-6 came on his 761st pass. On third-and-12 at the Packers 8, Love was flushed out of the pocket when Byron Young came in unblocked on a blitz. Love scrambled to the back of the end zone and was knocked off balance when he tried to throw it away.

Instead, McCollough was able to intercept the desperation throw and scored. Joshua Karty's extra-point attempt was blocked, which kept it at 13-7.

Jacobs’ score was set up one play earlier when Love and Reed combined for a highlight-reel play. On second-and-10 at the Packers 45, Love completed a 53-yard pass to Reed in a tight window near the left sideline. Reed hauled it in despite three Rams defenders in the vicinity, including Lake all over Reed’s back.

The Packers host Arizona next Sunday.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. snapped a 65-race losing streak by winning in overtime at Talladega on Sunday after a late crash collected more than half the field.

Stenhouse is not in the playoffs and his victory marked the second consecutive week a driver not competing for the Cup Series title has won.

The victory was the first for Stenhouse and his JTG Daugherty Racing team since he won the season-opening Daytona 500 to start 2023. He’s the 18th different Cup Series winner this year.

A 27-car crash that involved eight of NASCAR’s 12 title contenders. A chaotic cleanup that infuriated competitors. And a surprise winner.

Just a regular race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Stenhouse won in a three-wide finish between Brad Keselowski and William Byron, who with his third-place finish became the only driver locked into the third round of the playoffs.

Four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs next Sunday on the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte. Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are all below the cutline.

Cindric was the leader with five laps remaining in regulation when Logano, two rows back, gave Keselowski a hard shove directly into Cindric. It caused Cindric to spin and 27 of the 40 cars in the field suffered some sort of damage in the melee.

Even Stenhouse had a chunk of sheet metal missing from the driver side door area when he drove his car into victory lane. In the chaos of the cleanup, with teams fuming post-race over how NASCAR navigated the crash scene, some argued that Stenhouse’s door was missing some safety foam and he should have been forced to pit for repairs.

The race was red-flagged for nearly nine minutes of cleanup, and 22 cars remained on the lead lap for the two-lap overtime sprint to the finish. Many of those 22 cars were damaged.

Keselowski finished second in a Ford for RFK Racing and was followed by Byron in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Byron is the points leader heading into Charlotte and his cushion is large enough to earn him an automatic spot into the round of eight.

Kyle Larson of Hendrick was fourth and followed by Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club in a Toyota. Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing was sixth in a Toyota and followed by Justin Haley of Spire Motorsports. Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing finished eighth, Bubba Wallace was ninth with 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan in attendance, and Denny Hamlin, the other co-owner of the team, rounded out the top 10.

Only four drivers still active in the playoffs finished inside the top 10.

Ryan Blaney, who used his win at Talladega a year ago to spark his run to his first Cup Series title, was involved in a crash racing for points on the final lap of the second stage.

Blaney was pushed too hard from behind by fellow playoff driver Alex Bowman and the shove forced Blaney’s Ford to take a sharp left and then bounce up the track into the wall and Ross Chastain.

Blaney tried to keep his battered car out on track but the engine eventually failed, ending his race. He was second in the playoff standings entering the race and feared his career-high seventh DNF of the season would drop him to the verge of elimination.

Because so many drivers wrecked late, Blaney only dropped to sixth in the playoff standings.

The playoff field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight when four are eliminated next Sunday at The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. AJ Allmendinger won the race a year ago.

In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Monticello scored on the first play from scrimmage and made easy work of Rantoul 46-13 in Illini Prairie Conference high school football action Friday in Rantoul.

On a jet sweep, Carter Foran took the toss from Ike Young and raced up the right sideline for a 70-yard touchdown to put the Sages up 7-0.

Young and Foran would connect again later in the frame from 19 yards out. Young would hit Russ Brown from 21 yards out and also ran in a 19-yard score on his own.

Monticello scored on a safety on a botched snap on a fourth down punt attempt to lead 30-0 after the first quarter. 

