A world record of 51 red cards were shown during a chaotic under-20s game in Brazil.
The semi-final first leg of the Minas Gerais Under-20 Championship tie between Uberlandia and Mamore was marred by scenes that led to 43 players and eight members of coaching staff being sent off.
The previous record was 36, in a 2011 fifth-division game between Club Atletico Claypole and Victoriano Arenas in Argentina.
According to the referee’s report, a brawl broke out in the second half after Mamores’ Davi taunted the opposition bench during celebrations when his side went 3-1 up.
Uberlandia goalkeeping coach Paulo Sergio Dias Dos Santos ran on to the pitch to confront him, sparking clashes and the subsequent dismissals, with three players having already been sent off earlier.
The police report referenced 14 broken doors, damaged shower facilities, broken windows and that benches, tables and chairs had been destroyed.
The game was paused for approximately 40 minutes and then abandoned by referee Fernando Patrick Drosghic Modesto.
Uberlandia have since confirmed, external that they have conceded the second leg of the semi-final because Mamore only have seven players available as a result of all the red cards.
They described their move as a “gesture of fair play” as Mamore would progress through to the final, and Uberlandia will instead focus on the third-place match.
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS WATER POLO SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS TUESDAY’S RESULTS Second Round
DIVISION 2 Murrieta Valley 12, Palos Verdes 11 Redondo Union 7, Royal 5 Damien 13, Dana Hills 11 La Habra 13, Northwood 11 St. John Bosco 9, Pasadena Poly 5 El Segundo 18, Capistrano Valley 10 Alta Loma 13, Bonita 7 Crescenta Valley 13, Santa Monica 11
DIVISION 3 Norco 12, Camarillo 10 La Serna 9, Millikan 5 Ayala 10, Walnut 9 Troy 17, Brentwood 13 La Canada 6, Flintridge Prep 5 Elsinore 8, Redlands 7 Los Osos 14, Trabuco Hills 12 Los Altos 14, Cathedral 13
DIVISION 4 Liberty 8, San Dimas 4 Aquinas 12, Carpinteria 10 Temescal Canyon 14, Sunny Hills 11 Buena Park 8, West Covina 4 El Toro 6, Yorba Linda 5 Warren 15, Western 12 Foothill Tech 12, Pasadena 9 Laguna Hills 9, Arlington 5
DIVISION 5 Montebello 12, Keppel 5 Torrance 13, San Bernardino 5 Riverside North 10, Norte Vista 8 Anaheim 15, San Gorgonio 9 Oxnard 10, Whittier 9 Montclair 8, Lakewood 7 Hacienda Heights Wilson 10, Heritage 9 California 25, Palm Springs 9
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE (Games at 5 p.m. unless noted) Quarterfinals
DIVISION 1 Mira Costa at Westlake Mater Dei vs. Buena, site TBA Huntington Beach at Laguna Beach Yucaipa vs. Dos Pueblos, site TBA
Note:Quarterfinals (Divisions 2-5) Friday, Nov. 6 at home sites; Semifinals (Open Division) Saturday, Nov, 7 at home sites; Semifinals (Divisions 2-5) Tuesday, Nov. 10 at home sites; Semifinals (Division 1) Wednesday, Nov. 11 at home sites; Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.
VANCOUVER, Canada — Cutter Gauthier scored a hat trick for the second game in a row and the Ducks held on for a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
Mikael Granlund added a goal and two assists for the Ducks, while Leo Carlsson put away a short-handed tally and Beckett Sennecke had four assists.
Laurent Brossoit stopped 19 shots for the Ducks.
The Ducks (7-7-1) came into the game with the league’s second-best power play (34%) behind only the Utah Mammoth and went three for three with the man advantage. Two of Gauthier’s goals came on the power play and the Ducks have 10 power-play goals on 12 chances over its last three games.
The Canucks got two goals from Jake DeBrusk, and one each from Liam Ohgren and Linus Karlsson. Elias Pettersson notched a pair of assists. Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen made 17 saves.
Granlund opened the scoring with a power-play tally just over four minutes into the first period. Vancouver replied on a man advantage two minutes later. Marco Rossi fed Ohgren just above the crease for the goal.
The Ducks took a 2-1 lead into the intermission when Gauthier fired a shot in on his team’s second power play of the night at the 17:07 mark of the first.
Gauthier also scored three in the Ducks’ 6-3 comeback victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday, and is the first player in team history with back-to-back three-goal games.
The 22-year-old American has eight goals in his last three games after going the previous nine without finding the net.
Gauthier was in the penalty box midway through the third when DeBrusk scored his fourth of the season to put the score at 5-3.
DeBrusk breathed new life into Rogers arena with just over 10 minutes left on the game clock, blasting a point shot in to cut Vancouver’s deficit to a single goal.
Austin Reaves described it as “fun.” Luka Doncic called the Lakers’ effortless-looking offense as “flowing.” And this is still the early stages of development for a team that brought in nine new players.
Through eight games, the Lakers have the most dynamic offense in the NBA. Led by Doncic, the Lakers are second in scoring with 122.5 points per game and first in offensive rating with 121.9 points per 100 possessions. The starting lineup of Doncic, Reaves, Walker Kessler, Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle has a league-best 135.5 offensive rating among five-man groups that have played at least 40 minutes together entering Wednesday’s game at Sacramento.
“Everything’s as expected,” guard Quentin Grimes said Monday after the Lakers hung 138 points in a 21-point win over the Miami Heat. “Winning, everybody’s getting involved, everybody’s making the right play, getting a lot of assists.”
The Lakers (6-2) had 39 assists against the Heat, the most during JJ Redick’s head-coaching tenure. Doncic is on a historic scoring binge; he is the first Laker since Kobe Bryant in 2007 to have five consecutive games of 35 or more points. While putting up a seemingly ho-hum 42 points against Miami, he also had a season-high 13 assists.
“It’s a really good offense that we’re playing right now,” Redick said. “And a lot of that, of course, is Doncic and what he’s able to do and bend the defense.”
Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer at 38.3 points per game, does his damage early. He typically plays all 12 minutes of the opening quarter and leads the league with 15 points a game in the first quarter. Once he gets his shot going, teams send double teams to force the ball out of his hands. That’s when Doncic can be particularly dangerous.
Doncic has always been lauded for his superior court vision. But the Lakers are still learning to see the same picture. The Lakers had 14 turnovers, including 11 from Doncic and Reaves, during a preseason game against the Denver Nuggets, who were aggressively trapping the Lakers’ ballhandlers. The Lakers threw away a 25-point second-quarter lead on Oct. 30 when the Golden State Warriors ratcheted up the ball pressure.
Doncic’s five turnovers a game are the second most in the league, and Reaves is third with 4.6 turnovers per game.
Some players are new to being on a team with guards who get blitzed nearly every play, Reaves said. It requires players to not only be comfortable making decisions to pass, drive or shoot, but they have to choose quickly. A moment’s hesitation gives away the four-on-three advantage created by the double-team.
