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Show Sports MONDAY OCTOBER 31 2011 Wildcats routed by Grizzlies WSU's playoff hopes dashed in 45-10 loss By Nathan Davis sports editor I The Signpost For the Weber State University football team, chances of making the playoffs are all but over. The Wildcats fell to the University of Montana on Saturday on the road, losing 45-10. Head Coach Ron McBride said the Grizzlies outplayed WSU and the Wildcats were unable to stop UM's offense. "They really kicked us around and we weren't able to answer what they did," McBride said. "Our defense didn't respond, and we couldn't convert offensively when we needed to. Montana was very well prepared, and you have to give them all the credit." Before kickoff, things were already looking bad for WSU. Quarterback Mike Hoke didn't play due to a separated shoulder from earlier in the week. While Hoke dressed for the game, he wasn't able to play, and Jordan Adamczyk got his first start for the Wildcats. Adamczyk started out well, linking together a few early passes on WSU's first drive of the game, but faltered as the game went on. He said the team struggled offensively and were hurt by errors. "We just weren't able to perform on offense and didn't execute when we needed to," Adamczyk said. UM scored on their second possession of the game and never looked back. Dominating most of the play during the first half, the Grizzlies jumped out to a 38-3 lead at halftime. Grizzly quarterback Jordan Johnson had a huge first half, throwing for 248 yards and completing 20 of 28 first-half passes. Johnson threw five touchdowns in - 3,•-+ „ r: 111= , .• "" "gt.-" 4V"I154j1"n14r 4111142"2210102"112 I , PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University running back C.J. Tuckett runs downfield during a game earlier this season against Idaho State University. WSU was blown out by the University of Montana on Saturday, losing 45-10 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. the first two quarters alone. For the Wildcats, the only points of the first half came from Sean McClain, who opened up the scoring with a field goal halfway through the first quarter. The second half started where the first half left off - with the Grizzlies scoring. Johnson rolled left to avoid pressure from the WSU defense. He found Jabin Sambrano in the corner of the end zone for Sambrano's fourth touchdown of the day. Time and time again, the Wildcats were hurt by penalties when they attempted to build momentum. Multiple times, Barrinton Collins had long kick returns called back due to blocking penalties. Halfway through the third quarter, play was stopped when Xavian Johnson was injured following a hard hit to his head. Johnson was unable to leave the field under his own power and had to be carted off; he received a standing ovation from the UM crowd as he was taken off the field. Late in the third quarter, the Wildcats tried to mount a drive, but were unable See Football page 8 Volleyball knocks off rival Good, WSU feeds off of home-crowd energy to beat Idaho State University 3-1 By Michael Grennell sports reporter I The Signpost PHOTO BY AMANDA LEWARK I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University's Bethany Wray serves the ball during a recent game. The Wildcats knocked off Idaho State University 3-1 last week. Swenson Gym erupted in cheers Thursday night, as the Weber State University wornen's volleyball team defeated Big Sky Conference rival the Idaho State University Bengals in four sets. The WSU Wildcats jumped out and took the lead early in the first set, but the Bengals remained close, trailing by four points or fewer throughout most of the set. The Wildcats broke away later in the first set and won by a score of 25-15. In the second set, WSU scored quickly, taking a 3-0 lead to start. The Bengals immediately came back and passed WSU, taking an 8-4 lead. The Bengals managed to keep scoring, despite the best efforts of the Wildcats, and ended up winning the second set with a score of 25-21, tying the match at one set apiece. ISU came back out onto the court and were on fire, jumping out to a 7-1 lead over WSU in the third set. The Wildcats fought back, though, getting within two points of ISU, and finally tying it up at 16-16. ISU regained the lead after a brief timeout, but WSU could not be stopped as they tied the game at 20-20, took the lead and finally won the set 25-21 in an impressive come-from- bad of baseball behind win. The atmosphere grew tense as both teams came back onto the court for the fourth set. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as they watched WSU take a 7-5 lead, only to see the score tied at 11-11 moments later. But the fire in the Wildcats could not be extinguished, as they fought to maintain a late 19-17 lead. The last few minutes saw WSU jumping out and then ISU clawing its way back, making it a close 23-19 game. The Bengals tried to make something happen, but came up short as the Wildcats scored the final point and defeated ISU three sets to one for their second win of the year. The game saw many Wildcats attaining season-high and career-high numbers, as WSU recorded 19.5 blocks, its second-highest total of the season. Junior middle blocker Dama Cox had a great game, making a career-high 14 kills and 11 blocks. After the game, she said she was very excited about how the team performed. "I feel like we work hard in practice, but sometimes it doesn't show up in our games," Cox said. "Tonight we showed that we can bring it in games." One thing most of the team agreed on is that they have improved greatly on their hitting since the beginning of the season. Junior setter Caitlin Penrod The Texas Rangers didn't lose the World Series in the cold October weather in St. Louis, Mo., on Friday night. Instead, they lost it when their own pitcher, C.J. Wilson, lost the All-Star Game in the heat of the Arizona desert almost four months ago. Thanks to the star player of the Cardinals' biggest rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis enjoyed home-field advantage in games 6 and 7. When Prince Fielder hit the AllStar Game-winning home run off of Wilson, he assured the National League home-field advantage in the World Series. One of Bud Selig's most notable mistakes probably cost the Rangers the World Series. Now, I'm not trying to take anything away from the destiny-driven Cardinals, but the Rangers don't lose Game 6 if it's at the Ballpark at Arlington. A lot of things could have happened differently if the Rangers had home-field advantage, so there's no guarantee that Texas would have won with home-field advantage, but the fact that the Cardinals couldn't make a simple pitching change in Texas makes See Volleyball page 8 See World Series page 8 In a great World Series, there were a few major flaws By Trevor Amicone columnist I The Signpost |