South Florida Local News

MIAMI — The Miami Marlins have parted ways with Skip Schumaker, ending the 2023 NL Manager of the Year’s two-season stint with the team.

The Marlins went 146-178 under Schumaker, who was hired in 2022 as the franchise’s 16th manager. His contract was for two years with a club option for the 2025 season, which the team voided earlier this year.

“It has been a tremendous honor serving as manager of the Miami Marlins. I’ve built long-lasting friendships with the staff and players and am proud of all that we accomplished together,” he said.

In his first season, Schumaker led the Marlins to their first playoff appearance in a non-pandemic year since 2003. They made the postseason despite a minus-57 run differential and eventually were swept by the Phillies in their NL wild-card series.

Miami underwent significant changes in its front office this past offseason, including parting ways with general manager Kim Ng, who was responsible for hiring Schumaker and building the roster that made the playoffs.

The Marlins’ 2023 success did not carry over to this season, and after a 0-9 start that was the worst in franchise history, new President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix sent two-time batting champion Luis Arraez to the Padres for four prospects in a move that prompted a small fan protest over the direction of the franchise.

Schumaker remained optimistic throughout the Marlins season, in which they went 62-100 and were without 2022 Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, opening day starter Jesus Luzardo and right-hander Eury Perez because of injuries.

“We’ll turn this around,” Schumaker said in April.

But another rebuild is on the horizon for the Marlins after they traded away their veterans with big league salaries for prospects. Star center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. was dealt to the Yankees, and first baseman Josh Bell, outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, relievers Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing also were traded.

Schumaker — who played for World Series-winning clubs in St. Louis in 2006 and 2011 — joined the Marlins after spending the 2022 season as the Cardinals’ bench coach. He had been a first-base coach and associate manager for San Diego from 2018 through 2021, then joined the Cardinals’ staff.

He becomes the latest in a revolving door of managers in Miami.

“The Marlins will immediately begin the process of searching for the next leader to serve as our new field manager,” said Marlins owner Bruce Sherman.

In the club’s 32-year history, only Don Mattingly has managed the team for more than four seasons, lasting from 2016 through 2022.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

By ANDREW DALTON and KRISTIN M. HALL

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and an A-list Hollywood actor, has died.

Kristofferson died at his home on Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday, family spokeswoman Ebie McFarland said in an email. He was 88.

McFarland said Kristofferson died peacefully, surrounded by his family. No cause was given.

Starting in the late 1960s, the Brownsville, Texas native wrote such country and rock ‘n’ roll standards as “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Help Me Make it Through the Night,” “For the Good Times” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” Kristofferson was a singer himself, but many of his songs were best known as performed by others, whether Ray Price crooning “For the Good Times” or Janis Joplin belting out “Me and Bobby McGee.”

He starred opposite Ellen Burstyn in director Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” starred opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 “A Star Is Born,” and acted alongside Wesley Snipes in Marvel’s “Blade” in 1998.

Kristofferson, who could recite William Blake from memory, wove intricate folk music lyrics about loneliness and tender romance into popular country music. With his long hair and bell-bottomed slacks and counterculture songs influenced by Bob Dylan, he represented a new breed of country songwriters along with such peers as Willie Nelson, John Prine and Tom T. Hall.

“There’s no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson,” Nelson said at a 2009 BMI award ceremony for Kristofferson. “Everything he writes is a standard and we’re all just going to have to live with that.”

Kristofferson retired from performing and recording in 2021, making only occasional guest appearances on stage, including a performance with Cash’s daughter Rosanne at Nelson’s 90th birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2023. The two sang “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again),” a song that was a hit for Kristofferson and a longtime live staple for Nelson, another great interpreter of his work.

Nelson and Kristofferson would join forces with Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to create the country supergroup “The Highwaymen” starting in the mid-1980s.

Kristofferson was a Golden Gloves boxer, rugby star and football player in college; received a master’s degree in English from Merton College at the University of Oxford in England; and flew helicopters as a captain in the U.S. Army but turned down an appointment to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, to pursue songwriting in Nashville. Hoping to break into the industry, he worked as a part-time janitor at Columbia Records’ Music Row studio in 1966 when Dylan recorded tracks for the seminal “Blonde on Blonde” double album.

At times, the legend of Kristofferson was larger than real life. Cash liked to tell a mostly exaggerated story of how Kristofferson landed a helicopter on Cash’s lawn to give him a tape of “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” with a beer in one hand. Over the years in interviews, Kristofferson said with all respect to Cash, while he did land a helicopter at Cash’s house, the Man in Black wasn’t even home at the time, the demo tape was a song that no one ever actually cut and he certainly couldn’t fly a helicopter holding a beer.

In a 2006 interview with The Associated Press, he said he might not have had a career without Cash.

“Shaking his hand when I was still in the Army backstage at the Grand Ole Opry was the moment I’d decided I’d come back,” Kristofferson said. “It was electric. He kind of took me under his wing before he cut any of my songs. He cut my first record that was record of the year. He put me on stage the first time.”

One of his most recorded songs, “Me and Bobby McGee,” was written based on a recommendation from Monument Records founder Fred Foster. Foster had a song title in his head called “Me and Bobby McKee,” named after a female secretary in his building. Kristofferson said in an interview in the magazine, “Performing Songwriter,” that he was inspired to write the lyrics about a man and woman on the road together after watching the Frederico Fellini film, “La Strada.”

Joplin, who had a close relationship with Kristofferson, changed the lyrics to make Bobby McGee a man and cut her version just days before she died in 1970 from a drug overdose. The recording became a posthumous No. 1 hit for Joplin.

Hits that Kristofferson recorded include “Watch Closely Now,” “Desperados Waiting for a Train,” “A Song I’d Like to Sing” and “Jesus Was a Capricorn.”

In 1973, he married fellow songwriter Rita Coolidge and together they had a successful duet career that earned them two Grammy awards. They divorced in 1980.

The formation of the Highwaymen, with Nelson, Cash and Jennings, was another pivotal point in his career as a performer.

“I think I was different from the other guys in that I came in it as a fan of all of them,” Kristofferson told the AP in 2005. “I had a respect for them when I was still in the Army. When I went to Nashville they were like major heroes of mine because they were people who took the music seriously. To be not only recorded by them but to be friends with them and to work side by side was just a little unreal. It was like seeing your face on Mount Rushmore.”

The group put out just three albums between 1985 and 1995. Jennings died in 2002 and Cash died a year later. Kristofferson said in 2005 that there was some talk about reforming the group with other artists, such as George Jones or Hank Williams Jr., but Kristofferson said it wouldn’t have been the same.

“When I look back now — I know I hear Willie say it was the best time of his life,” Kristofferson said in 2005. “For me, I wish I was more aware how short of a time it would be. It was several years, but it was still like the blink of an eye. I wish I would have cherished each moment.”

Among the four, only Nelson is now alive.