Redick praised Grimes’ ability to keep advantages by driving decisively. Forward Sandro Mamukelashvili is also great at it, Redick said, as is guard Collin Sexton, who knows no speed other than full. The Lakers have also finished their advantages with Thybulle and Williams making27 of 58 (46.6%) three-point attempts combined.
“That’s the beauty of our team,” Williams said. “You could put different guys at different spots and everyone’s able to make a play. All our guys are just dynamic and versatile. And everyone just wants to make the right play. No one wants to only shoot, there’s no egos. And that’s the fun part about it, you know? We all love to see each other succeed.”
Williams missed three games because of a sore left foot but returned Monday with nine points, two rebounds and two assists off the bench. When Jake LaRavia jumped into the starting lineup, the Lakers were just as effective offensively as their first-choice lineup. When Doncic, Reaves, Kessler, Thybulle and LaRavia are together, the Lakers’ 144.3 points per 100 possessions ranks first among lineups that have played at least 30 minutes.
Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo reaches through the hoop to block a reverse dunk by Lakers center Walker Kessler on Monday night.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
But numbers don’t normalize until about 250 minutes, Redick believes.
“I think there’s always room for improvement,” he said Monday.
The Lakers have the most room for improvement on the defensive side. Their defensive rating of 114 points allowed per 100 possessions is tied with the Clippers for 20th in the NBA. They still rank 28th in rebounding, despite three consecutive double-doubles from Kessler, who responded after Redick challenged the center to be a larger rebounding presence.
“This team can become a great team,” Redick said before Monday’s win over the Heat. “That requires patience, that requires a lot of coaching and teaching and buy-in, and so that whole process takes time.”
Angel City and “Ted Lasso” both came to life in the summer of 2020 when the rest of the world was preoccupied with something far more serious, the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Angel City, meanwhile, would play its first NWSL game two years later, by which time “Lasso” and Jason Sudeikis, the title character of the Apple TV series about a fictional Premier League team and its manager, had already won multiple Emmys.
Hollywood is a small town, so it wasn’t long before Sudeikis reached out to Kara Nortman, a venture capitalist who co-founded Angel City in 2020, and asked to talk about women’s soccer.
Angel City co-founders Natalie Portman, left, Kara Nortman and Julie Uhrman speak during the team’s equity summit in Australia during the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
(Hanna Lassen / Getty Images)
“And I was like, ‘You had me at hello,’” Nortman said.
What was supposed to be an hour-long phone call turned into four-hour meeting in person, Nortman said.
“The most fun conversation I’ve had in a long time,” she remembered last month. “It really started as a shared passion and interest in women’s sports and building communities and new leadership models and all the things that ‘Ted Lasso’ is about that are far beyond football.”
What the conversation led to was the foundation for the just-completed fourth season of “Ted Lasso,” which focused on the unique challenges faced by women’s soccer teams and players — challenges Nortman knows only too well as the co-owner of a team. That’s why she was credited as a consultant on the series.
And the collaboration comes at a time when the soccer team and the soccer TV series are both at the top of their game, with “Lasso” drawing record audience numbers this summer and Angel City advancing to this weekend’s NWSL playoff quarterfinals after the most successful season in its history.
“They could have continued writing about the men’s team,” Nortman said. “They chose to write about women’s football.
“I’m super proud that we were part of what helped them really understand how to write a beautiful script that was really representative of a lot of challenges we went through.”
The challenges go beyond just salaries, media attention and funding to things as serious as child care and the rash of ACL injuries in the women’s game and as frustrating as hand-me-down uniforms and locker rooms. In “Ted Lasso,” the women’s team Sudeikis coaches — a man coaching women? That topic is addressed, too — uses a dressing room abandoned by a men’s team, one with urinals but without enough working showers.
Angel City captain Sarah Gorden dribbles the ball in front of Boston Legacy’s Sarah Schupansky at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.
(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
One player nearly misses a game because she can’t find a babysitter, something that really happened to Angel City captain Sarah Gorden. Another player is recognized by a fan while working for a food-delivery company to supplement her tiny soccer salary, something that really happened to English star Lucy Bronze in her early playing days.
For many viewers, the “Ted Lasso” plot lines were their introduction to those real-life issues.
“The vibe of authenticity,” Nortman calls it.
“They got right the ACLs, they got right the locker-room dynamic, they got right the training facility,” she said. “I think they got all those things right.”
Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, the creative geniuses behind “Ted Lasso,” declined to be interviewed for this story, as did everyone involved with the series. But Sudeikis has long denied the show is about soccer.
“This show is as much about soccer as ‘Rocky’ is about boxing,” said Sudeikis, who described the eponymous title character as a cross between John Wooden and Mister Rogers.
Actors Jason Sudeikis, center, and Tanya Reynolds, right, lead a professional women’s soccer team through authentic challenges during the fourth season of “Ted Lasso.”
(Colin Hutton / Apple TV)
But the series has always had soccer in it. So it was natural that Sudeikis and Hunt, who both have long supported women’s sports, would turn their massive spotlight on women’s soccer and bring attention to the glaring inequalities that had slowed the development of the game.
And Nortman wasn’t the only one from NWSL to join that cause. The “Lasso” season opener, shot largely in Kansas City, Mo., was a paean to that city’s women’s soccer team, the Current, and its stadium, where the team has sold out every game over the last three seasons and is unbeaten in its last 32 matches there. (Angel City opens the playoffs in Kansas City on Saturday.)
The synergy helped both sides, with “Lasso” shattering viewership records, trailing only Amazon Prime Video’s “Reacher” as the most-streamed series overall in September, while NWSL’s viewership numbers through the first half of the season jumped 61% on ABC and ESPN. The average season attendance of 11,032 was the second-highest in history.
“Once we knew that Jason and the cast were going to feature a season about women’s soccer and start that season at one of our stadiums with one of our teams, the authenticity with that just lent itself to doing an integration,” said Jennifer Levine, the league’s vice president for public relations and communications.
Kansas City Current fans cheer during the team’s first match at CPKC Stadium in 2024. It is the first stadium built solely for a pro women’s soccer team and was featured in the latest season of “Ted Lasso.”
(Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
“There was a lot of crossover between what they were doing and what we’re doing. So it kind of created a perfect storm for us. Being a part of the cultural conversation as part of ‘Ted Lasso’ will only add to the excitement around the NWSL.”
But will it solve the problems and level the inequities that continue to plague women’s soccer?
“I like to hope it helps,” Levine said. “They have been honest. … I think the writing team and the cast did an incredible job portraying what it’s like to be a women’s footballer.
“Everything that we’re doing at the league with investing in infrastructure and building more purpose-built stadiums and building training facilities, it’s all to improve the experience that viewers are seeing in ‘Ted Lasso.’”
Or as Sudeikis’ character once put it, “doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.”
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.
Speaking to Andover Town’s website,, external Skeates said: “I’ve been involved in football a long time and I’ve genuinely never seen anything like what happened today from an opposition side.
“All 11 of their players walked off perfectly fine at half-time with us 7-0 up.
“They eventually came back out with seven, so apparently four must have managed to get injured in the changing room.
“We scored pretty much straight away to make it 8-0 and from there it became a complete farce.”
