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Archives for January 11, 2025

Henry, Jackson Lead Ravens

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Baltimore RB Derrick Henry rushed for 186 yards and two scores and teammate Lamar Jackson passed for two touchdowns to lead the host Ravens to a 28-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC wild-card game on Saturday night.

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Jackson completed 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards and rushed for 82 yards on 15 carries while winning for the third time in seven attempts as a postseason starter. Rashod Bateman and Justice Hill had touchdown receptions for third-seeded Baltimore, which has won five straight games and will learn its next opponent on Sunday.

Henry, who carried 26 times, rushed for more than 150 yards for the fourth time in eight career playoff appearances. His postseason high of 195 came against the Ravens in the 2019 season divisional round when he was a member of the Tennessee Titans.

Russell Wilson was 20 of 29 for 270 yards and two touchdowns for sixth-seeded Pittsburgh, which trailed by 21 points twice while losing its fifth consecutive game. George Pickens had five catches for 87 yards and a touchdown and Van Jefferson also had a scoring reception for the Steelers.

The Ravens totaled 299 rushing yards and outgained Pittsburgh 464-280. Baltimore also had a 29-11 advantage in first downs.

The Steelers had just 29 yards on the ground with a long gain of five.

Baltimore receiver Zay Flowers (knee) missed the game.

The Ravens led 21-0 at halftime after dominating the first 30 minutes and putting together touchdown drives of 95, 85 and 90 yards.

Baltimore outgained the Steelers 308-59 and had a 19-2 edge in first downs in the half.

The Ravens took the lead on Jackson’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Bateman with 4:45 left in the first quarter. Henry’s 8-yard scoring run made it 14-0 with 4:09 left in the first half.

Jackson later scrambled out of trouble and hit Hill on a 5-yard scoring pass with two seconds remaining.

Pittsburgh suddenly displayed life in the third quarter as Wilson connected with Jefferson on a 30-yard scoring pass to cap a 98-yard drive with 8:05 left in the period. But Henry broke loose on the fourth play of Baltimore’s next drive and galloped 44 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-7 with 5:49 left.

The Steelers scored again five plays later as Wilson tossed a 36-yard touchdown pass to Pickens with 3:24 left in the third, but that would be the end of the scoring for the night.

–Field Level Media

Texans Too Much for Chargers

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HOUSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Houston’s QB C.J. Stroud passed for 282 yards and a touchdown, Joe Mixon rushed for 106 yards and a score and Eric Murray returned an interception for a touchdown as the host Texans routed the Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 in an AFC wild-card game on Saturday.

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Houston (11-7) advanced to the divisional round for the second straight season.

After throwing just three interceptions in 504 passing attempts during the regular season, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was picked off four times on Saturday. Herbert was 14-for-32 for 242 yards and a touchdown.

The Chargers scored the first six points, on field goals of 35 and 39 yards by Cameron Dicker. His second came after a Texans fumble gave Los Angeles a short field.

Ka’imi Fairbairn connected on field goals of 41, 37 and 30 yards for Houston.

Houston ran just four offensive plays during the first quarter and had two punts bookending a Stroud interception to start the second.

Fortunes changed just before halftime. Houston drove 99 yards in 13 plays, punctuating the possession with a 13-yard scoring pass from Stroud to Nico Collins with 58 seconds left in the second quarter.

Stroud extended the drive with a highlight-reel play entering the two-minute warning. He scooped up a fumbled snap, then scrambled to connect with Xavier Hutchinson for a 34-yard gain to the Los Angeles 49-yard line on third-and-16.

Herbert threw three straight incompletions on the ensuing Chargers possession, and Houston responded with Fairbairn’s 41-yard field goal to take a 10-6 halftime lead.

The Texans scored the first 13 points after intermission. Murray delivered the lone touchdown over that span with a 38-yard pick six with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.

Derek Stingley Jr. snagged two interceptions for Houston and Kamari Lassiter had another.

Herbert recovered from his third pick with an 86-yard pass-and run touchdown to Ladd McConkey. The burst followed two straight Texans sacks. Houston blocked the extra-point attempt, and D’Angelo Ross returned it to the end zone for two points.

Mixon, who had 25 carries, capped the scoring with a 17-yard run with 3:42 left.

McConkey caught nine passes for 197 yards and a touchdown.

Collins had seven receptions for 122 yards and a score.

Houston outgained Los Angeles 429-261.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Win with 1.2 Seconds Left

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SUNRISE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s David Pastrnak scored with 1.2 seconds left in overtime for theBruins, who snapped a six-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon in Florida.

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Pastrnak, who finished with two goals and one assist, got the game winner on an attempted pass that deflected in off the stick of Florida’s Sam Reinhart. The puck carried over the head of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for Pastrnak’s sixth goal in his past five games.

The Bruins, who earned their first win of the calendar year after an 0-5-1 stretch since 2025 began, got one goal each from Morgan Geekie and Oliver Wahlstrom.

The Panthers got two goals from Reinhart and one from Evan Rodrigues.

Welcome to Cooper’s Town

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DURHAM – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Duke Freshman Cooper Flagg rang up 42 points and the No. 4 Blue Devils held off visiting Notre Dame for an 86-78 victory Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor in North Carolina.

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Flagg made 11 of 14 shots from the field, including a 4-for-6 mark on 3-pointers, and went 16-for-17 on free throws. He became the first Duke player to reach 40 points since J.J. Redick did it twice in January 2006 and marked the most points for any Blue Devil since Danny Ferry’s 58 in 1988. Flagg also distributed a team-high seven assists and pulled in six rebounds.

Duke (14-2, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which has won 10 consecutive games, posted the game’s first 14 points to set the tone.

Khaman Maluach’s 19 points and 10 rebounds and Kon Knueppel’s 13 points also were a boost for the Blue Devils.

Markus Burton led Notre Dame (7-9, 1-4), which was coming off a pair of one-point losses, with 23 points. Braeden Shrewsberry notched 14 points and Tae Davis and Sir Mohammed each had 11 points for the Irish, who were helped going 14 of 23 on 3s.

Flagg is the most highly touted freshman in the country. He has racked up 24 or more points in four of the last six games.

Duke’s stellar start came at both ends of the court. Notre Dame didn’t have a field goal until more than five minutes into the game.

When Flagg was called for a push-off for an offensive foul late in the first half, it resulted in a technical foul assessed to irate Duke coach Jon Scheyer.

Flagg scored 15 points in the first half and 15 more in the first nine minutes of the second half, reaching a career-high mark by that point. His previous high was 26 points vs. Kentucky in the third game of the season.

Notre Dame was within 63-53 before managing only one point across the next three-plus minutes. Yet the Irish put together an 11-0 run to close to within 79-74 with 1:03 to play.

Duke’s Sion James made a free throw before Burton’s drive for a basket closed the gap to 80-76 with 36 seconds left. Flagg sank two foul shots.

Flagg drained three 3-pointers in the game’s first seven minutes, putting Duke up 19-8. The halftime score was 44-36.

–Field Level Media