Kristofferson’s sharp-tongued political lyrics sometimes hurt his popularity, especially in the late 1980s. His 1989 album, “Third World Warrior” was focused on Central America and what United States policy had wrought there, but critics and fans weren’t excited about the overtly political songs.

He said during a 1995 interview with the AP he remembered a woman complaining about one of the songs that began with killing babies in the name of freedom.

“And I said, ‘Well, what made you mad — the fact that I was saying it or the fact that we’re doing it? To me, they were getting mad at me ’cause I was telling them what was going on.”

As the son of an Air Force General, he enlisted in the Army in the 1960s because it was expected of him.

“I was in ROTC in college, and it was just taken for granted in my family that I’d do my service,” he said in a 2006 AP interview. “From my background and the generation I came up in, honor and serving your country were just taken for granted. So, later, when you come to question some of the things being done in your name, it was particularly painful.”

Hollywood may have saved his music career. He still got exposure through his film and television appearances even when he couldn’t afford to tour with a full band.

Kristofferson’s first role was in Dennis Hopper’s “The Last Movie,” in 1971.

He had a fondness for Westerns, and would use his gravelly voice to play attractive, stoic leading men. He was Burstyn’s ruggedly handsome love interest in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and a tragic rock star in a rocky relationship with Streisand in “A Star Is Born,” a role echoed by Bradley Cooper in the 2018 remake.

He was the young title outlaw in director Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” a truck driver for the same director in 1978’s “Convoy,” and a corrupt sheriff in director John Sayles’ 1996, “Lone Star.” He also starred in one of Hollywood biggest financial flops, “Heaven’s Gate,” a 1980 Western that ran tens of millions of dollars over budget.

And in a rare appearance in a superhero movie, he played the mentor of Snipes’ vampire hunter in “Blade.”

He described in a 2006 AP interview how he got his first acting gigs when he performed in Los Angeles.

“It just happened that my first professional gig was at the Troubadour in L.A. opening for Linda Rondstadt,” Kristofferson said. “Robert Hilburn (Los Angeles Times music critic) wrote a fantastic review and the concert was held over for a week,” Kristofferson said. “There were a bunch of movie people coming in there, and I started getting film offers with no experience. Of course, I had no experience performing either.”

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Hall reported from Nashville. AP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report.

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Rosanne Cash.

By IAN HARRISON

TORONTO (AP) — Jonah Bride reached base three times and drove in two runs, Otto Lopez had two hits and an RBI against his former team and the Miami Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, winning 3-1 in Sunday’s regular-season finale.

“It’s a good moment, especially to end the season this way,” bench coach Luis Urueta said.

Ryan Weathers (5-6) allowed one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings to win his second straight start. Weathers walked two and struck out six.

Weathers pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the first inning and retired 16 straight batters between the second and seventh.

“It felt good,” Weathers said. “Any time you can do well against a quality lineup is good.”

Anthony Bender got the final four outs for his first save in five chances as Miami swept a series for the second time.

Toronto lost eight of its final nine games to go 7-17 in September. The Blue Jays finished 39-42 at home.

Manager John Schneider put slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the leadoff spot, hoping to increase his chances of becoming the sixth player in Blue Jays history to reach 200 hits.

Guerrero went 0 for 2 with a strikeout and walked twice to finish with 199 hits.

Fans booed when Miami’s Lake Bachar missed with a 3-2 fastball in Guerrero’s final plate appearance in the eighth, then rose for a standing ovation when Guerrero was replaced by pinch runner Nathan Lukes.

No Blue Jays player has had a 200-hit season since Vernon Wells (215) in 2003.

Milestone chase or not, Guerrero said he wasn’t tempted to swing at Bachar’s full-count pitch.

“It was easy for me,” Guerrero said through a translator. “I’m not just going to strike out trying to get a hit knowing that I can get a walk.”

Toronto was swept for the fifth time and finished 74-88, its worst record since going 67-95 in 2019.

“We’ve got to get better at everything,” Guerrero said.

The Blue Jays went 89-73 last season, good for the third AL wild card.

The Marlins also saw a major decline from 2023, when they finished 84-78 and earned an NL wild-card berth. Despite winning five of their final six, Miami’s final record was 62-100.

“It’s a young group of players and they have a bright future,” Urueta said. “They’ve just got to keep working.”

The Blue Jays drew a crowd of 31,688, pushing total attendance for the year to 2,681,236. That was down from 3,021,904 in 2023.

Urueta, handling his second game in place of the absent Skip Schumaker, put Jake Burger atop his lineup. Burger came in with 29 home runs. He singled and scored in the first but didn’t reach base again.

Bride hit a two-run single off Blue Jays opener Ryan Burr (0-2) in the first.

Bride walked against Dillon Tate in the sixth, advanced on a single and scored when Lopez doubled.

Bride hit .326 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 26 September games.

“I think he’s got a future here,” Urueta said.

Schumacher missed his second game after leaving the team because of a medical issue in his family.

ROSTER MOVES

Blue Jays: Toronto recalled LHP Brandon Eisert from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned RHP Yariel Rodríguez to the Spring Training Complex.

UP NEXT

Marlins: Miami begins its 2025 Spring Training schedule by hosting St. Louis on Feb. 22.

Blue Jays: Toronto begins the 2025 Grapefruit League schedule by hosting the New York Yankees on Feb. 22.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

PERRY, Fla.  — The U.S. Southeast grappled Sunday with rising death tolls, a lack of vital supplies in isolated, flood-stricken areas and the widespread loss of homes and property while the devastating toll of Hurricane Helene became more clear and officials warned of a lengthy and difficult rebuild.

A North Carolina County that includes the mountain city of Asheville, reported 30 people killed due to the storm, pushing the overall death toll to at least 84 people across several states.

The storm upended life throughout the Southeast. Deaths also were reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.

He implored residents in western North Carolina to avoid travel, both for their own safety and to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams spread throughout the region in search of stranded people.

“Many people are cut off because the roads are impassable,” Cooper said. Supplies were being airlifted to the region around Asheville, a city known for its arts, culture and scenery.

One rescue effort involved saving 41 people north of Asheville. Another mission focused on saving a single infant. The teams found people through both 911 calls and social media messages, North Carolina Adjutant General Todd Hunt said.

Destruction from an overflowing river in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville, N.C., on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Nicole Craine/The New York Times)

Hurricane Helene roared ashore late Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph (225 kph) winds. A weakened Helene quickly moved through Georgia, then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded creeks and rivers and strained dams.

There have been hundreds of water rescues, including in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop Friday.

Several million were still without power Sunday afternoon. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster asked for patience as crews dealt with widespread snapped power poles.

“We want people to remain calm. Help is on the way, It is just going to take time,” McMaster told reporters outside the airport in Aiken County.

The storm unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina. One community, Spruce Pine, was doused with over 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain from Tuesday through Saturday.