BBC Sport has asked the league for Paulsgrove FC’s contact details but that request was declined.
However, several posts on X appearing to come from Paulsgrove’s official account claimed the players were all genuinely injured.
One reply to a post from Skeates read: “Sadly can’t make injured player [sic] continue”.
Skeates said Andover Town would submit a report to the league.
A spokesperson for the Hampshire Premier Football League said: “As is standard for any abandoned game, an investigation is under way and until that process has been completed, we cannot make any comment.”
Andover Town are mid-table in the 16-team league, which is in the 12th tier of the English football pyramid.
Paulsgrove are bottom, having lost all 10 games this season, including three completed games where they were beaten by eight goals or more.
If you want to guarantee something won’t happen, go ahead and predict — as Bill Plaschke did — that the Rams are going to go undefeated.
See, what happened was that his crystal ball was misfiring. Kind of like Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has this season, throwing an interception in every game so far.
Actually, it’s Herbert’s Chargers who are going to go 0-17.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in a 24-9 win over the Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
After the Rams’ suspense-free 24-9 victory over the “visiting” Chargers on Sunday at SoFi Stadium, the Rams are 4-4. But the Bolts are 0-7 and barreling toward most unfortunate history.
NFL teams have gone winless before, but it hasn’t happened since the schedule grew to 17 games in 2021. Are the Chargers desperate enough to avoid being the first? It doesn’t feel like it.
They have 10 games left, of course. Each one “an opportunity,” as Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said, to figure it out. Or even to trap an unsuspecting, wounded opponent.
But there’s also the fact that the Chargers are 0-10 since their last win on Dec. 21 in Dallas — even longer ago than the Chargers’ last touchdown, which was nine quarters and 27 possessions in the rearview mirror.
What’s 10 more losses if not on the table?
Just about everything should be on the table — though not trading Herbert, by all accounts — for this banged-up, head-scratching, flat tire of a football team.
The Chargers’ lost season is the opportunity for major renovations.
It would even be really silly for the Chargers not to give the market a good shake before the NFL’s Nov. 10 trade deadline.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh reacts in the fourth quarter of a 24-9 loss to the Rams at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
No one wants to say goodbye to Chargers mainstay Khalil Mack that way, but the veteran defender should be worth a pretty pick to a contender. What about receiver Quentin Johnston? Running back Kimani Vidal?
But do not excuse Mike McDaniel. Let the beleaguered offensive coordinator keep calling games.
Why? Because history is on the line!
And so is the No. 1 draft pick that could land Ohio State’s sensational receiver, Jeremiah Smith.
The Detroit Lions went winless in 2008 and got Matthew Stafford — a Super Bowl winner and last season’s league MVP for the Rams — with the top pick in the next draft for their suffering.
But neither that season, nor the Cleveland Browns’ 0-16 2016, will go down as an abject disappointment on the level of this Chargers season.
Those teams weren’t supposed to be special. ESPN’s consensus was that the 2008 Lions would finish fourth in the division. And the Browns were coming off a 1-15 season (after which they drafted Myles Garrett No. 1 overall).
The Chargers came into this year with the eighth best odds to win the Super Bowl. They were fresh off consecutive 11-win seasons in Harbaugh’s first two seasons at the helm. And they were pairing Herbert and McDaniel. They were supposed to be a dynamic duo. Instead, the pairing has been a colossal dud.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert looks up at the videoboard after the Rams add to the lead on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Herbert’s two interceptions Sunday pushed his season total to an NFL-leading 10. In 2024, he threw only three.
“Turnovers are what’s stopping us [offensively], and that’s something that we have to clean up,” Herbert said after Sunday’s loss, in which he hit both Rams safety Quentin Lake and Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie in the chest with passes.
The first interception led to a Rams field goal, the second set up a Rams touchdown.
It was that kind of game in that kind of season.
Herbert’s Hail Mary before halftime came down in Ladd McConkey’s grasp a foot short of the goal line. It was the second time this season Herbert completed a pass of 50 or more yards and had the play end on the one-yard line — an NFL record, according to ESPN.
The Chargers also went into halftime with 129 more yards of total offense, nine more minutes of possession and prevented the Rams from achieving a first down on their first five drives for the first time in Sean McVay’s decade as coach.
But still the Chargers — they of little faith — trailed 10-9. Because the Rams closed the half by charging 66 yards to score a touchdown on a five-play, 1-minute, 36-second drive immediately after the Chargers had elected to kick a field goal rather than go for it on fourth and two.
They played like a team ready to accept another defeat and fell to 0-7 for the first time since 2000, when Harbaugh was their quarterback.
They finished 1-15 that season, the franchise’s worst. I wondered: Did that experience teach Harbaugh — who is just the fifth coach ever to win a college national title and also appear in a Super Bowl — anything?
“I mean, there’s no quit, there’s no surrender,” Harbaugh said. “It’s going to be an opportunity next week, get ourselves ready for that. It’s that motivation, it’s that dedication that, you know, there’s next week. There’s an opportunity, and … you got to keep working, you got to keep moving forward.”
Unless they can put in a reverse jinx, the only thing they’re moving toward is some ignominious history.
For much of Sunday’s game between the Rams and the Chargers, it was impossible to distinguish:
Which team had arrived at SoFi Stadium winless?
The Chargers, who had not won a game since last season, looked the part.
But so did the supposedly we’re-ready-to-make-a-run Rams.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in a 24-9 win over the Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
The Rams showed life at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, and that ultimately proved enough for a 24-9 victory in front of 73,621.
Safety Quentin Lake and cornerback Trent McDuffie intercepted passes to foil a Justin Herbert-led offense that went into the game as the NFL’s lowest-scoring outfit and did little to foster reason for optimism.
For a mostly underperforming Rams team that began the season as an overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl LXI, it has turned into a season of firsts.
Consider: For the first time this season, the Rams have won two games in a row.
They did it, for the first time, with two kickers — Joshua Karty and Brandon McManus — active for a game, though the kicking-game problems are far from resolved.
And yet the Rams found a way to win the kind of game they had previously lost. Who can forget their 18-15 defeat by the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium, a loss in which the Cardinals — like the Chargers — did not score a touchdown?
“Our team is becoming battle tested and finding ways to win those games that maybe we didn’t earlier on in the year,” said Stafford, who completed 17 of 25 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown, with an interception.
McVay had bristled this week when asked if he feared a letdown by his team against a winless opponent.
“I couldn’t care less about what their record is,” McVay said. “I would hope that we’re mature and professional enough to know that we have to be able to have the right focus, concentration, level of urgency.”
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1.Rams safety Quentin Lake intercepts a pass in the first half.2.Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh walks on the sideline in the fourth quarter.3.Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert slides for a short gain against the Rams in the first half Sunday at SoFi Stadium.4.Rams offensive linemen run onto the field before the start of the game.5.Rams coach Sean McVay celebrates with Jordan Whittington and Matthew Stafford after a touchdown in the second half.
Message apparently not received.
The Rams, the NFL’s top offense in yards per game, generated only 24 yards in 15 plays during their first five possessions and were zero for five on third down.