Young and Foran weren't done, the pair connected in the second quarter with a 32-yard touchdown hookup to put Monticello ahead 40-0. That came after a Nolan Buehnerkemper 25-yard field goal.

Young finished 9-of-14 for 163 yards with four touchdown passes and ran for 74 yards on five carries with a score.

Foran finished with four receptions, three were touchdowns and 136 yards. He was the ServPro of Piatt/DeWitt Counties Player of the Game. 

Rantoul falls to 1-5 overall.

The Sages go to 5-1 overall. They will host state-ranked Paxton-Buckley-Loda next Friday at 7 pm. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

As heard right here on WHOW, the Tri-Valley Vikings defeated the Clinton Maroons by a score of 47-6. The Maroons were led by Keaton Graves who struggled in the passing game with only 27 passing yards, but had success in the run game putting up 106 rushing yards and the Maroons only touchdown. 

The Vikings were led by Cole Klein who rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown. Wide reciever Thomas Harris scored 3 touchdowns in the first three quarters and had 68 yards. 

Clinton falls to 4-2 on the season while Tri-Valley improves to 5-1. 

Tune in next week as the Clinton Maroons take on Shelbyville at home. Game time is 7 PM on the big 1520 AM, 92.3 FM, and 106.5 FM WHOW. 

Last week, the Clinton Maroons faced a tough loss to Eureka at home, falling 19-14 in a hard fought battle. 

Maroons Head Coach Ron Bass felt they put up a good fight, but failed to make more big plays than the Hornets. There were high winds during the game, but Coach Bass believes it did not make a big impact on the game. 

Bass also notes they are facing some injuries this week. Dawson Thayer suffered a lower leg injury last week, and Anthony Westbrooks is still healing from his separated shoulder from Week 4. Offensive Coordinator John Johnson has been in the hospital as well, so the "next man up" mindset is something players and coaches will be focusing on.

This week, the Maroons will focus on slowing down Tri-Valley's run game. They have a successful offense that Clinton has played before, and Coach Bass is instilling in his players that they can overcome a strong time like this. 

The Maroons make the trip to Downs this week to take on the 4-1 Tri-Valley Vikings.

Hear all the action starting at 7 PM on WHOW and all our digital platforms. 

Heart of Central Illinois 

Ridgeview-Lexington at Eureka
El Paso-Gridley at Shelbyville
Tremont at Dee-Mack
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at Tuscola
LeRoy at Meridian
Fieldcrest at Fisher
Central A & M at Warrensburg-Latham

After coasting to an easy 49-0 win on Homecoming night last Friday, Monticello will travel to Rantoul tonight for an Illini Prairie Conference matchup. 

Head Coach Cully Welter was pleased his team did things better last week, especially after Pontiac showed some early signs of life on offense. He was pleased his team took advantage of some Pontiac miscues in the third quarter that allowed the Sages to go up big. 

While Rantoul has another new coach leading the program, Coach Welter notes numbers are up in the program and they are enjoying the excitement of their first win since 2019 a couple of weeks ago.

The Sages will need to limit the big plays on both sides of the ball.

Game time tonight in Rantoul is 7 pm. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Illini Prairie Conference matchups tonight

Prairie Central) at Paxton-Buckley-Loda

St. Joseph-Ogden at Bloomington Central Catholic

Tolono Unity at Pontiac

Apollo

Charleston vs. Mattoon 

Effingham at Taylorville

Mahomet-Seymour at Mt. Zion

Big Twelve

Champaign Centennial at Urbana 

Danville at Champaign Centra

Normal Community at Bloomington

Peoria Manual vs. Peoria Notre Dame

Peoria Richwoods at Peoria

Central State Eight 

Chatham-Glenwood at Normal U-High

Decatur Eisenhower at Rochester

Decatur MacArthur at Lincoln

Jacksonville at Springfield 

Springfield Lanphier at Quincy Notre Dame

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at Springfield Southeast (Sat.)