Jessica Drye Turner in Texas had begged for someone to rescue her family members stranded on their rooftop in Asheville amid rising flood waters. “They are watching 18-wheelers and cars floating by,” Turner wrote in an urgent Facebook post on Friday.

Destruction from an overflowing river in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville, N.C., on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Nicole Craine/The New York Times)

But in a follow-up message Saturday, Turner said help had not arrived in time to save her parents, both in their 70s, and her 6-year-old nephew. The roof collapsed and the three drowned.

“I cannot convey in words the sorrow, heartbreak and devastation my sisters and I are going through,” she wrote.

Western North Carolina was isolated by landslides and flooding.

The state was sending water supplies and other items toward Buncombe County and Asheville, but mudslides blocking Interstate 40 and other highways prevented supplies from making it. The county’s own water supplies were on the other side of the Swannanoa River, away from where most of the 270,000 people in Buncombe County live, officials said.

Law enforcement was making plans to send officers to places that still had water, food or gas because of reports of arguments and threats of violence, the sheriff said.

“If you will bear with us and be patient one more day — I hate to say that but I know how desperate water is in our community — but we are pushing as hard as we can to get them up the mountain,” Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder said.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the federal disaster agency was actively engaged across six states in meeting the requests of governors and state-level responders. She noted the Appalachian regions across North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia presented particular concerns. Criswell toured south Georgia on Sunday and planned to be in North Carolina on Monday.

“It’s still very much an active search and rescue mission” in western North Carolina, Criswell said. “And we know that there’s many communities that are cut off just because of the geography” of the mountains, where damage to roads and bridges have cut off certain areas.

President Joe Biden on Saturday pledged federal government help for Helene’s “overwhelming” devastation. He also approved a disaster declaration for North Carolina, making federal funding available for affected individuals.

A group from St. Augustine that arrived to help storm victims, who did not want to give their names, pray outside the damaged First Baptist Church in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

In Florida’s Big Bend, some lost nearly everything they own. With sanctuaries still darkened as of Sunday morning, some churches canceled regular services while others like Faith Baptist Church in Perry opted to worship outside.

Standing water and tree debris still covers the grounds of Faith Baptist Church. The church called on parishioners to come “pray for our community” in a message posted to the congregation’s Facebook page.

“We have power. We don’t have electricity,” Immaculate Conception Catholic Church parishioner Marie Ruttinger said. “Our God has power. That’s for sure.”

In Atlanta, 11.12 inches  of rain fell orver 48 hours, the most the city has seen over two days since record keeping began in 1878.

Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday that it looked “like a bomb went off” after viewing splintered homes and debris-covered highways from the air.

FAIRVIEW, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 29: A couple gathers water for their toilets in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on September 29, 2024 in Fairview, North Carolina. According to reports, more than 60 people have been killed across the South due to the storm, and millions have been left without power. North Carolina has been approved for a Federal Major Disaster Declaration. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

In eastern Georgia near the border with South Carolina, officials notified Augusta residents Sunday morning that water service would be shut off for 24 to 48 hours in the city and surrounding Richmond County.

A news release said trash and debris from the storm “blocked our ability to pump water.” Officials were distributing bottled water.

With at least 25 killed in South Carolina, Helene was the deadliest tropical cyclone for the state since Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989, killing 35 people.

Moody’s Analytics said it expects $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage.

Climate change has exacerbated conditions that allow such storms to thrive, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and turning into powerful cyclones sometimes within hours.

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine, and Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Haya Panjwani in Washington and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed.

MIAMI GARDENS — It was eye-opening as soon as the NFL announced its 2024 schedule in May.

The Tennessee Titans’ trip to Miami Gardens to face the Dolphins was again put on Monday night.

Memories of the beginning of the downfall of the 2023 Dolphins. After a 9-3 start and holding onto a two-touchdown lead with three minutes remaining, Miami gave up two quick touchdown drives, one accompanied by a 2-point conversion, and came up empty on a two possession of its own.

As big favorites, the Dolphins lost at home to the reeling Titans, who went on to fire coach Mike Vrabel. Then, they recovered for two wins to follow, but losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills, dropped them out of the division lead and into a wild-card matchup in frigid Kansas City, where Miami’s season met its end.

As the Dolphins (1-2) struggle early in the season amid multiple quarterback injuries, it could be easy for those that remain from last season to fall into flashbacks of Tennessee quarterback Will Levis finding wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in breakdowns in Miami coverage last December when they meet the Titans (0-3) again at Hard Rock Stadium in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Monday night.

“I know this: I didn’t forget about that,” Dolphins defensive line coach Austin Clark said this past week. “I don’t think it’s much ‘harp on it,’ but it’s just something in the back of your mind. We’re not underestimating anybody, and it’s a credit to them. They played a great game, and we got to get better.”

New Miami defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver wasn’t leading this defense then. The responsibility for surrendering those two late touchdown drives falls on former coordinator Vic Fangio. But he knows it’s important.

“We got to exorcise those demons to an extent,” Weaver said after reviewing film of that game this week. “Those two logos, we know what this means.”

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Maybe it brings some internal motivation to the likes of cornerback Jalen Ramsey, safety Jevon Holland, defensive tackle Zach Sieler and linebacker David Long Jr., but Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel isn’t making this year about last year.

“I definitely understand that there’s some similarities in that the teams are the same, the stadium is the same and the night is the same,” McDaniel said Saturday. “And I’m sure it crossed the minds of everyone, myself included, when the schedule came out.

“But one important lesson that we’ve learned this season that I hold very true and dear because I know it to be truth, is that while about 40 percent of the players lived and had that scar from 2023, it doesn’t do justice to the 2024 team to do anything but worry about how they play football together.”

Indeed, much is different from last year’s pairing. The Titans fired Vrabel and brought in rookie head coach Brian Callahan. Weaver now leads the Miami defense instead of Fangio, and he probably would play those late-game scenarios differently. To go with that, much of the Dolphins defensive personnel has changed.

Dolphins players, including those that surely remember last year, are following McDaniel’s lead.

“We’re not really looking at it as a revenge game,” left guard Robert Jones said. “We just use that to learn from it, the things we could’ve done better as an offense as a whole.

“Every loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially a close one. We had it, and it slipped through our fingers, but we live and we learn from that.”

Said running back Raheem Mostert, who is questionable with a chest injury: “Honestly, we hadn’t even talked about that. I think everybody knows, but every year is a new year, so we just got to go out there and get the job done.”

Added Ramsey: “It’s a whole new team, us and them.”

Maybe some are balancing the memory of that Monday night debacle with a desire and focus to make it right this time.

“It’s definitely something that we circled,” said tight end Julian Hill. “It’s definitely something that we’ve been waiting on, and the fact that it’s kind of the same type of environment, Monday night, same type of energy, we’re excited.”