“Couldn’t have started any worse offensively,” McVay said.
For a time, they looked in danger of repeating 2020, when they lost to the 0-13 New York Jets at SoFi Stadium.
“To even establish any sort of momentum or rhythm was nonexistent for us,” McVay said.
But the Rams’ defense stepped up.
“Our job is, ‘OK, if the offense can’t create momentum, how can we create that for them,’” Lake said. “We were able to do that.”
The hapless Chargers also lent a hand.
They fell to 0-7 for the first time 2000, when they finished 1-15.
It was the Chargers’ 10th straight loss dating to last season, and no doubt keeps offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel on the hot seat.
Herbert continued to struggle, increasing his league-leading interception total to 10. He completed 24 of 32 passes for 257 yards.
The Rams led 10-9 at halftime after Williams rushed for a short touchdown in the final minute to cap a five-play, 66-yard drive.
The Chargers’ frustration could be summed up in one play: Receiver Ladd McConkey hauled in Herbert’s desperation 54-yard pass on the final snap of the second quarter … at the one-yard line.
The Rams came out strong to start the second half, Corum breaking off a 23-yard touchdown run for a 17-9 lead. Late in the third quarter, McDuffie picked off a pass, setting up Puka Nacua’s 18-yard catch and run for a touchdown.
As they did in last week’s victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Corum and Williams proved a valuable combination. Corum rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown in 11 carries and Williams had 56 rushing yards and a touchdown in 16 carries.
The Rams play at Washington next Sunday and at Arizona the following week. They will have a short bye week before playing the Green Bay Packers the night before Thanksgiving.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua slips a tackle by Chargers defensive lineman Teair Tart on his way to scoring a touchdown in the third quarter Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
So there is ample opportunity for the Rams to put together a win streak worthy of a star-studded team that was built to play in the Super Bowl in February.
McVay has indicated that the Rams would not be very active as next week’s NFL trade deadline approaches, saying that the team would count on the return of injured players.
But the injured list might continue to grow.
Cornerbacks McDuffie and Jaylen Watson both left against the Chargers because of back and shoulder injuries, respectively.
That did not keep the Rams from breathing a sigh of relief. They had avoided a loss to their winless neighbors.
“It’s not something that we can exhale from,” said Nacua, who caught 11 passes for 80 yards. “There’s still a lot of improvement.”
But for a day at least, they could cling to a hint of momentum.
Rams running back Blake Corum breaks a tackle from Chargers safety Elijah Molden on his way to scoring a touchdown Sunday.
Credit to Lincoln Riley. USC’s embattled football coach stood and stared directly at what could have been the death knell for his Trojans tenure and said: Not today.
Actually, he said more than that after his unranked Trojans upset No. 2 Ohio State, 30-18 on Saturday.
“I got one other thing I want to say here,” said Riley, whose victory kept alive the Trojans’ hopes of making the College Football Playoff for the first time on his watch. “I want to make sure to articulate my thoughts.
“This program’s not built on internal joy — excuse me, is built on internal joy — not external applause. This win’s for all the staff members, the players, the leaders, admin, all the people within the walls.
“I said before this game, that I’m the right person for this job, and as long as all those people know that, that’s all I care about.
“I appreciate being a part of this university and all it does. I appreciate our kids and our staff, and I’m going to continue to fight on because that’s what being a Trojan’s all about. Fight On.”
Then he stood and punctuated his address: “Adios.”
The way USC dismantled a Buckeyes team that was considered one of the leading national championship contenders this zany college football season, Riley deserved to crow.
The way his team refused to let go of the rope — even with their head coach on the ropes, Riley deserved a victory lap.
It’s just that before sharing his statement, he didn’t seem all that interested in taking it.
He began his news conference looking, appropriately, to lend perspective to the victory — his first in his USC tenure against a top-10 team — in which the Trojans exploded on a Buckeyes team that hadn’t given up more than 24 points in a game since losing to Oregon 32-31 on Oct. 12, 2024.
“Every win’s important,” said Riley, whose overall record at USC in his fifth season is now 42-20. “When you get a chance, like tonight, to play a really good football team — one of the best programs in America over a long, long period of time — those are great opportunities.”
He gave deserved kudos to his team for staying together and responding after last week’s disappointing 24-7 loss at Wisconsin. And reiterated his usual message, win or lose: “I know what’s building within those walls. Like, I know it. All my years of experience and all that I’ve kind of seen and got to experience in this game tells me that. I believe that with every fiber in my being.”
USC coach Lincoln Riley watches his players warm up before facing Ohio State at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Saturday’s victory won’t necessarily be good news for dissatisfied fans rooting for Riley’s ouster. But it was big for anyone partial to a good comeback story — and for those tenuous CFP prospects.
“I keep saying, look at all the craziness across the country,” Riley said. “The teams that just hang in there, keep going, get better, stay together, are going to be the ones that are there in the end.”
The Trojans could be one of those teams. They should be, in fact.
They have the talent, as we saw Saturday when previously injured freshmen Trent Mosley and Mark Bowman gashed a Buckeyes defense that hadn’t allowed a play longer than 36 yards all season with plays of 69 and 70 yards.
And they have the fortitude, as we witnessed when USC’s defense forced Ohio State to settle for a field goal after they had first and goal at the one-yard line late in the second quarter: “Grit play, a toughness deal. A mindset thing,” defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren said.
What made the Trojans’ previous losses so galling was the gauntlet ahead of them, starting with Ohio State.
Before, we wondered: If they couldn’t beat Oregon and its backup quarterback at home, how the heck were they going to beat Ohio State (and its understudy QB, Mission Viejo’s Luke Fahey)?
Earlier, we asked: If Wisconsin was going to force them into the worst offensive showing in the Riley era, what was defending national champion Indiana going to do to them?
And, of course: If they were just sneaking by struggling teams like Rutgers, Penn State and Washington, what chance was there that they could surprise still-undefeated UCLA?
But now, after Saturday’s sensational showing, we’ll spend next week’s bye and then the week ahead of their game in Bloomington against the Hoosiers — who escaped Saturday with a 23-16 overtime win over Minnesota — doing the math and wondering why can’t USC knock off another top-five team?
USC linebackers Ta’mere Robinson, left, and Jadyn Walker leap in celebration following a 30-18 win over Ohio State on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
And if the Trojans can beat Indiana, why can’t they beat the 8-0 Bruins, who have been taking care of business against opponents who have no business beating them, like Nevada on Saturday, 27-0?
Because the Trojans haven’t folded. In fact, things went so well on this rainy Halloween evening — which ended with pirates and princesses and people in all varieties of costume celebrating on the field with the players — you might have started to wonder whether they had been bluffing.
Just like we assume Riley is bluffing whenever he talks about being able to block out “the noise.”
He might not want to worry himself with the “external applause,” but if he wants to fight on at USC, he’s going to need to continue earning it.
San Bernardino vs. Torrance at Redondo Union, 3 p.m.