Lincoln Prairie

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at Nokomis

Sangamon Valley at Sullivan-Okaw Valley 

Oakland Tri-County at Argenta-Oreana

Toledo-Cumberland at Arcola

Villa Grove at Cerro Gordo-Bement

Mid-Illini

Canton at Dunlap

Metamora at Pekin

Morton at Limestone

Washington at East Peoria

Sangamo

Auburn at Petersburg PORTA

Maroa-Forsyth at Pittsfield

New Berlin at Olympia

Pleasant Plains at Riverton

Williamsville at Athens

Non-conference action

Aurora-Waubonsie Valley at Normal West

Decatur St. Teresa at St. Louis Principia-Whitfield, MO (Sat.)

Heyworth at Rushville-Industry

8-Man football

Danville Schlarman at Champaign St. Thomas More (Sat.)

Decatur Unity Christian at Milford

St. Anne at Blue Ridge

Another in-state rivalry renews on Saturday, as No. 18 Illinois State (3-2, 0-1 MVFC) heads to Carbondale, Illinois, to take on No. 19 Southern Illinois (2-3, 0-1 MVFC) in a key matchup between a pair of ranked squads looking to keep pace in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

The Redbirds dropped a 42-10 decision to second-ranked North Dakota State last weekend at its Homecoming game. 

SIU has dropped its last two games, with a 38-21 loss to rival Southeast Missouri State two weeks ago and last week a 42-13 loss to South Dakota in the MVFC opener.

The Salukis are without starting quarterback DJ Williams, who is sidelined after having surgery following the team's third game of the season. Hunter Simmons is now at the helm and is completing 57 percent of his passes, with 692 yards in the air with three touchdowns. 

Eastern Illinois hosts No. 13 Southeast Missouri on Saturday for the Panthers 2024 homecoming contest.  

This will be EIU's second game this season against a nationally ranked-opponent.  The Panthers lost at home last weekend to Lindenwood dropping their Big South - OVC opener falling to 1-4 overall, 0-1 in the conference.  

Southeast Missouri has won three in a row with a non-conference shutout win over Northwestern State.  The Redhawks enter at 4-1 overall, 1-0 in the conference.  

Pierce Holley passed for 326 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday against Lindenwood marking the third time in Holley's EIU career that he has passed for 300 or more yards. 

MJ Flowers posted his second 100-yard rushing game this season finishing with 123 yards on the ground against Lindenwood. 

Game time from Charleston is 2 pm on Saturday afternoon. Hear the action starting with the pregame at 1:30 pm on WHOW and all its digital platforms.

Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears (2-2) will try to build on some of the progress they showed last week when they host Andy Dalton and the Carolina Panthers (1-3) on Sunday.

Chicago displayed the explosiveness and efficiency in a win over the Los Angeles Rams last week that general manager Ryan Poles envisioned when he overhauled the offense.

The Panthers have gotten a spark from Dalton since he took over for Bryce Young two weeks ago and will try to bounce back from a loss to Cincinnati.

The two teams, of course, are inextricably linked by a blockbuster deal prior to the 2023 season.

Carolina sent DJ Moore and the No. 9 overall pick to Chicago for the top selection in the draft that year. The Bears also got the Panthers' 2024 first-rounder that wound up being the No. 1 overall pick and a second-rounder in 2025.

Carolina opted to draft Young with the No. 1 pick in 2023 rather than C.J. Stroud in a move that so far has backfired.

While Stroud quickly established himself as a star, the Panthers benched Young 18 starts into his career. Carolina fired former coach Frank Reich last season and former general manager Scott Fitterer at the end of the season.

For the Bears, the deal is looking better.

They signed Moore to a four-year extension in July after he led the team with 96 receptions for 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns last season. They drafted a potential franchise quarterback in Williams, and they got several other contributors as a result of the trade with Carolina and a series of subsequent moves. Those players include right tackle Darnell Wright, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and punter Tory Taylor.