Providing assurance that the defense wouldn’t have those same breakdowns if it’s protecting a late lead this Monday night is how much Weaver is stressing excessive and even “obnoxious communication” with his unit.

He played a scene from ‘Dumb and Dumber’ to the defense this past week to get the point across.

“You remember the scene in ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ when they’re driving in the car and he’s like, ‘You want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?’ ” Weaver explained “That was the scene I played for the guys. I’m like, ‘That’s how I want you to be. I want you to be so annoying out there communicating to the guys, it’s just like shut up; please, I know. I got it. I got it.’ But if you want to be good, a noisy defense is a good defense.”

The Dolphins defense needs to provide everything it can in the coming weeks as Miami can’t afford to have 1-2 turn into 1-3 with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa still out at least another two games after Monday.

Homegrown talent Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, a Hallandale High alum, starts at quarterback after Tagovailoa’s backup, Skylar Thompson, suffered injured ribs in last week’s loss to the Seahawks in Seattle.

Huntley could provide an added dimension of mobility at quarterback to the offense, which needs to find ways to reincorporate wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Running back De’Von Achane could have backfield mate Mostert return from a two-game absence.

The Dolphins, though, aside from Tagovailoa, have two other starters out due to concussion protocol, left tackle Terron Armstead and cornerback Kendall Fuller. While veteran tackle Kendall Lamm has replaced Armstead when he has exited games, Monday night could be a debut for rookie second-round pick Patrick Paul.

Long (hamstring) may not get the chance to face his former team, but center Aaron Brewer is also a former Titan. He played for Tennessee last year before signing with Miami in free agency.

If the Miami Dolphins plan to look like a real team, Monday night against Tennessee is the place to start.

If they don’t beat the 0-3 Titans, this won’t just be the season they don’t catch up to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East, as was the grand plan a couple of games ago.

It means they’ve dug themselves a 1-3 hole that would have the feel of a grave. It means fans would have every right to wonder where another season is going in a September where, so far, they’ve produced one good quarter against Jacksonville.

It’s early, far too early, for a must-win game. But this one has all the smell of that Monday night.

Everyone knows what the Dolphins are up against. Their quarterback, the third to start in September, has been here two weeks. Their star left tackle is out again. Their leading tackler and second cornerback are hurt on defense, too.

So, enough boo-hoo excuses will huddle up with the Dolphins on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium if they want to take them. But enough of all that.

Enough of the injury talk. Enough of looking lost on offense. Enough of playing with a lack of belief that’s been tangible at times.

Enough of this bad start.

It’s time for the Dolphins to look like the team they say they are, the one six years of tanking and spending have been invested to build.

They’re 1-2. They need to be at least 3-3 after a soft stretch of scheduling of Tennessee, at New England and then at Indianapolis after a bye week. That’s doable. That at least gets them back into their season.

They don’t even need to look like the fun machine on offense like they want to be every time That might be preferable considering the quarterback situation. Look how run-game-basic Green Bay went for two wins with back-up Malik Willis. Look where the Dolphins are thus far, too:

Last in the league in scoring

First in the league in pre-snap penalties.

Offensive coordinator Frank Smith is right when he says of such problems, “Let’s learn from it, let’s not run from it. Let’s know how we can get better as a group, because we’ve got a long year ahead of us.’”

This isn’t just a quarterback issue, either, considering the Dolphins averaged just 15 points in Tua Tagovailoa’s two games with his anchor on the line, left tackle Terron Armstead. Now both are out.

Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, fresh off the Baltimore Ravens practice squad, starts for Tua and the injured Skylar Thompson. Maybe it didn’t matter Thompson is injured. Probably enough was seen of him last Sunday in Seattle.

Huntley, 26, is the kind of hometown story from Hallandale High you root for. He played well in a few big games in Baltimore to have some hope in where this goes. He has a quick release like this offense wants. He runs when needed, something Tua didn’t do well.

“It’s football at the end of the day,’’ Huntley said. “I’ve been playing football since I was yay high.”

This can’t be all on Huntley. The defense can’t let Tennessee score on three of its first four possessions, as Seattle did, to put the Dolphins in an early hole.

Nor should it take 17 offensive plays for the Dolphins to throw the ball to Tyreek Hill. That happened in Seattle, too. The game’s best receiver didn’t see the ball until just before halftime. He ended up with as many targets as a backup tight end.

Mike McDaniel’s creative offense has to be more creative than that. What it really needs to add is some grit, not glitz, and old-fashioned discipline to mesh with its newfangled schematics.

For all the talk of the Dolphins injuries, Tennessee doesn’t have the one player who could wreck any offensive game plan. Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, one of the game’s best, is out.

Tennessee isn’t a good team. The Dolphins haven’t been one so far, either. Both teams will be trying get a toehold into their larger season Monday night.

If the Dolphins want to be a real team, the one they spent the offseason talking about, this is the night it starts.

By JAKE COYLE

NEW YORK (AP) — John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, has died. He was 76.

Ashton died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, his family announced in a statement released by Ashton’s manager, Alan Somers, on Sunday. No cause of death was immediately available.

In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ashton was a regular face across TV series and films, including “Midnight Run,” “Little Big League” and “Gone Baby Gone.”

But in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, Ashton played an essential part of an indelible trio. Though Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley, a Detroit detective following a case in Los Angeles, was the lead, the two local detectives — Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Ashton’s Taggart — were Axel’s sometimes reluctant, sometimes eager collaborators.

Of the three, Taggart — “Sarge” to Billy — was the more fearful, by-the-book detective. But he would regularly be coaxed into Axel’s plans. Ashton co-starred in the first two films, beginning with the 1984 original, and returned for the the Netflix reboot, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” released earlier this year.

Ashton played a more unscrupulous character in Martin Brest’s 1988 buddy comedy “Midnight Run.” He was the rival bounty hunter also pursuing Charles Grodin’s wanted accountant in “The Duke” while he’s in the custody of Robert De Niro’s Jack Walsh.

Speaking in July to Collider, Ashton recalled auditioning with De Niro.

“Bobby started handing me these matches, and I went to grab the matches, and he threw them on the floor and stared at me,” said Ashton. “I looked at the matches, and I looked up, and I said, ‘F—- you,’ and he said, ‘F—- you, too.’ I said, ‘Go —- yourself.’ I know every other actor picked those up and handed it to him, and I found out as soon as I left he went, ‘I want him,’ because he wanted somebody to stand up to him.”

Ashton is survived by his wife of 24 years, Robin Hoye, two children, three stepchildren, a grandson, two sisters and a brother.

___

This story has been updated to correct that Ashton starred in three of the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, not all four.

Today is Sunday, Sept. 29, the 273rd day of 2024. There are 93 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 29, 1982, Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with deadly cyanide claimed the first of seven victims in the Chicago area; the case, which led to legislation and packaging improvements to deter product tampering, remains unsolved.

Also on this date:

In 1789, Congress officially established a regular army under the U.S. Constitution.