Norte Vista at Riverside North
Anaheim at San Gorgonio
Whittier at Oxnard
Lakewood at Montclair
Heritage at Hacienda Heights Wilson
California vs. Palm Springs at Palm Springs Swim Center, 4 p.m.
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 5 p.m. unless noted)
Quarterfinals
DIVISION 1
Mira Costa at Westlake
Mater Dei vs. Buena, site TBA
Huntington Beach at Laguna Beach
Yucaipa vs. Dos Pueblos, site TBA
Note:Quarterfinals (Divisions 2-5) Friday, Nov. 6 at home sites; Semifinals (Open Division) Saturday, Nov, 7 at home sites; Semifinals (Divisions 2-5) Tuesday, Nov. 10 at home sites; Semifinals (Division 1) Wednesday, Nov. 11 at home sites; Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.
SAN FRANCISCO — Gabby Williams scored her team’s final 11 points of the third quarter and dazzled through the fourth on the way to 30 points, and the Golden State Valkyries captured a championship in just their second season by beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in a sensational first WNBA Finals Game 7 on Saturday night.
Jordin Canada scored 18 points, Allisha Gray 16 and Angel Reese had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Dream, denied another championship in the franchise’s fourth try.
Gray made two free throws with 11 seconds left then Atlanta forced a jump ball — Gray against Williams — and Veronica Burton corralled it and converted two free throws with 5.1 seconds to go.
“I’m just so blessed, this is insane!” said Burton, cut by Dallas two years ago.
Rhyne Howard’s layup tied it at 57 with 2:41 left only for Williams to answer once more with a clutch three-pointer. She converted two free throws with 1:40 remaining, then Kiah Stokes scored a late basket. Stokes pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked two more shots to cap her spectacular postseason.
Williams left Seattle with a great feeling about joining Golden State and its close-knit culture, returning to the Bay Area where she played youth basketball to build something special with the Valkyries — and she’s now done that. Fans chanted “Gabby! Gabby!” throughout the fourth quarter.
“All it took was good people,” she said. “All we heard last year was we don’t have no stars. We don’t have no talent. Yeah right! We got good people. We got good people. We got winners. We got people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win a game.”
When the final buzzer sounded, the violet-clad sellout crowd at Chase Center went into a frenzy as players sprinted onto the floor to hug and celebrate as confetti fell from the rafters.
“Ballhalla” had become “Boohalla” for this far-but-haunted Halloween night in the raucous arena. Now, with a women’s championship to its name right alongside the one earned by the Golden State Warriors in 2022.
“We gotta build a bigger trophy case,” co-owner Peter Guber said.
The team that led at halftime in the first six matchups had won every game so far, and the Dream were ahead 30-24 at the break. Atlanta also had been 16-0 this season when Reese made at least one 3. The Dream’s DeWanna Bonner became the first player in WNBA history to reach 600 career postseason defensive rebounds.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase changed her starting lineup in a move that paid huge dividends after Golden State fell behind 2-1, inserting Kaila Charles and Tiffany Hayes and bringing Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini off the bench.
The 37-year-old Hayes, who came out of retirement two years ago and spent 10 seasons with the Dream, scored 11 points in the winner-take-all Game 7 and brought energy all series that made Nakase want to win for the veteran guard as much as anybody.
Valkyries owner Joe Lacob guaranteed a championship within the first five years for this franchise three years ago when the Bay Area was granted an expansion team, and in improbable, joyful fashion, his team accomplished it in Year 2. That after becoming the first expansion organization to reach the playoffs in its inaugural year in 2025.
During the victory ceremony, Lacob shouted out the team and its leaders, while Nakase, general manager Ohemma Nyanin and president Jess Smith hugged. And Lacob thanked the fans who have sold out Chase Center for every game since Day 1.
Although All-Pro safety Derwin James Jr. will miss his fourth consecutive game because of a hamstring injury, the winless Chargers are coming off their bye week with some much-needed reinforcements.
“It’s a good thing,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “It’s good to have them back out there. Good work put in. Feel good about the preparation and feel like we’re in a good place, ready to go.”
Harris and McConkey have been the Chargers’ top two receivers when available this season. Harris leads the team in receptions (15), receiving yards (225) and targets (26), while McConkey is right behind him with 13 receptions for 200 yards on 18 targets.
And Alt’s return instantly improves the Chargers’ banged-up offensive line, which has allowed Justin Herbert — who carries a league-worst 29.4 quarterback rating — to be sacked nine times in the two games the offensive tackle has missed.
“Regrouping. Retooling. Thought it was a really good week of preparation,” Harbaugh said.
Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and his unit desperately need all hands on deck.
The Chargers are averaging a league-worst 15 points per game and are tied for the second-fewest yards per play (4.6).
“I spend all of my time focusing on the best plan for the players that we have available this week, to attack the defense we have,” McDaniel said. “And then you have to illustrate, in a good manner, what the vision is for how we’re going to play and improve the results.”
McConkey, Harris and Alt returning will help McDaniel’s cause, especially as wideout Brenen Thompson (quad/hamstring) remains out alongside key offensive linemen Rashawn Slater (ankle) and Kayode Awosika (fibula).
Meanwhile, the Chargers’ defense, which allows the eighth-fewest passing yards per game (206.2), must hold the fort again without James, who suffered a rehab setback.
“You can’t replace Derwin,” defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary said. “It’s not possible. He’s one of the best in the league, if not the best in the league.”
That task will be even harder if cornerbacks Donte Jackson and Rodney Shelley, who are both questionable with hamstring injuries, can’t play.
“For us, our message from the offseason to now is: team defense,” O’Leary said. “Play together. We’re not going to put too much on one guy’s plate. … And that’s really just spiked, now that Derwin’s out.
“It’s just a group effort, and I think the guys have done a great job.”
O’Leary’s defense has bent but rarely broken all season.
McDaniel’s offense, however, could use a breakout performance. And with more of Herbert’s primary targets fully healthy, there’s no better time than Sunday.
Scoring 44 points in a league championship decider is usually enough to secure victory — but not against Mission Viejo.
The Diablos beat San Juan Hills 54-44 in an epic Orange County shootout to secure its third consecutive Alpha League crown, buoyed by a bevy of explosive plays.
It started in the first quarter as senior running back Carson Vandermade, who returned after missing the last two games, scored two touchdowns. He finished the game with 121 yards, including a big 52-yard run down the sideline, and three touchdowns but did not return for the fourth quarter.
His counterpart, senior Jack Junker, gained 132 yards, including a 28-yarder, and two touchdowns as the Diablos’ rushing attack dominated. Every time Vandermade and Junker took handoffs, there was a gift waiting. The offensive line — which has four players either committed to or with offers to Division I colleges — opened up huge running lanes.
Junior center Max Davidson attributed the group’s success to a deep camaraderie and hard work.
“It comes down to all the time that we put in together,” he said. “It comes down to the chemistry that we have between the five of us up front. We work together really well and that shows in all our games.”
Mission Viejo High center Max Davidson is all smiles after the Diablos won the Alpha League title with a 54-44 victory over San Juan Hills on Friday night.