The Panthers lost both of their starting inside linebackers to injury in last week’s defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals, leaving them extremely thin at the position.

Shaq Thompson tore his Achilles tendon and will miss the remainder of the season while Josey Jewell injured his hamstring/groin and is expected to be out at least a couple of weeks. That means Trevin Wallace and Claudin Cherelus, who have a combined six NFL tackles in their career, are expected to get the start.

The Bears offense took some time to get going last week. Chicago then scored on four straight possessions, including three touchdowns.

Williams completed 17 of 23 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown while posting a 106.6 rating that’s his best one yet. The Bears had a season-high 131 yards rushing last week, with D’Andre Swift running for 93. He added 72 yards receiving.

Chicago will try to build on all that going against a defense that ranks among the NFL's worst.

The Panthers are expected to lean heavily Sunday on running back Chuba Hubbard, who has had back-to-back 100-yard rushing games.

Hubbard is averaging 5.8 yards per carry over the past three games and has developed into a solid receiving option after struggling in that area as a rookie. He has caught 13 of 14 passes thrown his way for 84 yards and a touchdown.

He became the first Panthers running back to surpass the century mark in rushing in consecutive games since D’Onta Foreman in Week 7 and 8 of the 2022 season.

Chicago's defense continues to play at a high level. That group ranks 10th overall and is tied for eighth against the pass.

The Bears held Matthew Stafford to a 77.4 passer rating and sacked him three times last week. Safety Jaquan Brisker had a game-sealing interception with about a minute remaining.

Diontae Johnson developed into the clear No. 1 option in the Panthers offense, just as Canales had planned before the season. Canales likes his offense having a primary option and them working off that.

Over the past two weeks with Andy Dalton at quarterback, Johnson had been targeted 27 times and has 15 catches for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

Game time is noon Sunday.

Jordan Love gets the closest thing he'll probably have to an NFL homecoming game Sunday when his Green Bay Packers (2-2) visit the Rams (1-3) - whose struggling defense has made every opposing quarterback feel right at home this season.

Cheeseheads finally will be seen in the stands at Rams owner Stan Kroenke's palatial stadium this weekend to herald the first visit by the Packers, whose most recent game in Southern California happened a year before SoFi opened.

On the field, the Packers will be looking to rebound from last week's loss to Minnesota in which they fell behind 28-0 before a rally that came up short. Love returned from a two-game absence with a knee injury to pass for career highs of 389 yards and four touchdowns, albeit with three interceptions, during the failed comeback.

Love and the Packers' third-ranked offense look like trouble for the Rams, who have the NFL's second-worst defense through four games, allowing 385.3 yards. A regression was expected with the retirement of Aaron Donald and the departure of coordinator Raheem Morris, but Los Angeles is struggling to be competitive while allowing 28.8 points per game - also the second-worst mark in the league.

This game features another matchup between LaFleur and his younger brother, Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. The two have faced off several times before, including the Rams' loss at Green Bay last year.

The Rams' season would look much better if the offense could finish drives. Los Angeles is 7 for 17 in the red zone this season after going 1 for 4 last week in a winnable game at Chicago.

Sean McVay's play-calling has been criticized in short-field situations throughout his mostly stellar coaching career, and the Rams' eighth-year head coach knows everything needs to get better despite the absence of injured receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, who would be among Matthew Stafford's best choices in tough situations.

Packers rookie Brayden Narveson went 0 for 2 on field-goal attempts at Minnesota, with misses from 37 and 49 yards. He is 9 of 13 this season without any attempts beyond 50 yards.

The Rams' defense is struggling on every level despite a solid start for rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske up front. Los Angeles could get veteran help if cornerback Darious Williams and defensive lineman Larrell Murchison are able to make their season debuts. Both entered the 21-day practice window to return from injured reserve this week.

Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney, who signed with the Packers after spending four seasons with the New York Giants, has intercepted passes in each of his four games.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the only other players since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to intercept passes in each of their first four games with a team are Buffalo’s Ken Lee (1972), the New York Giants’ Terry Jackson (1978) and the New York Jets’ Otis Smith (1995).

McKinney is only one of four players since 2000 to have an interception in each of his first four games in a season. The others were Minnesota’s Brian Russell in 2003, New England’s Devin McCourty in 2019 and Dallas’ Trevon Diggs in 2021.

Game time 3:25 Sunday afternoon. 

Jackson Chourio tied the game in the eighth with his second homer of the night and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run shot later in the inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday that evened their NL Wild Card Series.

The teams will play a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night. The Brewers will attempt to become the first team to win a best-of-three Wild Card Series after losing the opener since MLB went to this expanded playoff format in 2022.

Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Chourio led off the eighth by homering to right-center off losing pitcher Phil Maton, making his fourth appearance on the mound in five days. The 20-year-old rookie also opened the bottom of the first inning with a drive to right against Sean Manaea, becoming the youngest player to hit a leadoff homer in the postseason.

After Blake Perkins singled and William Contreras grounded into a double play, Willy Adames kept the eighth inning going with a single. Mitchell then hit a drive just over the wall in right-center, a 390-foot shot that sent the American Family Field crowd into a frenzy.

Chourio is the second-youngest player to homer twice in a postseason game, behind 19-year-old Andruw Jones for Atlanta in the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium. The rookie has shown no signs of postseason pressure while going 4 for 8 in two games.

The Mets took the lead in the second inning after a Brewers pitcher again made a critical mistake around first base.

With the score tied 1-all, the Mets had one out and nobody on in the second when Starling Marte hit a routine grounder to first baseman Rhys Hoskins, whose throw bounced off Frankie Montas’ glove as the right-hander went to cover the bag.

After Montas failed to catch Hoskins’ throw, he failed to get the next two Mets hitters out. Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Alvarez hit consecutive singles, with the latter hit bringing home Marte. Francisco Lindor followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Taylor.

It marked the second straight night the Mets rallied after a Brewers pitcher botched a play at first base. New York trailed 4-3 with two outs in the fifth inning of their 8-4 victory Tuesday when Joel Payamps was late getting to first base on a grounder to Hoskins, enabling Jose Iglesias to slide headfirst safely to spark a five-run outburst.

Milwaukee got one run back in the fifth when Brice Turang hit a leadoff double and scored on Perkins’ sacrifice fly. Then the Brewers delivered the dramatic eighth-inning rally that evened the series.

Now both teams will have their seasons on the line Thursday.

Rookie RHP Tobias Myers (9-6, 3.00 ERA) will start for Milwaukee in Game 3 against LHP Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75).

At the very end of an awful season for the Chicago White Sox, there was a small sign of hope in the Deep South.

That’s where the Birmingham Barons — Chicago’s Double-A affiliate — closed out the first Southern League championship for the club since 2013.

The White Sox are picking up the pieces after they went 41-121 this year, breaking the modern major league record for most losses in a season. They had the majors’ worst team batting average at .221 and on-base percentage at .278, and they finished last with 507 runs, 133 homers and 485 RBIs.

Next year’s opening-day payroll for Chicago most likely will be less than this season’s number of almost $142 million — down from $189 million in 2023. So the best chance for any improvement for the White Sox in the near future is the development of their young players, along with progress in their minor league system.

Jed Hoyer figured he would be discussing a potential playoff matchup rather than a season that fell far short of expectations.

The Chicago Cubs’ president of baseball operations was frustrated and optimistic, insisting the organization remains in a strong position, even if the team did not produce the way he hoped.

The Cubs came into the season expecting to contend for the NL Central championship. Instead, they finished 10 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers at 83-79 and missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

Finding a reliable kicker was one of the Green Bay Packers’ main objectives throughout training camp.

Four weeks into the season, that remains an issue.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur says he continues to believe in rookie Brayden Narveson, who already has missed four field-goal attempts. That doesn’t include a missed 48-yarder against Tennessee that got nullified by a penalty.