In 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, which was aimed at appeasing Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.

In 1954, Willie Mays of the New York Giants made a running, over-the-shoulder catch of a ball hit by Vic Wirtz of the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series; “The Catch” would become one of the most famous plays in baseball history.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed an act creating the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 1990, the construction of Washington National Cathedral concluded, 83 years to the day after its foundation stone was laid in a ceremony attended by President Theodore Roosevelt.

In 2005, John G. Roberts Jr. was sworn in as the nation’s 17th chief justice after winning Senate confirmation.

In 2017, Tom Price resigned as President Donald Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services amid investigations into his use of costly charter flights for official travel at taxpayer expense.

In 2018, Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, agreed to pay a total of $40 million to settle a government lawsuit alleging that Musk had duped investors with misleading statements about a proposed buyout of the company.

In 2021, a judge in Los Angeles suspended Britney Spears’ father from the conservatorship that had controlled her life and money for 13 years, saying the arrangement reflected a “toxic environment.”

In 2022, rescue crews piloted boats and waded through flooded streets to save thousands of Floridians trapped after Hurricane Ian destroyed homes and businesses and left millions in the dark.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Writer-director Robert Benton is 92.
• NASA administrator and former Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is 82.
• Actor Ian McShane is 82.
• Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 82.
• Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa (lehk vah-WEN’-sah) is 81.
• TV journalist and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel is 76.
• Olympic gold medal runner Sebastian Coe is 68.
• Rock musician Les Claypool is 61.
• Actor Zachary Levi is 44.
• Actor Chrissy Metz (TV: “This Is Us”) is 44.
• Actor Kelly McCreary (TV: “Grey’s Anatomy”) is 43.
• Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson is 39.
• NBA All-Star Kevin Durant is 36.
• Pop singer Halsey is 30.

DALLAS — Kevin Jennings passed for three touchdowns and Kobe Wilson returned one of three SMU interceptions 82 yards for a score as the Mustangs beat Florida State 42-16 on Saturday night before a sellout crowd in their ACC debut.

Jennings threw TD passes of 11 and 15 yards to RJ Maryland and a flea-flicker score of 42 yards to Jordan Hudson.

Jennings was 16-for-23 passing for 254 yards.

Wilson made the interception between the hash marks, raced to the right sideline, and broke a tackle and hurdled a teammate while escorted to the end zone.

Brashard Smith and Roderick Daniels Jr. scored rushing touchdowns for the Mustangs (4-1, 1-0) from 13 and 2 yards. Daniels’ score ended a drive that was continued when FSU’s Omarion Cooper was called for a facemask penalty on the Mustangs’ punt from their 26-yard line.

DJ Uiagalelei was 12-for-30 passing for 222 yards, 3 interceptions, and TD passes of 9 yards to Kentron Poitier and 20 yards to Landen Thomas for Florida State (1-4, 1-3). Uiagalelei was replaced by Brock Glenn in the final minutes.

The Seminoles also scored on a safety in the half’s closing seconds when, forcing a punt from SMU’s 9, long snapper Will Benton IV sailed the ball over the head of Isaac Pearson and beyond the end zone.

Top takeaway

FSU continues to struggle on the ground. The Seminoles went into play averaging 67.75 rushing yards per game, the fourth fewest among FBS teams. They gained 75 on 26 attempts, averaging 2.9 yards per carry, and were led by Lawrence Toafili with 67 yards.

SMU leads FBS with five non-offensive touchdowns — 2 interception returns, 2 fumble returns and 1 punt return.

Up next …

FSU vs. Clemson

When:  TBD, Oct. 5, Doak Campbell Stadium

TV: TBD

General Daily Insight for September 29, 2024

The fog is clearing today — albeit slowly. The Moon in Leo starts out with a pair of confusing, indirect angles, the first to mystical Neptune, the second to alchemical Pluto. It’ll be difficult to know what to do with all our ambition and energy! Things should become more manageable when the Moon enters efficient Virgo at 5:42 am EDT, slicing through the cosmic fog. The Moon will then sextile Venus in Scorpio, encouraging healthy connections and open-hearted conversations for a better outcome.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Get your life in order, Aries! The Moon is marching into your 6th house, which is the most efficient and responsible sector of your chart. That’s right — get ready to buckle down and roll up your sleeves as soon as possible. This doesn’t just apply to professional work, but to all the little aspects of your routine and wellness habits. You’ll be able to clean up your act across the board. Just a few small changes can make your life flow that much better.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Put some effort into having some fun! It’s the perfect time to enjoy yourself as the Moon dances into your chipper 5th house, so don’t feel guilty for one moment about temporarily setting your work to the side and chasing after the sunny side of life. You can kick back in whatever fashion you like. That said, the 5th house is very creative territory, so whether you’re a proven artist or just occasionally dabble, make an effort to let inspiration move your hands.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

It’s alright if you’re not feeling very outgoing. You probably won’t want to do too much outside your home, thanks to the Moon entering your comfortable 4th house. Luna requests that you set aside time to curl up on the couch — after tending to any necessary matters around the house. Look around your space and identify any small changes that won’t be painful to enact but will improve your space. It can be as simple as folding laundry or tidying a tabletop.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

You’ve got a long to-do list, so don’t leave it for others to tend to. The Moon is diving into your active 3rd house, helping you take stock of all the things on your plate — and what you need to do to be certain that you won’t get left behind in the process. A friend or sibling could prove an ideal soundboard for bouncing a few ideas off of as well. Don’t hesitate to ask others if they happen to have a solution.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

A few well-chosen luxuries can make you feel like royalty. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of personal pampering as the Moon enters your sensory-obsessed 2nd house. You’re allowed to touch, taste, smell, listen, and see all that you possibly can — in fact, the more beautiful satisfaction you find, the better. You don’t need to throw your money around like confetti in the name of good taste, but a little indulgence is deserved. Just remember your budget before making any purchase official.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

You don’t have to get going just yet — first, sit down and take stock of yourself. The Moon is trotting into your measured sign to hit your reset button and freshen things up a bit. What do you want to achieve in the near future? Consider sitting down and planning the most important events you have over the next four weeks before the Moon returns to your sign. You don’t need to move mountains, but with a little strategizing, you can make impressive progress.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

There’s no need to rush into anything. As a matter of fact, you’ve got cosmic clearance to take the world on your terms as the Moon slips into your sleepy 12th house. Go ahead and take your feet off the pedals to just coast. Use this restful time to process any outstanding issues. That way, once the Moon enters your sign in a few days, you’ll be in the perfect mood to benefit from its intuition without being weighed down by any previous problems.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

There’s no need to face the world by yourself. The Moon is moving into your joint 11th house, putting an emphasis on linking up with acquaintances in order to make the most of the day. If you’ve been working away at a specific problem or project that doesn’t seem to be coming together in the way you want, consider asking other people for their feedback or constructive criticisms. Fresh eyes could identify something that, for you, is a blind spot.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Your goals are coming into sharper focus. You’ve got an extra push to make magic happen on the professional front as the Moon powers into your career sector, invigorating you to put the pedal to the metal and rush for the finish line. That isn’t to say you need to cross it immediately, but if you put in the effort, then you can certainly get a lot closer! Don’t sit back twiddling your thumbs when there is so much potential on offer.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Approach the day on a global scale, Capricorn. The Moon is entering your 9th House of Abstraction, encouraging you to broaden your search radius in your pursuit of whatever it is that you’re searching for. The best way to find it would be to go beyond your traditional boundaries. Accordingly, the LAST thing you should do is hide behind your limitations or restrictions. The universe itself wants you to shake them off, because freedom is waiting for you out there in the world!