(Caleb Otte / For The Times)
Sophomore quarterback Brett Burnor also got in on the rushing action, with 30 yards and two touchdowns. He had a solid night through the air, connecting on nine of his 12 passes for 188 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Burnor had four passes that went for more than 30 yards and connected most often with senior wide receiver Luke Karby, a Duke commit who had 122 yards on five receptions and made multiple contested catches. Karby also threw a two-point conversion to Burnor, in a quick role reversal, in the second quarter.
Mission Viejo coach Chad Johnson said before kickoff that the game would be decided by explosive plays, and he wanted to limit the opponent’s electric moments.
“Every game, San Juan Hills has six to 10 explosive plays on offense that are 40- to 60-yard chunk plays,” he said.
The Diablos allowed San Juan Hills to stay within fighting distance via those big gains that Johnson warned against. While the home team never trailed, San Juan Hills cut the score to 47-44 midway through the fourth quarter after an improbable onside kick recovery. Senior kicker Trevor Koko continued an impressive season with a looping ball that Mission Viejo wasn’t able to field, breathing life into a potential comeback. A quick touchdown drive ensued that made the final minutes extra nervy for the Diablos.
Ultimately, the rushing attack killed the clock and clinched the win by grabbing one more touchdown on an 11-yarder by Junker with 40 seconds to play.
San Juan Hills backup quarterback Parker Armstrong was given the reins to let the ball loose by coach Robert Frith. He completed 27 of 37 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. His longest of the night came on a quick dump down to senior wide receiver commit Luke Frith, a Texas State commit who took it 80 yards for a touchdown. Another long score came on a slant route to senior wide receiver Cooper Chila who broke multiple tackles to take it 57-yards to the house.
Those plays summed up much of the game for the Stallions. Athletic players making big plays, and never giving up on the game. San Juan Hills lost, but it never gave up.
Frith’s constant messaging to the players clearly got through.
The Stallions’ coach said he always tells the team: “When that ball snaps, it is seven seconds of everything you’ve got.”
The game was a high octane battle, but there will be a lot to parse through in the film room, especially for Mission Viejo. In the midst of the barnstorming action, the victors had three bad snaps on extra points and 18 penalties, including six personal foul calls.
Johnson lamented what he called poor officiating after the game but also told his team that the errors needed to be cleaned up by next week’s playoff opener. Mission Viejo likely qualified for the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs with this the win, and will learn of its opponent on Sunday. San Juan Hills will finish the regular season with two losses and wait to see if it makes the Division 2 playoffs.
Ahead of the Wisconsin game, USC got back two key offensive linemen from injury, left guard Hayden Treter and Paige.
However, the line still struggled against Wisconsin, allowing quarterback Jayden Maiava to get sacked five times and playing a factor in the Trojans’ limited run game.
Paige said the group needed to do “a little bit of everything” better in the run game. Raymond told reporters that factors like communication and physicality were among the causes of the line’s struggles.
“It wasn’t good enough,” Raymond said Wednesday.
Treter, who previously missed two games because of injury, was listed as out on Thursday’s availability report after exiting the loss to Wisconsin early.
Alston, freshman tight end Mark Bowman and defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart were among the notable USC players listed as questionable Thursday. Bowman, who racked up two touchdowns and more than 200 receiving yards in his first five collegiate games, hasn’t played since the Oregon loss in late September.
Stewart, who has been listed on the availability report and then played in each of the last four games, said he feels “great.”
“Just slowly getting better for the team,” Stewart said. “Can’t wait to go out there and perform.”
While the Trojans are dealing with some injuries, the highest-profile injury is on the other side as the Buckeyes will be without their star quarterback Julian Sayin, who was injured during Ohio State’s win over No. 4 Indiana on Oct. 17.
Sayin, who is expected to miss the rest of the season, had the second-most passing yards in the Big Ten (2,007), tied for the most passing touchdowns (19) and the highest passer rating (184.9).
Since Ohio State had a bye last week, coach Ryan Day hasn’t had to announce whether freshman Luke Fahey or sophomore Tavien St. Clair will get the start in Sayin’s stead. Riley and defensive tackle Jide Abasiri both told reporters that the team is preparing for both and will be ready to adjust during the game.
“There’s an expectation that there will probably be some sort of adjustment in some way, and we’ll have to do a good job handling that,” Riley said of planning for two quarterbacks. “I think that’ll be one of the keys, I’m sure, to this matchup.”
The Trojans are set to kick off their high-stakes Halloween-homecoming matchup with the Buckeyes at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Christian Watson didn’t literally come back from the dead on “Thursday Night Football.”
But what the Green Bay Packers receiver pulled off during his team’s 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers was nearly as dramatic.
“He resurrected himself,” quarterback Jordan Love said during a postgame interview on Prime Video.
Injured while making a 53-yard catch at the 9:11 mark of the second quarter — he later said he might have landed with the ball or his elbow in his chest — Watson was having trouble breathing on the field and coughed up some blood on the sideline. Prime cameras showed him climbing into an ambulance under his own power and still wearing his pads.
Less than an hour later, the same cameras showed Watson climbing out of the ambulance and jogging out of the tunnel at Lambeau Field, much to the surprise and delight of his teammates and the crowd.
“It was super dramatic,” Watson told reporters in the locker room after the game. “I used to watch WWE as a kid — I felt like I was watching ‘WWE SmackDown vs. Raw’ or something out there, you know, seeing the cameras on me when I got out of the ambulance, that was a little crazy. It was a surreal experience, no doubt, just to go through that and have you know the fans cheering for me getting back out there. It was definitely exciting.”
It was a scene Watson would have liked to have avoided in the first place.
“I never wanted to go” to the hospital, Watson said during an on-field interview with Prime after the game. “I was hoping that they would let me off. I said it was feeling better once I kind of caught my breath, but they said there was a couple signs that made them have to take me over there. I was just praying that it was good enough where I could come back out here.”
Watson, who was able to keep up with the game on a doctor’s phone, said he was told he had broken a rib. He was cleared to return after a CT scan showed no signs of internal bleeding.
“I was spitting a little blood [on the sideline] at first, so they just wanted to make sure there was nothing crazy,” Watson said. “I cleared everything and was able to get back out.”
Donning extra padding to protect his ribs, Watson re-entered the game with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter and was targeted on the first play. The deep pass from Love was knocked away by Carolina’s Nick Scott, with Panthers cornerback Marco Wilson landing on Watson’s chest at the end of the play.
But the NFL’s second-leading receiver said he was happy just to be back on the field.
“I had so much adrenaline that it didn’t really hit me right away, but definitely, definitely felt that one,” said Watson, who caught two passes for 13 yards after his return and finished the night with eight catches for 113 yards.
“That’s pretty remarkable,” coach Matt LaFleur said of Watson’s performance. “He had a heck of a night. Just can’t imagine what he would have had had he not missed so much time.”
“I think it shows resiliency, I think it shows toughness, and I think it just shows the love that he has for this team,” safety Xavier McKinney told reporters after the game. “Sometimes, you might see that happen and he had his 100 yards, and he could’ve just sat it. But the fact that he wasn’t satisfied and the fact that he felt like and he knew that we still needed him out there and he still said, ‘OK, I love this team and I want to be able to go out here for this team and do that,’ that gains our respect.”