Narveson missed both his field-goal tries Sunday in a 31-29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He bounced a 37-yard attempt off the right upright and sent a 49-yarder wide right as Green Bay fell behind 28-0 in the first half.

The Blackhawks finished last in the Central Division in each of the previous two seasons. They haven’t won more than 28 games since they went 32-30-8 during the 2019-20 campaign. Following an active offseason, it’s a much deeper roster in almost every area. Bertuzzi and Teravainen should provide more scoring punch after Chicago finished with an NHL-low 178 goals last season. Veteran forward Taylor Hall also should help in his return from a knee injury. The addition of Martinez gives the team another experienced defenseman, and Brossoit coming over from Winnipeg is a significant upgrade behind Mrazek in goal.

The good: Connor Bedard certainly lived up to the hype in his first NHL season, finishing with 22 goals and 39 assists in 61 games. The No. 1 overall pick in 2023 draft just turned 19 in July, and — surrounded by more offensive talent — he is primed for a big year. Alex Vlasic is one of the NHL’s best young defensemen after a breakout performance last season. The Illinois native was rewarded with a new six-year contract in April.

The not-so-good: The roster is much older than it was at the beginning of last season. That means more experience, but some of the new additions had been showing signs of their age before arriving in Chicago. It’s a big year for Lukas Reichel, a first-round pick in the 2020 draft. The 22-year-old forward was expected to take on a prominent role last season, but he finished with just five goals and 11 assists in 65 games. If Reichel continues to struggle, a change of scenery might be the best option for him and the Blackhawks.

Paralyzed in a racing accident nearly 25 years ago, Sam Schmidt has spent much of the last quarter century trying to prove to others that there is a way to have a meaningful life with a traumatic spinal cord injury.

That was the furthest thing from his mind when he crashed at Walt Disney World Speedway in the opening days of 2000. He suffered a C3 and C4 spinal cord injury, wasn’t breathing for almost four minutes, and had to be helicoptered to Orlando.

His wife was at home in Las Vegas with their children, and when she arrived in Florida, the prognosis was grim.

Schmidt’s injury at the time was compared to “the same as Christopher Reeve,” in that, like the ”Superman” actor, Schmidt was paralyzed from the neck down and needed a ventilator to breathe. Reeve reached out — he’d been working with doctors, pushing them, to find ways to help trauma patients create meaningful lives post accident — and Schmidt believes it was Reeve’s work that changed the trajectory of his life.

In the almost 25 years since, Schmidt has tried to give back and help others with similar injuries find some normalcy in their new lives. He first opened the Driven NeuroRecovery Center six years ago in Las Vegas, where Schmidt lives, and then set his sights on something bigger.

It came Tuesday with the ribbon-cutting on a not-for-profit Conquer Paralysis Now center in partnership with NeuroHope, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit, outpatient physical rehabilitation center.

The center, located in the former Five Seasons Sports Club, is a 114,000-square-foot building devoted to helping people with spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders. Schmidt, as a former professional athlete, knows his situation was far different than others who have suffered similar injuries.

He can cite divorce statistics, understands the hopelessness that comes when the insurance runs out, and the lack of resources and rehabilitation access are so hard to find. He found himself living it all over again in 2018 when Robert Wickens, who was driving for Schmidt’s IndyCar team at the time, crashed at Pocono Raceway and was paralyzed from the waist down.

Even though Schmidt could relate and team sponsorship from technology provider Arrow Electronics provided resources not generally affordable or accessible to the general public, Schmidt recognized a need for more. Once released from the hospital, Wickens had to relocate to Denver to do his rehabilitation with Arrow at its headquarters.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf took the blame for a history-making terrible 2024 season in a letter to Chicago's fan base on Sunday, minutes after the club took the field for its season finale against the Detroit Tigers. 

