Glenn Papazian bringing you the latest edition of My Sports Desk, news from the world of sports, what happened, what’s coming up, an honor roll with Player of the Week, and a commentary.
Eagles
The sounds of silence told you the Eagles lost 24 – 20 to the Rams. Listen to these numbers: LA lead in first downs 26 – 12; Plays 77 – 58; Yards 415 – 172, yet the Eagles led by 10 going into the fourth quarter. Those numbers will catch up to you. And they did.
The game turned in the fourth quarter at the 7:31 mark. Philadelphia drove to the 2-yard line, but the Eagles were turned away. Los Angeles responded by scoring two touchdowns, both by Kyren Williams at 3:59 and the winner at 1:10.
Eagles receiver Darius Cooper had 2 touchdown receptions.
Yes, there were injuries, notably to Saquon Barkley and others. But the Birds have to make adjustments on both sides of the ball and roster depth. Philadelphia has been outscored 54 – 20 in the second half this season, 31 – 0 in the last two games.
Next Sunday they play the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
Major League Baseball
We’re down to the Division Series. Yes, the Phillies are not part of it after being eliminated by the Atlanta Braves in three games. More on that later.
In each series the Padres play the Brewers and the Braves meet the Dodgers in the National League. In the American League it’s the Yankees and the Rays, and the White Sox against Guardians. Those teams battled all year for the AL Central crown.
The winners meet for the League Championships.
Flyers
The NHL season is underway. The Flyers are still looking for their first win of the season. Their record shows 1 loss and 2 overtime losses going into this week. The schedule has road games at Tampa Bay, Ottawa, and Boston before coming home to play the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes. Boston and Carolina have more points than the Flyers.
Philadelphia has been outscored 13 – 4 to this point.
Looking at local college football
Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens
It was Friday Night Lights or CUSA Weekday at Delaware Stadium. The Fightin’ Blue Hens hosted the Liberty Flames in the conference opener. UD has been experiencing offensive woes since the loss of quarterback Nick Minicucci. They played 3 qb’s starting EJ Archield. He could not guide the team into the end zone. Coach Ryan Carty decided to give snaps to Braden Streeter, then Tyler Bell. Liberty was moving toward a shutout victory. The Blue Hens were not on the field long enough to get in rhythm, so the quarterback change was made. They sputtered until the fourth quarter. Streeter hit Donovan Lewis with a 57-yard touchdown pass. Later, Tyler Bell threw a pass off his back foot towards the right corner of the endzone. Matthew McKinley-Daniels tipped the ball, then snared it for a touchdown.
Flames running back Sam Davis had a game-best 147-yards on 15 carries and crossed the goal line twice in the Liberty 30 – 14 win.
Next Up: UD (2-3, 0-1) travels to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to play Middle Tennessee State.
Villanova
A back-and-forth game on the Main Line between the Villanova Wildcats and the Morgan State Bears taken by the visitors 38 – 35. No lead was safe in this game. Villanova took a 35 – 31 lead in the fourth quarter on a 52-yard touchdown run by Ja’briel Mace. With 1:51 to play the Bears took possession on their 44-yard line. The Nova defense forced a 4th and 5 from the 49-yard line. Quarterback Cameron Edge and receiver Justin Perry hooked up on a 38-yard completion. Two plays later Edge ran up the middle for the leading score.
Game Over? Not so fast my friend, Lee Corso would say. Villanova started their drive on their 33-yard line. Quarterback Pat McQuaide started the possession with 30 seconds on the clock. With 2 seconds left and the ball at the Morgan State 30, Wildcat kicker Pat LeBlanc attempted a 47-yard field goal. The kick, with the wind blowing to the right, was wide right.
Villanova showed a strong running game gaining 191 yards. Isaiah Ragland ran for 76 yards and a career-high 3 touchdowns. Mace totaled 103 rushing yards scoring twice.
Villanova (2-4, 1-2) has a needed bye week coming up.
Temple
Temple won 17 – 13 at South Florida which knocked the Bulls from the ranks of the unbeaten. Temple got the deciding points with 3:08 left on a 34-yard run by Ajani Sheppard. He had a game-high 87 rushing yards. Next up: Homecoming Day on Saturday vs. UConn. The Owls are 2-3 overall and 1 – 1 in The American.
Penn
The University of Pennsylvania lost 14 – 10 at Dartmouth. The Red and Blue took a 10 – 7 lead with 8:47 remaining on a 1-yard run by Sean Williams. Dartmouth answered by going on an 8-play, 75-yard drive taking 8:52. It was capped by a 2-yard Myles Craddock score.
Penn (1-2, 0-1) plays their final non-conference game at home against Howard.
West Chester
West Chester lost 27 – 13 at East Stroudsburg. The Rams got two touchdowns from running back Future Robertson. He had the first touchdown of the game scoring on a 52-yard run. But the Rams got little else on offense. East Stroud has won the last four games in this series. Next up: West Chester (3-2, 1-1) plays Shepherd on Saturday night at home.
Penn State
Wondering about Penn State? You’re not the only one. The Nittany Lions are on a two-game losing streak falling 34 – 13 at Northwestern in a Friday night contest. The Northwestern Wildcats got a career-high 188 yards from Caleb Komolafe. The team ran for a total of 413. Joseph Himon also set his Wildcat career-record running for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns. Penn State ran for only 48.
For the Lions quarterback Rocco Becht threw for 243 yards and a touchdown. But he was intercepted twice.
It was the opening of the new stadium at Northwestern
PSU (3-2, 0-2) hosts USC on Saturday.
Time for this week’s honor roll.
Cameron Edge the Morgan State quarterback who threw for 444 yards, his collegiate-best, and the most passing yards allowed by Villanova. Three passes were scoring tosses. His longest completion was 79 yards to Justin Perry. His receivers helped with 242 yards after the catch.
The Villanova Women’s Soccer team improved to 8 – 0 – 3, and 3 – 0 in the Big East with a 1-0 win over Georgetown. It was the first win by the Wildcats over the Hoyas in the last 12 matches. Nova has recorded a shutout in 8 games this season. Avrie Nelson scored the golden goal. She leads the team in goals. Pez Zapata, who leads the team in assists, had the helper on the game-winner.
The Player of the Week goes to Ohio State Wide Receiver Jeremiah Smith who set the program record with 207 receptions and touchdown catches with 36. He also tied Marvin Harrison’s 100-yard-plus receiving games at 15.
Smith has more than 200 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns in each of the team’s past two games.
Commentary
The Phillies season is over.
Last week I stated that the team’s problem was its inconsistency. When the pitching went well, the hitting did not or vice versa.
But the Phillies were consistent at bat. Consistently mediocre or below average. Mediocre in total home runs, RBI’s, and walks.
Below average in team batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS, all rankings in the 20’s. They also ranked 11th in strikeouts. The pitching stats fared better.
Mediocre is not good enough.
Has the window closed on team as presently made up? It just might be. Dave Dombrowski has huge decisions to make. I am hearing that he will be back. And might he have leverage to do much? Keep your eyes and ears on the off season.
And that’s a story for this week.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@phillycollegesports.com
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