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

The game’s afoot, Aquarius! Life’s mysteries may seem temptingly solvable as the Moon sneaks into your extreme 8th house, where all the intensities of life reside. Secrets could be under every stone and around each corner. You may also feel more attuned to difficult subjects like death or other things people want to keep hidden. While it’s alright if you delve into them, do so with a sense of respect and sensitivity — or you might upset loved ones along the way.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Someone else can fill in the blanks for you today. It’s a good time to double up as the Moon enters your cooperative 7th house. Even if you normally prefer to handle life by yourself, this isn’t the moment for that. Your buddy may be a friend, a significant other, or a colleague. Regardless, what’s truly important is that you create a good team. When you work well with others, few obstacles can stand for long between your group and success!

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings passed for three touchdowns and Kobe Wilson returned one of three SMU interceptions 82 yards for a score as the Mustangs beat Florida State 42-16 on Saturday night before a sellout crowd in their ACC debut.

Jennings threw TD passes of 11 and 15 yards to RJ Maryland and a flea-flicker score of 42 yards to Jordan Hudson.

Jennings was 16-for-23 passing for 254 yards.

Wilson made the interception between the hash marks, raced to the right sideline, and broke a tackle and hurdled a teammate while escorted to the end zone.

Brashard Smith and Roderick Daniels Jr. scored rushing touchdowns for the Mustangs (4-1, 1-0) from 13 and 2 yards, respectively. Daniels’ score ended a drive that was continued when FSU’s Omarion Cooper was called for a facemask penalty on the Mustangs’ punt from their 26-yard line.

DJ Uiagalelei was 12-for-30 passing for 222 yards, three interceptions, and TD passes of 9 yards to Kentron Poitier and 20 yards to Landen Thomas for Florida State (1-4, 1-3). Uiagalelei was replaced by Brock Glenn in the final minutes.

The Seminoles also scored on a safety in the half’s closing seconds when, forcing a punt from SMU’s 9, long snapper Will Benton IV sailed the ball over the head of Isaac Pearson and beyond the end zone.

THE TAKEAWAY

Florida State continues to struggle on the ground. The Seminoles went into play averaging 67.75 rushing yards per game, the fourth fewest among FBS teams. They gained 75 on 26 attempts, averaging 2.9 yards per carry, and were led by Lawrence Toafili with 67 yards.

SMU leads FBS with five non-offensive touchdowns this season – two interception returns, two fumble returns and one punt return.

UP NEXT

Florida State will host Clemson, where Uiagalelei played his first three collegiate seasons before spending 2023 at Oregon State, on Oct. 5.

SMU will play the first of three consecutive ACC road games against Louisville on Oct. 5.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Pump the brakes.

Slow down.

Not so fast.

Not yet, UCF Knights.

Not even close.

Sorry to say, but you are just not ready for Prime Time.

Literally, figuratively, athletically.

Deion Sanders — the man who was once known as “Prime Time” but now prefers to be called “Coach Prime” — brought his Colorado team to his home state Saturday, dominated the Knights and left a big pile of Buffalo chips all over UCF’s coming-out party.

This was supposed to be UCF’s big day — a chance for the Knights to show the nation what they are all about; a chance to run the ball right down Coach Prime’s throat on national TV and set the stage for a possible run at a Big 12 championship. Instead, the Knights were overwhelmed 48-21 by a team that was picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 and was a two-touchdown underdog.

Let this soak in for a moment:

Gus Malzahn, coming off a bye week in preparation for one of the biggest home games in UCF history, got outcoached by Deion Sanders.

That’s right, the Gus Bus got run off the road by Coach Prime’s Buffalo stampede.

UCF coach Gus Malzahn leaves the field after his team was embarrassed at home by Colorado. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

This was the biggest bummer we’ve seen at UCF since, well, last season during what was supposed to be another festive day when the Knights blew a four-touchdown lead midway through the third quarter in their inaugural Big 12 home game against Baylor.

The Knights are becoming masters at killing the vibe and ruining their own parties.

This particular celebration started around 4 a.m. Saturday when fans started showing up for Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show, which didn’t go live until six hours later. By the time the lights came on at 10 a.m.,  there were thousands upon thousands of rowdy, raucous, sign-toting fans comprising what was said to be the largest crowd ever for Fox’s version of ESPN GameDay.

“That was the most legendary show I’ve ever been a part of,” Fox analyst Mark Ingram said when walking off the set of the Big Noon show.

“That was insanity,” fellow Fox analyst Matt Leinart said.

“The gnarliest, most awesome show we’ve ever had,” host Rob Stone added.

Cam Newton roams the sidelines during the Colorado-UCF game Saturday at FBC Mortgage Stadium. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

The stage was set for a wild victory celebration later on. Famous UCF alumni such as Brandon Marshall, Latavius Murray and Tacko Fall were there. Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley and many of his players, including Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, were there. Former NFL stars Cam Newton and Terrell Owens were there. Famous entertainer, record producer and hype man DJ Khaled put on a show before the game.

Unfortunately for the Knights, they didn’t take one of Khaled’s most famous songs — “All I Do Is Win” — to heart. Instead, it was the Buffs who marched into the Bounce House and did their own version of another Khaled hit, “We Takin’ Over.”

As if Coach Prime doesn’t already get enough hype and hoopla, he came into Orlando, stole the show and, of course, took aim at his perceived critics afterward.

“Ain’t nobody want to see us win, you know that,” Sanders said when asked if his team got extra motivation from being a two-touchdown underdog. “Ain’t nobody nationally wants to see us get down.”

Colorado cornerback DJ MkKinney dances on UCF after an interception Saturday at FBC Mortgage Stadium. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

The Buffaloes did, in fact, get down while UCF did, in fact, fall down. Malzahn talked before the game about “seizing the moment.” Instead, UCF shrank in the moment and withered in the spotlight. The Knights could not have picked a worse time to have their bubble burst for all the world to see.

UCF had more recruits at this game than it has ever had in its history.  This was a chance to make an indelible impression on many of the best prospects in the state and persuade them that UCF — as Malzahn likes to say — truly is “the future of college football.”

