Rifle–The Rifle Bears will travel to Pueblo this Saturday to take on the Pueblo East Eagles at Dutch Clark Stadium in a semifinal game. Rifle advanced after last Saturday’s 48-34 quarterfinal victory over the Roosevelt Roughriders. KMTS will be on hand with live coverage beginning at 12:30.
DENVER (AP) – Peyton Manning threw for three touchdowns and Von Miller had three sacks, as the Denver Broncos defeated the San Diego Chargers 30-23 on Sunday to take a three-game lead in the AFC West. Manning threw for 270 yards and Miller finished the day with 13 sacks on the season – most in the NFL. The Broncos quarterback got off to a slow start, throwing an interception that Eric Weddle returned for a score and an early 7-0 lead. But the Broncos (7-3) took a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter and never trailed again. Manning won his 148th regular-season game as a starting quarterback, tying John Elway for second on the all-time list. Brett Favre has 186.
The Chargers (4-6) lost for the fifth time in six games.
DENVER (AP) – Broncos running back Willis McGahee hurt his right knee early in the second quarter when he was tackled by San Diego defensive back Quentin Jammer on Sunday. McGahee’s return was questionable. He had 55 yards on seven carries, along with one catch for 18 yards. The 10-year veteran was helped off the field and onto the bench after the hard tackle from Jammer, who was shaken up on the play as well. Jammer was questionable to return after hurting his calf. San Diego also lost linebacker Larry English for the rest of the game with a leg injury, while the Broncos were without special teams stalwart Omar Bolden after he suffered a concussion late in the first quarter.
UNDATED (AP) – The Falcons and Texans improved their NFL-best records to 9-1 with hard-fought victories on Sunday. The Falcons overcame five interceptions by Matt Ryan to beat Arizona 23-19 and Houston needed overtime to get past one-win Jacksonville 43-37.
UNDATED (AP) – One-loss Alabama is back in the national championship picture, rising to No. 2 in the BCS standings behind unbeaten Notre Dame. Oregon and Kansas State gave up control of the BCS race with their first losses on Saturday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Southern California will be without its top gun on Saturday against No. 1 Notre Dame. Trojans coach Lane Kiffin says quarterback Matt Barkley was injured late in Saturday’s loss to UCLA and freshman Matt Wittek will make his first career start against the Fighting Irish, who are eyeing an undefeated regular season and berth in the BCS title game.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Mike D’Antoni decided to not make his debut on the Lakers bench last night and his team beat the Houston Rockets 119-108 to improve to 4-1 under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff. D’Antoni wants a few more days to recover from recent knee replacement surgery
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) – Brad Keselowski’s 15th-place finish in Sunday’s season-ending Sprint Cup race was good enough to clinch his first series championship and the first for team owner Roger Penske. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon won for the first time at Homestead-Miami Speedway, leaving Kentucky as the only active NASCAR track where he’s yet to win.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Atlanta 23 Arizona 19
Cincinnati 28 Kansas City 6
OT Dallas 23 Cleveland 20
Green Bay 24 Detroit 20
OT Houston 43 Jacksonville 37
N-Y Jets 27 St. Louis 13
Washington 31 Philadelphia 6
OT Tampa Bay 27 Carolina 21
New Orleans 38 Oakland 17
New England 59 Indianapolis 24
Baltimore 13 Pittsburgh 10
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final New York 88 Indiana 76
Final Toronto 97 Orlando 86
Final Brooklyn 99 Sacramento 90
Final Philadelphia 86 Cleveland 79
Final Oklahoma City 119 Golden State 109
Final Detroit 103 Boston 83
Final Portland 102 Chicago 94
Final L-A Lakers 119 Houston 108
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final ( 2) Louisville 80 Miami (Ohio) 39
Final ( 4) Ohio St. 77 Washington 66
Final Oklahoma St. 76 ( 6) NC State 56
Final ( 8) Syracuse 88 Wagner 57
Final ( 9) Duke 88 Florida Gulf Coast 67
Final (10) Florida 66 Middle Tennessee 45
Final (15) Creighton 87 Presbyterian 58
Final (16) Baylor 97 St. John’s 78
Final (19) Gonzaga 96 South Dakota 58
Final (21) Michigan St. 69 Texas Southern 41
Final (22) Wisconsin 73 Cornell 40
Final 2OT (23) UConn 89 Quinnipiac 83
Final (24) Cincinnati 93 NC A&T 39