Tage Thompson had three goals and two assists, Zach Benson added a goal and two assists, and the Buffalo Sabres scored six consecutive goals during a 7-6 victory over the struggling Ducks on Thursday night.
Thompson’s 10th career hat trick tied him with Alexander Mogilny and Danny Gare for the third-most in Sabres history. One night before his 29th birthday, Thompson scored twice in 15 seconds in the second period, skating around the Ducks’ inert defense for a breakaway third goal that sent a dozen hats flying onto the Honda Center ice.
Tyson Kozak, Noah Ostlund and Jack Quinn also scored and Colten Ellis made 28 saves for the Sabres, who roared back from an early two-goal deficit and then hung on to improve to 2-0-1 on their four-game trip.
Roger McQueen scored his first NHL goal and Cutter Gauthier ended his nine-game drought with two goals for the Ducks, who led 3-1 in the first period before getting blitzed 6-0 by Buffalo over the next 35 minutes.
Tristan Luneau and Beckett Sennecke scored for the Ducks (5-7-1) in the final 1:08 with Ville Husso pulled for an extra attacker, but the Sabres survived.
Captain Mikael Granlund scored and Leo Carlsson had three assists in the Ducks’ seventh loss in eight games. Husso stopped 23 shots for Anaheim, which is without injured defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Ian Moore on its already shallow blue line.
After Granlund and Gauthier got power-play goals 57 seconds apart, McQueen put the Ducks up 3-1 with a rebound goal from the slot. The 6-foot-5 center made the Ducks’ roster out of training camp at 20 years old, but hadn’t yet scored an NHL point.
But Ostlund scored only Buffalo’s fifth power-play goal of the season midway through the first before Thompson tied it with his sixth goal. The Sabres (6-4-3) dominated the second period, and Thompson finally put them ahead with a one-timer off a faceoff win by Peyton Krebs, who had three assists.
Up next for the Ducks: vs. Ottawa at Honda Center on Sunday.
Rams players are increasingly aware of the risks of playing their sport, especially as it relates to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a neurodegenerative brain disease.
But they try not to think about it.
This week, a Boston University study was published that analyzed the medical records of more than 2,000 deceased former NFL players. The study estimated that 74.5% of them likely had CTE.
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, 35, played 10 seasons before retiring after the 2023 season. He rejoined the Rams this season. When asked about the study and CTE, Donald said, “That’s a real thing.”
But he said, “You don’t think about it. You just play. When you sign up to play football, you know what you’re signing up for.
“You obviously don’t want nothing like that to occur.”
Receiver Puka Nacua, 25, said that as a young player he was grateful for information about the possible long-term effects.
“I think it’s something that’s obviously very prevalent in our sport and the more information, the better I think we’re able to take care of ourselves,” he said.
Offensive lineman Kevin Dotson, 30, wears a guardian cap on his helmet during practices and games but said that, “it’s almost like a placebo effect” and was “more of a dampener than a savior.”
Playing a game that rewards financially but could have long-term effects is a “double-edged sword,” Dotson said.
“It’s one of those things, you’ve just got to keep that in the back of your mind that this is a possibility,” he said. “So every time you think about retirement or stuff like that, you think the longer I play the better chance of me getting CTE.”
When NBC’s production team came to meet with Lincoln Riley, ahead of a broadcast earlier this month, the USC football coach greeted the group like old friends.
“Look,” Riley joked, “the Trojan Network is back.”
He certainly should be familiar with the group by now, given that this week’s matchup with No. 2 Ohio State marks the sixth time in nine games that USC will be featured on NBC. That’s already tied for the most any one network has aired a Big Ten team since 2024, when the conference expanded to 18 teams.
“We certainly feel like we’re the voice of the Trojans at the moment,” Noah Eagle, NBC’s lead play-by-play announcer, told The Times prior to USC’s loss to Wisconsin last week.
It’s certainly an ironic match, considering NBC’s longtime affiliation with the Trojans’ bitter rival, Notre Dame. But going all-in on the Cardinal and Gold wasn’t necessarily the network’s plan going into the season, according to Justin Byczek, NBC’s executive vice president of programming and rights management. It just worked out that way.
“It’s effectively a draft, and we’re trying to look at different weeks and prioritize,” Byczek said. “One of the first things that jumped out at us was how important that Oregon game is going to be. So that was something that we had in our back pocket going into the draft.”
When the three networks divided up the Big Ten’s TV games last spring, Byczek said NBC also zeroed in on that game, as well as USC’s matchups with Ohio State and Penn State, knowing both would fit well featured in prime time.
Just by virtue of its geography and its brand, USC makes for a natural fit in NBC’s prime time slot (7:30/4:30 p.m. ET/PT), similar to how FOX’s Big Noon Saturday regularly features Ohio State in its early window.
Those prime-time matchups featuring the Trojans, though, have lagged a bit behind other top teams from the Big Ten and SEC. USC’s matchup with Oregon drew the largest audience of its season to date, with 5 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. That’s the only time this season that a USC game has finished in the top five of the week’s most viewed games, according to Nielsen data.
That’s a conference-wide issue. The Big Ten has only had the week’s most-watched game twice this season, once on CBS (Ohio State-Iowa in Week 5) and another time on Fox (Ohio State-Indiana, Week 7). Otherwise, ABC has dominated, with upwards of 10 million tuning in most weeks to the network’s prime-time game.
So, in order to compete with ABC in prime time, NBC is betting on Lincoln Riley and the Trojans as its West Coast anchor.
“Because they’re intriguing — not only in Los Angeles, but nationally,” Eagle said. “College football fans want to see if they can get over the hump. Can Lincoln Riley get them there?”
That question will no doubt come up on the broadcast this week. And with three Big Ten games still left after that, you can bet it won’t be the last time we hear it asked on NBC.
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS Quarterfinals
DIVISION 3 Cerritos Valley Christian d. Santa Ana Foothill, 3-2 Newport Beach d. Thousand Oaks, 3-2 Corona del Mar d. La Salle, 3-1 Crescenta Valley d. Windward, 3-2
DIVISION 5 Liberty d. Canyon Country Canyon, 3-2 El Toro d. St. Anthony, 3-0 Westridge d. Irvine, 3-1 La Serna d. Quartz Hill, 3-0
DIVISION 7 Tustin d. Sacred Heart of Jesus, 3-1 Placentia Valencia d. Barstow, 3-0 Northview d. Beverly Hills, 3-0 Fullerton d. Rio Hondo Prep, 3-1
DIVISION 9 Rancho Mirage d. St. Monica Academy, 3-2 Azusa d. Nogales, 3-0 Desert Christian Academy d. Jurupa Hills, 3-1 Twentynine Palms d. Buena Park, 3-2
DIVISION 11 Arroyo d. Mesrobian, 3-0 Newport Christian vs. La Sierra Academy, Thursday Tarbut V’ Torah d. Santa Clara, 3-0 Norton Science Academy at Downey Calvary Chapel, Thursday
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE (Games at 6 pm. unless noted) Pool Play
DIVISION 1 Pool A #4 Oaks Christian at #1 Mater Dei, 2 p.m. #8 Harvard-Westlake at #5 Santa Margarita, 2:30 p.m.