“I’m really disappointed for our fans,” Malzahn said. “We didn’t get it done. We get outcoached and outplayed.”

But why?

How?

What happened?

What happened to UCF’s vaunted running game, which was the nation’s No. 1 rushing attack with an average of 376 yards per game? Against Colorado’s previously porous defense, UCF managed just 43 rushing yards in the first half and finished with 177.

What happened to UCF’s discipline and attention to detail? The Knights were whistled for four personal foul penalties that contributed to 17 of Colorado’s points. Meanwhile, they committed four more crucial turnovers, including quarterback KJ Jefferson thwarting a touchdown chance early in the game by throwing an end-zone interception and committing a game-clinching fumble late that the Buffaloes returned 95 yards for a touchdown.

Give Coach Prime and his team credit. Deion’s son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, completed 28 of 35 passes for 290 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two-way star Travis Hunter had 9 catches on nine targets for 89 yards and a TD and also had a diving interception that came complete with a Heisman pose.

Not yet, UCF.

Not even close.

The lights were bright, the crowd was loud, but in the end, Gus Malzahn and his Knights were left in the immense shadow of Prime Time.

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen

It is going to be a long day for Cal fans and Hurricanes fans who make the trip to the Bay Area.

ESPN’s College GameDay is headed to Berkeley, California, for the Hurricanes’ road game against the Bears next week, the network announced Saturday night. It is the first time the popular pregame show has been broadcast from Cal’s campus.

Miami and Cal will kick off at 7:30 p.m. local time, which is 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time. College GameDay starts its broadcast at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, which is 6 a.m. in California.

The Hurricanes have not been featured on College GameDay since Oct. 10, 2020, when the popular show went to Clemson for UM’s road game against the Tigers. Miami suffered a 42-17 loss in that game.

College GameDay last went to Miami for a UM home game on Sept. 26, 2020, when the Hurricanes blew out Florida State.

Miami is 15-9 all-time when their game is the featured game on College GameDay.

The Hurricanes are undefeated following a narrow victory over Virginia Tech and are currently ranked in the top 10. Cal, in its first year in the ACC, is 3-1 and had a surprise road win over Auburn before narrowly falling to Florida State.

Berkeley, for the FIRST TIME EVER, we're headed your way!

College GameDay is coming to town as Cal welcomes top-10 Miami

BOCA RATON — CJ Campbell Jr. rushed for two touchdowns and Florida Atlantic broke the game open in the second half to beat Wagner 41-10 on Saturday night.

Campbell rushed for 145 yards on 15 carries and Omari Hayes had 137 yards receiving on six catches. Cam Francher and Kasen Weisman split quarterbacking duties and combined for 16-of-24 passing for 248 yards with no touchdowns and an interception apiece.

Campbell and Zuberi Mobley ran for touchdowns when the Owls (2-3) went out in front 17-0 only to see the FCS Seahawks (2-3) rally on Jake Cady’s 6-yard TD pass to Chase Stafford and get within 17-10 by halftime.

FAU pulled away with three rushing touchdowns in the second half.

Cady was 11-of-30 passing for 112 yards and a score.

By TIM REYNOLDS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi moved Inter Miami another step closer to the No. 1 seed for the MLS Cup playoffs.

And the MLS single-season points record remains in the club’s reach as well.

Messi scored in the 67th minute and Inter Miami pushed its unbeaten streak to eight straight Major League Soccer matches with a 1-1 tie against Charlotte FC on Saturday night. It was Messi’s 15th goal in 16 league matches this season.

The tie, combined with Columbus’ 2-2 draw with D.C. United on Saturday, left Inter Miami eight points clear of the Crew for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Inter Miami is also seven points up on the LA Galaxy for the No. 1 overall seed in the MLS playoffs.

Inter Miami plays at Columbus on Wednesday, and a win would wrap up the No. 1 seed in the East. Inter Miami (19-4-8) has 65 points with three matches left; Columbus (16-5-9) has 57 points with four matches remaining.

If Inter Miami wins out, it will finish with 74 points — one more than the MLS record of 73 set by New England in 2021.

D.C. United helped Inter Miami a bit on Saturday. Columbus led 2-1 late in the second half but surrendered the tying goal in the 81st minute; otherwise, the Crew could have been two points closer to Inter Miami in the standings and made Wednesday’s match far more interesting.

Messi’s goal was his typical brilliance. He took a pass near the top of the penalty box, dribbling once and threading his natural left-footed shot between four defenders and into the net to tie the match.

It came 10 minutes after Charlotte (11-11-9, 42 points, seventh in the East) struck first, with Karol Swiderski deflecting a shot into the net.

But Messi answered, and Inter Miami had to settle for its third consecutive draw. The team is 5-0-3 in its last eight league matches and 9-1-3 in MLS play since June 1.

There were two great chances for Inter Miami in the final moments. Messi lobbied for a shot at the gamewinner in the 10th minute of stoppage time, after getting taken down near the top of the penalty area. No foul was called, and about two minutes later, Luis Suarez somehow missed from point-blank range on the final play of the match.

The match was the next-to-last of the home regular season slate for Inter Miami. After the showdown at Columbus on Wednesday, the club goes to Toronto on Oct. 5 and then wraps up the 34-match schedule at home against New England on Oct. 19.

Inter Miami will open the playoffs at home the following weekend.

___

AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer

As the pressure closed in on Shedeur Sanders, the Colorado quarterback spun away and scrambled to his left before lofting a pass over UCF defenders and into the hands of his standout receiver, Travis Hunter, for a 38-yard gain.

Time and time again, when the Knights thought they had contained Sanders, the senior would evade the pressure, frustrating the defense.

UCF’s defense can’t catch up with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who scrambles away en route to completing 28 of 35 passes Saturday for 290 yards and 3 TDs. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

UCF had no answers for Sanders and Hunter as the Buffaloes (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) stampeded over the Knights for a 48-21 win Saturday, ruining the school’s otherwise magical day.

“They outplayed and outcoached us and they’re a good team,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn said following the game. “I’m real disappointed for our fans. They brought it today. We talked about seizing the moment. We didn’t get it done.”

A record number of students showed up as Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show broadcast live from Memory Mall earlier in the day. The raucous crowd was on hand for the two-hour show featuring Grammy Award-winning musician DJ Khaled.

Nick Saban isn’t wrong when he says it’s a Gator problem, not a Napier problem | Commentary

Even inclement weather couldn’t spoil the mood. The start of the game was pushed back 50 minutes as rain sent the sellout crowd scrambling for cover and players back to the locker rooms at the Bounce House.

Once the game started, however, it became clear that UCF (3-1, 1-1 Big 12) couldn’t match up with Colorado’s superstars.

Sanders finished 28 of 35 for 290 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 23-yard score to Hunter to start the scoring.

