Weekday Morning Sports – Friday 10/9/15

sportsreport

Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Friday, October 09, 2015

NFL – National Football League – Week 4
Last Night
Indianapolis Colts 27, Houston Texans 20

Colts 27, Texans 20 – Johnson has 2 TD receptions, leads Colts over Texans 27-20
Andre Johnson had two touchdown catches against his former team to help the Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans 27-20 on Thursday night. Johnson pushed the lead to 27-17 with a 2-yard touchdown reception from Matt Hasselbeck in the fourth quarter.  Hasselbeck started in place of Andrew Luck who sat out with an injury. Johnson finished with six catches for 77 yards. Brian Hoyer threw a pass up for grabs that was intercepted by Mike Adams with less than 2 minutes left.

Sunday
Chicago Bears at Kansas City Chiefs, 1:00 p.m.
Arizona Cardinals at Detroit Lions, 4:05 p.m. WSJM-AM/WCSY-FM 3:00

NFL – Cutler mending as injuries mount on Bears’ offense
All around him, Jay Cutler sees teammates going down. There is at least some positive news on the injury front for the Chicago Bears. Their quarterback is healing. Cutler said the strained hamstring that kept him out two weeks ago is improving even if it’s not quite 100 percent heading into Sunday’s game at Kansas City. The Bears (1-3) have been racking up injuries at a rapid rate, particularly on offense. Top receiver Alshon Jeffery has been sidelined since the opener by a hamstring problem, and Eddie Royal has an ankle injury. Cutler missed a shutout loss at Seattle two weeks ago. He looked sharp in his return, helping the Bears beat Oakland for their first win under new coach John Fox. But a dinged-up offensive line took another big hit with the loss of center Will Montgomery to a season-ending injury.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Wild Card Round (best of five)
Last Night
ALDS: Texas Rangers 5, Toronto Blue Jays 3                      (TEX Leads 1-0)
ALDS: Houston Astros 5, Kansas City Royals 2                  (HOU Leads 1-0)

Today
ALDS: Texas Rangers (Hamels 7-1) at Toronto Blue Jays (Stroman 4-0), 12:45 p.m.
ALDS: Houston Astros (Kazmir 7-11) at Kansas City Royals (Cueto 4-7), 3:45 p.m.
NLDS: Chicago Cubs (Lester 11-12) at St. Louis Cardinals (Lackey 13-10), 6:45 p.m.
NLDS: New York Mets (deGrom 14-8) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Kershaw 16-7), 9:45 p.m.

MLB – Avila says Tigers will have `highly competitive’ payroll
General manager Al Avila says the Detroit Tigers will still have a “highly competitive” payroll heading into next season. Avila talked with reporters Thursday, wrapping up a disappointing season for a team that had won four consecutive AL Central titles. The Tigers traded David Price and Yoenis Cespedes at the deadline, but they still have plenty of money invested in Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Victor Martinez, Anibal Sanchez and Ian Kinsler. Avila says he wants to acquire two new starting pitchers to bolster a pitching staff that slipped dramatically in 2015. Verlander and Sanchez are expected back, and Daniel Norris _ acquired in the deal for Price _ is one of a handful of young candidates for the rotation.

NHL – National Hockey League – 2015/16 Season Opener
Tonight
Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago Blackhawks at New York Islanders, 7:30 p.m.

NHL – Red Wings assign Cleary, Ouellet to AHL
The Detroit Red Wings have assigned forward Dan Cleary and defenseman Xavier Ouellet to Grand Rapids of the AHL.  The Red Wings also announced Thursday that they have removed defensemen Jakub Kindl and Alexey Marchenko from injured reserve. Cleary played in 17 games for the Red Wings last season, finishing with one goal and one assist. Ouellet had two goals and one assist in 21 games for Detroit in 2014-15. The Red Wings open their season Friday night against Toronto, which is now coached by former Detroit coach Mike Babcock.

NBA – National Basketball Association – Preseason
Last Night
Brooklyn Nets 93, Detroit Pistons 83
Denver Nuggets 112, Chicago Bulls 94

Nets 93, Pistons 83 – Lopez, Larkin each score 17 as Nets beat Pistons 93-83
Brook Lopez and Shane Larkin each scored 17 points as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Detroit Pistons 93-83 in a preseason game Thursday night. Wayne Ellington added 16 for the Nets. Ersan Ilyasova had 15 points and seven rebounds. Andre Drummond had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Nuggets 112, Bulls 94 – Lauvergne scores 18 points, Nuggets beat Bulls 112-94
Joffrey Lauvergne had 18 points and eight rebounds as the Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls 112-94 on Thursday night. Will Barton had 17 points and Jokic Nikola added 14 for the Nuggets. Nikola Mirotic led the Bulls with 18 points.