Pool B #7 Marymount at #6 Los Alamitos, 12 p.m. #3 Mira Costa at #2 Sierra Canyon, 4:30 p.m.
Semifinals
DIVISION 2 Redondo Union at San Juan Hills, 4 p.m. Murrieta Valley at Long Beach Poly
DIVISION 3 Cerritos Christian at Newbury Park Crescenta Valley at Corona del Mar, 11 a.m.
DIVISION 4 Vista Murrieta at Portola, 11 a.m. Santa Barbara at Glendora, 2 p.m.
DIVISION 5 El Toro at Liberty La Serna at Westridge
DIVISION 6 Villa Park at Capistrano Valley Christian, 4 p.m. Castaic at Lakewood
DIVISION 7 Placentia Valencia at Tustin Fullerton at Northview
DIVISION 8 San Gabriel Academy at San Jacinto Valley Academy Rio Mesa at Geffen Academy, 5 p.m.
DIVISION 9 Rancho Mirage at Azusa Twentynine Palms at Desert Christian Academy
DIVISION 10 Orange at Adelanto Cornerstone Christian at La Quinta
DIVISION 11 Arroyo vs. Newport Christian /La Sierra Academy / Pacific Lutheran Tarbut V’ Torah vs. Norton Science Academy / Downey Calvary Chapel
Note: Finals (Division 1 Sat., Nov. 7 at Cerritos College, all other divisions Friday, Nov. 6 or Sat., Nov. 7, times TBA).
Lakers scoring phenom Luka Doncic missed his first game of the young season with back tightness, leaving a giant hole in their offense with the NBA’s leading scorer (36 points per game) sitting out.
Lakers defensive star Ziaire Williams also missed his first game with left foot soreness, leaving them even more depleted with two starters unable to play.
The Lakers added a lot of depth over the summer in case of injury situations and now it was going to be tested against the Clippers at Intuit Dome.
Collin Sexton is one of the players the Lakers acquired for a moment like Wednesday, and he delivered in a big way, coming off the bench to provide energy and effort in helping the Lakers take a 103-87 victory over the Clippers.
“Sometimes it’s hard to get his attention because he gets locked in, he gets in the zone,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said about Sexton. “I love the competitive fire.”
Sexton was at his best in the third quarter, scoring 11 of his 21 points, flexing and pounding his chest after a made basket. His play helped the Lakers open a 22-point lead they never lost.
He was four for five from the field in the third, six for 11 for the game. He was two for three from three-point range in the third, four for seven for the game. He also had four rebounds and two assists.
His intensity was on display during a moment when Sexton glared and snared at Clippers guard Cam Christie.
“Honestly, I would say when I step between those lines, it’s us against them,” Sexton said. “I’m going to do whatever my team needs for me. I feel like I turn into a different person when it’s time to go. And I think my teammates know that, so they try to talk to me a little bit, but they know I’m in the zone and ready to go to war. And that’s how I look at it. Whenever I step between those lines, it’s war time. So, that’s how I look at it, for sure.”
Quentin Grimes (23 points), Matisse Thybulle (15) and Austin Reaves (16 points) did their part to help the Lakers improve to 4-1.
Doncic and Williams played against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, but they couldn’t go in the back-to-back game.
“Both those guys woke up with some soreness and tightness today — tightness for Luka, soreness for Ziaire,” Redick said. “We have a tough stretch of games. Not a lot of time between [games so] just being overly cautious.”
The Lakers next play at the Golden State Warriors on Friday, their fourth game in six days.
Redick was asked if Doncic and Williams would be available for that game.
“That’s the hope,” he said.
Redick turned to Jarred Vanderbilt, who didn’t play in the first four games, and Jaden Hardy, who played in the first game of the season, to help the shorthanded Lakers in their time of need. Vanderbilt played 21 minutes and had seven rebounds. Hardy played nine minutes and had two points.
“Vando’s always going to play hard,” Redick said. “He’s always going to impact the game with just his effort, and I thought he did that tonight.
The Clippers, however, have their own injuries to worry about.
Clippers forward Rui Hachimura (left quad soreness) missed his first game of the season, joining Bradley Beal (right knee injury management), Brandon Ingram (right heel surgery), Jordan Miller (left rotator cuff surgery), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (right lisfranc surgery) and Max Strus (right plantar fascia partial tear) on the injury report.
The Lakers signed center Lawson Lovering to a two-way contract Wednesday and waived two-way forward AK Okereke.
If you need permission to watch “The Permission” — a.k.a. Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream — try to keep her team’s WNBA championship dreams alive, Flavor Flav’s got you covered.
The rapper issued signed permission slips Tuesday on social media for everyone to be excused from work on Thursday to watch Game 6 of the WNBA Finals. The next matchup in the best-of-seven championship series between the Dream and the Golden State Valkyries is set to tip off at 9:30 a.m. Pacific that day, when many people would be at work.
“Thursday is a paid holiday. Because Flavor Flav said so,” Flav, whose name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., declared on Instagram and Threads. “Everyone should be able to watch Women’s Sports.”
The document, which includes a blank space for fans to fill in their own names, urges bosses to “go ahead and approve that day off” for the “very important” Game 6 of the WNBA Finals.
“You support women’s sports, RIGHT?!” the self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Hype Man” wrote in the note. “Consider it your contribution to gender equality.”
The Valkyries clinched Game 5 at home at the Chase Center on Monday night 64-55 to move within one game of the team’s first-ever WNBA title. The Bay Area expansion team, led by head coach Natalie Nakase and known for its emphasis on defense, is just in its second season.
Flav’s note echoes the message Valkyries stars Veronica Burton and Kiah Stokes sent after Monday’s win to encourage their fans to tune in to Game 6.
“Call in sick,” Burton said. “I recommend it.”
“Y’all know how to fake a cough,” Stokes added.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also shared a statement Tuesday on Threads asking employers and educators to “show a little love and extend a little grace” to those who may be cheering the Dream on during their school or work hours.
“Lean into the historic moment, embrace the excitement and let Atlanta show up for Atlanta,” he wrote.
The WNBA announced Monday that Game 6 would be played at State Farm Arena in Atlanta with the earlier start time. The game was originally scheduled for 5 p.m. Pacific but was rescheduled so it could be played in the larger arena. Games 3 and 4 of the series were also moved to the larger venue.
The Dream normally play at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena at College Park. State Farm Arena, which can seat around 17,000 for basketball games, will host all Dream home games starting in the 2027 season.
The matinee timing of Game 6 is because of Atlanta’s NBA team, the Hawks, also being scheduled to play at State Farm Arena on Thursday. The team will face the Cleveland Cavaliers for a regular-season matchup at 5 p.m. Pacific.
“Thank you for your cooperation and for doing the right thing,” Flav wrote.