Reinsdorf outlined his vision for a better future over the subsequent paragraphs. He promised the team would evaluate the trade and free-agent markets and install new leadership in the analytics department as part of an ongoing overhaul that began last year under general manager Chris Getz. Additionally, Reinsdorf noted that Getz's search for a new manager is "well underway." Chicago fired Pedro Grifol earlier this year, replacing him on an interim basis with former outfielder Grady Sizemore.

Reinsdorf made a point of celebrating Chicago's improved farm system, nothing that the organization's Double-A affiliate won the Southern League title, while their Class A affiliate reached the Carolina League finals.

Coming off a disappointing stretch of two seasons — including a 91-loss campaign in 2023 – the St. Louis Cardinals are poised to make significant changes to the front office and roster. The executive moves have already started. 

Team owner Bill DeWitt announced Monday that general manager Mike Girsch has been removed from his position, which he's held since June of 2017, and is now vice president of special projects. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak will finish his contract, which runs through 2025, in his current position but that'll be his final year. Chaim Bloom will then succeed Mozeliak and take over as president of baseball operations after the 2025 season. 

Manager Oli Marmol will remain in his current position. He guided the Cardinals to a division title in 2022. However, a 91-loss campaign in 2023 followed, and then this season the Cardinals missed the postseason with a 83-79 record. Across those three seasons Marmol is 247-239. Although the 38-year-old Marmol is under contract through 2026, he'll likely be managing for his job in 2025. 

It's another week in the NFL, and while that means big plays and touchdowns galore, it unfortunately also means injuries. We're keeping a running tab of every notable injury from Sunday's slate of games. 

Arguably the biggest injury of the day was to Chiefs star wideout Rashee Rice. Despite Kansas City surviving for its fourth straight win to begin the season, it could be without Rice for the rest of the season. Rice was carted off in the first half with a knee injury, and ESPN is reporting that the Chiefs fear the second-year receiver has a torn ACL. Head coach Andy Reid said it's "not good." Huge blow for the reigning Super Bowl champions. 

Other notable injuries include Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, Buccaneers wide receiver Trey Palmer, Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson and running back Jonathan Taylor, Steelers running back Cordarrelle Patterson and Saint tight end Taysom Hill, among others.

Bulls guard Lonzo Ball made a surprising declaration at media day on Monday. After two-and-a-half years away from NBA action, Ball says he expects to be ready to play in Chicago's first game of the regular season. 

Ball has been hampered with injuries and setbacks in his recovery process for two-and-a-half seasons, and hasn't played in an NBA game since Jan. 14, 2022. It started out with a knee surgery to address a torn meniscus that forced him to miss the remainder of the 2021-22 season. He was expected to make a full recovery after a year, but setbacks in his rehab process pushed that further down the line. He then underwent another knee surgery, this time an arthroscopic debridement procedure to clear up debris from the previous surgery, and there was hope that he would return after a normal rehab process. However, in March 2023 Ball had his third surgery in two years, an experimental cartilage transplant that gave him a new meniscus. 

The third time ended up being the charm, as Ball slowly progressed and was seen taking part in 5-on-5 scrimmages with other NBA players in late August. That marked the first time Ball had been seen in any game simulated action, which is a significant milestone in his recovery. And now, we have an answer on when his long-awaited return could happen.

The dozen drivers who advanced to the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs saw Kansas Speedway as a relatively straightforward test, given the potential chaos looming at Talladega and the unpredictability of the road course at Charlotte.

For most of them, it turned out to be a test of survival.

Just about everyone aside from Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron, who finished second to Ross Chastain, and Alex Bowman had to overcome problems Sunday. They ranged from loose lugnuts to handling issues to complete engine changes, amd put the championship contenders in a position where they simply wanted to maximize an otherwise bad day.

Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott also managed to salvage top-10 runs after weekend misfortune.

Bell qualified on the pole at Kansas for the third straight time, and he was dominating Stage 1 and on his way to valuable playoff points when he bounced off the wall. He bounced off it again later in the race, eventually finishing seventh.