NCAA Football
Last Night
Washington 17, (17) Southern Cal 12

Washington 17, USC 12 – Huskies top Trojans
Southern Cal is off to a 1-2 start in Pac 12 play after many considered the Trojans as favorites to win the conference.  Unranked Washington shut down quarterback Cody Kessler in a 17-12 triumph over the 17th-ranked Trojans in Los Angeles. Kessler had two interceptions while passing for just 156 yards and no touchdowns. He couldn’t get USC into the end zone until Ronald Jones II’s short run with 12:02 to play. Myles Gaskin ran for 134 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to help the Huskies beat their former head coach, Steve Sarkisian. Both teams are 3-2 overall.

Saturday
Central Michigan at Western Michigan, 12:00 p.m.
Akron at Eastern Michigan, 3:00 p.m.
(13) Northwestern at (18) Michigan, 3:30 p.m.                 WSJM-AM/FM 2:30
Navy at (15) Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m.
(4) Michigan State at Rutgers, 8:00 p.m.                           WCSY-FM 6:30

NCAA Football – Battle of defenses: No. 13 Northwestern vs No. 18 Michigan
Northwestern and Michigan have made steady climbs up The Associated Press poll due to their defenses. The 13th-ranked Wildcats have shut out two teams and are giving up a nation-low seven points a game. That has helped Northwestern equal its total number of victories in each of the previous two years. If the Wildcats win Saturday at the Big House, they will be 6-0 for the first time since 1962 when Ara Parseghian was their coach. No. 18 Michigan, meanwhile, is a win away from matching the number of victories it had last year in Brady Hoke’s final season before being fired. The Wolverines have blanked consecutive opponents, rank first in third-down defense and second in points allowed under Jim Harbaugh.

AHL – American Hockey League – 2015 Season Opener
Tonight
Grand Rapids Griffins at Bakersfield Condors, 10:00 p.m.

MHSAA – SMAC to go with 11 teams in 2016-17 school year
Benton Harbor made the announcement in July that they would be leaving the Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference following the 2015-16 school year.  The loss of the Tigers would leave the league with 11 schools.    According to a report in the Battle Creek Enquirer, at a recent league meeting it was decided that league teams will have to fill the hole in their schedules where the Benton Harbor game would fall if the league couldn’t find a 12th member.   St. Joseph, Lakeshore, and Niles will have to find a game out side of the conference to fill the football schedule for the first time since 2000.   Benton Harbor has not announced any plans to join a conference next season and will play as an independent school.  Athletic Director Fred Smith told Sports Radio 1400 WSJM that the Tigers so far have five football games scheduled for next school year.    However Smith notes that scheduling games against some former rivals in the SMAC are not out of the question.
MHSAA – High School Sports
Tonight
Boys Soccer
SMAC Tournament
St. Joseph 2, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 1
Lakeshore 1, Battle Creek Central 0 – OT
Portage Northern 2, Mattawan 1 – Shootout
Coloma 1, Hartford 0

Girls Volleyball
Michigan Lutheran 3, Lake Michigan Catholic 0
South Haven 3, Three Rivers 1
Dowagiac 3, Sturgis 0
Grace Christian 3, Countryside 0

Girls Swimming
St. Joseph 109, Otsego 74

Tonight
Football – All Games Start at 7:00
SMAC
Lakeshore (4-2) at Benton Harbor (3-3)                                     94.9 WSJM-FM
Niles (1-5) at St. Joseph (5-1)                                                   Sports Radio 1400 WSJM
Portage Northern (3-3) at Portage Central (6-0)
Mattawan (3-3) at Battle Creek Central (3-3)
Gull Lake (2-4) at Kalamazoo Central (1-5)
Battle Creek Lakeview (4-2) at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix (1-5)

Wolverine
South Haven (2-4) at Three Rivers (2-4)                                    Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM
Sturgis (5-1) at Dowagiac (3-3)
Plainwell (4-2) at Edwardsburg (6-0)
Paw Paw (3-3) at Vicksburg (4-2)
Otsego (1-5) at Allegan (0-6)

BCS
Bridgman (5-1) at Lake Michigan Catholic (2-4) at Watervliet
Parchment (4-2) at Berrien Springs (6-0)
Comstock (0-6) at Buchanan (6-0)
New Buffalo (2-4) at Mendon (3-3)
Brandywine (4-2) at River Valley (0-6)
Centrevile (1-5) at Cassopolis (4-2)
White Pigeon (2-4) at Bronson (2-4)

SAC
Watervliet (5-1) at Delton-Kellogg (5-1)
Coloma (1-5) at Kalamazoo United (1-5)
Eau Claire (0-6) at Bloomingdale (1-5)
Decatur (4-2) at Martin (2-4)
Lawton (5-1) at Hartford (3-3)
Fennville (2-4) at Constantine (3-3)
Gobles (4-2) at Schoolcraft (6-0)
Saugatuck (6-0) at Marcellus (3-3)
Bangor 25 at Galesburg Augusta (1-5)

8 Player Football
Michigan Lutheran (0-6) at Litchfield (0-6)
Big Rapids Crossroads Academy (1-5) at Covert (0-4)

Saturday
8 Player Football
Lawrence (6-0) at Prairie Farm, Wisc. (7-0) 1:00 p.m.        at Madison Middleton
-Defending Michigan and Wisconsin 8 Player State Champions)