Williams scores for Toledo football

TOLEDO — Toledo sophomore safety Eric Williams from East Liverpool made a special play Saturday.

Williams blocked a punt by Kent State’s Charlie Durkin and returned it 19 yards for his first collegiate touchdown during the Rockets’ 45-10 win at the Glass Bowl.

He took the ball off Durkins’ foot and his score gave the Rockets a 38-10 lead with 4:25 to play in the third quarter.

The 5-foot-11, 193-pound Williams plays on the scout team and is listed as a fifth-team safety on the depth chart.

“He plays and travels and goes to games because he’s going to play a couple roles in the kicking game,” Toledo head coach Jason Candle said. “He’s a guy who shuts up and doesn’t say a word. Never makes it about him. He just goes to work and does what he’s supposed to do. That’s one of the main reasons I love coaching. It’s the guys who do what they’re supposed to over and over and over, and somehow, always, the football gods repay those guys. A really special moment for the guys in our locker room.”

It was Toledo’s first blocked punt returned for a touchdown since Reggie Gilliam did it against Nevada in 2018.

Toledo (4-3, 2-2 MAC) will play at Washington State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

United soccer doubleheader

HANOVERTON — Since both the United boys and girls soccer teams are playing Cornerstone Christian in district semifinal action at Euclid High School, it has been rescheduled for a doubleheader today instead of making two trips.

The girls match will start at 5 p.m., followed by the boys match at 7 p.m. Stands will be cleared between matches and separate tickets must be purchased.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and under 5 are free. They are available at the gate and online.

Thomas is PAC Offensive Player of the Week

GROVE CITY, Pa. — Grove City College senior midfielder Camden Thomas has been named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week.

The former South Range High School standout struck for three goals in a pair of Grove City wins that lifted the Wolverines to first place in the PAC

He scored twice last Wednesday, including the opening goal of the match in the fourth minute, as Grove City downed Franciscan, 4-2, in a matchup of conference unbeatens, 4-2. On Saturday, Thomas scored on a penalty kick for an insurance goal in the 75th minute of Grove City’s 2-0 win at Chatham.

Thomas has started all 14 matches this season, collecting four goals and one assist.

He has led the Wolverines to a 10-2-2 record heading into today’s home match against Saint Francis.

Greenlief is PAC Defensive Player of the Week

WAYNESBURG, Pa. — Waynesburg University junior goalkeper Lex Greenlief is the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week.

The former Oak Glen High School standout tallied 12 saves and allowed one goal in the Yellow Jackets’ two wins last week.

Greenlief made nine saves, including seven in the first half, in a 2-1 win over Chatham last Wednesday. Then she posted her sixth shutout of the season Saturday with three saves in a 1-0 win over Franscican.

Greenlief currently leads the PAC in goals against average (.462) and save percentage (.905), while her half-dozen shutouts puts her in a tie for second.

The Yellow Jackets are 12-1-2 and will play at Hiram at 6 p.m. today.

Tomlin won’t touch grass

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Miles Killebrew’s season is over.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Killebrew is done for the year after undergoing knee surgery.

Killebrew, a two-time Pro Bowler as a special teamer and a 2023 All-Pro, injured his knee in a victory over Cleveland earlier this month at Acrisure Stadium on what some of his teammates described as an unplayable field.

The 10-year veteran and longtime special teams captain who occasionally moonlighted at safety had five tackles this season.

“Our heart aches for Miles,” Tomlin said. “Obviously he’s a significant component of what we do, particularly in the special team space.”

Veteran safety Jabrill Peppers filled in for Killebrew as the personal protector on punts, though Tomlin isn’t quite ready to hand the job to Peppers on a full-time basis.

“It’s probably a collection of men that have to step up when you’re faced with a challenge like that,” Tomlin said. “Pep did a nice job as a personal protector on our punt team last week, but there’ll be no exhale there. That’s something that’s got to be earned over a long period of time.”

Outside of Killebrew, the Steelers (4-2) are relatively healthy heading into a Sunday night visit from Green Bay (4-1-1). Pittsburgh wide receiver Calvin Austin III could return to play after sitting out the last two games with a shoulder injury.

Tomlin dismissed concerns about the state of the field at Acrisure, which came under criticism from Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and longtime defensive captain Cam Heyward among others for the condition it was in against the Browns.

The field will see plenty of action this weekend. The Pittsburgh Panthers, who share the stadium with the Steelers, host North Carolina State on Saturday afternoon, with that game wrapping up a little over 24 hours before the Steelers and Packers kick off.

“I am not a grass expert,” Tomlin quipped. “I haven’t cut my grass in a long, long time. I coach football. I’m going to stay in my lane. I don’t even know who cuts my grass.”

Saying bye-bye to Ray-Ray

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons released wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud on Tuesday after the veteran opened the season as a starter but was inactive the last two games despite being healthy.

McCloud, 29, set a career high with 62 catches for 686 yards in 2024, his first season in Atlanta. After opening the season with Drake London and Darnell Mooney as the Falcons’ top three receivers, McCloud had only six catches for 64 yards through four games and then was a healthy scratch against Buffalo and San Francisco.

Coach Raheem Morris gave no details on McCloud’s fall from grace, saying only it was a coach’s decision. On Friday, Morris announced McCloud would miss Sunday night’s 20-10 loss at San Francisco. McCloud did not accompany the team to San Francisco but instead was sent home for what the coach described as a personal matter.

“Working through some things right now that are private with my young man, and we’ll figure those things out as we go,” Morris said on Friday.

When asked Monday about an update on McCloud’s status, Morris said he was “going through that process right now” and would “talk with him. But that’s the distraction that I’m dealing with, no one else.”

McLeod played with Buffalo, Carolina, Pittsburgh and San Francisco before joining the Falcons. McCloud’s release opens the path for Casey Washington, David Sills V and KhaDarel Hodge at wide receiver.

It looks easy for Penguins

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored his fourth goal and Kris Letang became the 20th defenseman in NHL history to reach 600 career assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Tuesday night. Crosby beat Kevin Lankinen from the slot in the later stages of the second period to extend his goal streak to three straight games. It also gave Pittsburgh’s longtime captain 1,896 career points combined between the regular season and the postseason, moving Crosby past Penguins icon and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and alone into seventh place in NHL history.

Letang set up Tommy Novak’s first goal with the Penguins 14:21 into the second period to reach 599 assists. Letang picked up No. 600 in the third period when he was credited with the secondary assist on Justin Brazeau’s fifth goal of the season. The 38-year-old Letang is just the 10th defenseman in league history to reach 600 assists with a single team.

Brazeau added two assists for the Penguins. Anthony Mantha and Connor Dewar also scored as Pittsburgh won its third straight.

Arturs Silovs, in a competition with two-time All-Star Tristan Jarry to become Pittsburgh’s No. 1 goaltender, allowed Vancouver’s Conor Garland to beat him on the first shot of the game but settled down from there and finished with 23 saves.

Lankinen stopped just 20 of the 25 shots he faced as Vancouver saw its three-game winning streak end.

Pittsburgh broke a tie game in the second period when Novak, Crosby and Mantha each scored in a span of just over three minutes to put the Penguins comfortably ahead as Pittsburgh improved to 5-2-0 under first-year coach Dan Muse.