Buffs coach Deion Sanders, who entered FBC Mortgage Stadium as the underdog, is fired up as he watches his team compile 418 yards and average more yards per carry than run-dominant UCF. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Hunter, who plays receiver and defensive back, finished with a game-high 9 catches for 89 yards. He also recorded his second interception of the season when he picked off KJ Jefferson midway through the third quarter. After the play, he raced toward the student section, where he struck the Heisman Trophy pose.

“They were able to extend drives and make the plays downfield that they needed to make to continue drives,” said fifth-year linebacker Ethan Barr, who finished with a team-high 8 tackles. “There are definitely things we can improve on.”

The loss snapped the Knights’ three-game win streak. They were looking to go 4-0 for the first time since 2018.

Jefferson finished with a season-high 284 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also had a fumble late in the fourth quarter that Colorado returned 95 yards for a touchdown.

“I didn’t protect the ball, so I take full responsibility for it, and that’s an area that I have to improve on,” said Jefferson. “Playing the quarterback position, the ball is touching my hand on every snap, so being able to give my team the best chance of winning is protecting the ball.”

RJ Harvey saw his streak of five straight 100-yard rushing games end after being held to a season-low 77 yards. Harvey did have a season-high 92 yards receiving, highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown catch in the first half.

UCF travels to Gainesville for an instate matchup with Florida next Saturday (7:45 p.m., SEC Network).

Matt Murschel can be reached at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com

Up next …

UCF at Florida

When: 7:45, Saturday, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

TV: SEC Network

By IAN HARRISON

TORONTO (AP) — Dane Myers hit a three-run homer and finished with a career-high five RBIs, Griffin Conine had three hits and an RBI and the Miami Marlins claimed a series against Toronto for the first time since 2009 with an 8-1 victory over the Blue Jays on Saturday.

Miami’s Jesús Sánchez scored three runs for the second straight game.

Bench coach Luis Urueta managed the Marlins in the next-to-last game of the season after manager Skip Schumaker returned home to California because of a family medical issue.

“I know he was watching,” said Urueta, who will also handle Sunday’s season finale.

Myers was activated off the 60-day injured list Tuesday. He fractured his left ankle when he kicked a door out of frustration after being ejected in a 10-6 loss at Cincinnati on July 13.

“I’m so happy for him, especially what he’s been through the last two months,” Urueta said. “To be able to come here today and do what he did, it’s pretty cool.”

Myers said it was tough being on the sidelines while injured.

“Sitting in the hotel watching the boys play was tough,” he said. “I think the mental rehab was a little bit harder than the physical rehab.”

Xzavion Curry (2-2) allowed one run and two hits in five innings in his first start with Miami, which won its third straight.

“Outstanding job,” Urueta said of Curry. “He attacked the zone, threw strikes.”

Darren McCaughan pitched the final four innings and earned his second save in two chances.

Miami had been winless in its past eight series against Toronto, losing six and splitting two. The Marlins swept a three-game road series against the Blue Jays in June 2009.

The Marlins still may avoid the worst record in the National League. Saturday night, the Colorado Rockies lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-2 to fall to 61-100 as well. The Marlins would take a tiebreaker against Colorado, having won the season series 5-3.

Nathan Lukes hit his first career home run for the Blue Jays — a solo shot in the first inning — but Toronto lost for the ninth time in 11 games. The Blue Jays are 7-16 in September.

Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0 for 4 with a strikeout to remain one hit shy of 200. Manager John Schneider said Guerrero might lead off Sunday.

Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez (1-8) wrapped up his rookie season by losing his fifth straight decision.

“It’s not exactly the year that I really wanted,” Rodríguez said through a translator. “I know I can be better than that.”

The 27-year-old right-hander allowed three runs and four hits in five-plus innings. He walked two and struck out five.

Both of Rodríguez’s walks came in the first, and both scored on two-out, RBI hits by Jonah Bride and Conine.

Lukes cut the deficit in half by homering off Curry in the bottom of the inning, but Miami added three more in the sixth. Myers hit a bases-loaded double off the top of the right field wall that chased reliever Brendon Little before Jhonny Pereda added an RBI single off Erik Swanson.

Myers homered off Génesis Cabrera in the eighth, his third of the season.

ROSTER MOVES

Blue Jays: Toronto recalled RHP Nick Robertson from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned LHP Easton Lucas to the Spring Training Complex.

UP NEXT

LHP Ryan Weathers (4-6, 3.81 ERA) is expected to start for Miami in Sunday’s season finale. The Blue Jays had not named a starter.

Today is Saturday, Sept. 28, the 272nd day of 2024. There are 94 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 28, 1928, Scottish medical researcher Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first effective antibiotic.

Also on this date:

In 1781, American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French fleet, began their successful siege of Yorktown, Virginia.

In 1924, three U.S. Army planes landed in Seattle, having completed the first round-the-world trip by air in 175 days.

In 1941, Ted Williams became the most recent American League baseball player to hit over .400 for a season, batting .406 for the Boston Red Sox.

In 1962, a federal appeals court found Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett in civil contempt for blocking the admission of James Meredith, a Black student, to the University of Mississippi.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed an accord at the White House ending Israel’s military occupation of West Bank cities and laying the foundation for a Palestinian state.

In 2000, capping a 12-year battle, the U.S. government approved use of the abortion pill RU-486.

In 2020, the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic reached 1 million, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.

In 2022, Hurricane Ian barreled ashore in southwestern Florida as a massive Category 4 storm. About 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate before the storm hit the coast with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph).

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Brigitte Bardot is 90.
• Filmmaker John Sayles is 74.
• Football Hall of Famer Steve Largent is 70.
• Zydeco musician C.J. Chenier (sheh-NEER’) is 67.
• Hockey Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr is 62.
• Actor-comedian Janeane Garofalo (juh-NEEN’ guh-RAH’-fuh-loh) is 60.
• Actor Maria Canals-Barrera is 58.
• Actor Mira Sorvino is 57.
• Actor Naomi Watts is 56.
• Olympic gold medal swimmer Lenny Krayzelburg is 49.
• Rapper Jeezy is 47.
• Golf Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak is 47.
• Pop-rock singer St. Vincent is 42.
• Actor Hilary Duff is 37.
• Boxer Terence “Bud” Crawford is 37.
• Tennis player Marin Čilić is 36.
• Actor Keir Gilchrist is 32.

MIAMI GARDENS – In the moment, two groups of people waited out the six-minute replay gap Friday night that turned Virginia Tech’s Hail-Mary touchdown win into Miami’s Hail-Mario incompletion win.

There was the group that, like Miami quarterback Cam Ward felt, “pain” the Hurricanes left this game to be decided by referees looking at a replay.

Some in that group, like coach Mario Cristobal, turned the pain into a joke after the 38-34 win, saying he considered during the long wait the, “liability issues that come with cardiac problems from everyone watching.”

The second group was a smaller one: Me.

When Miami trampled Florida in its opener, I asked the much-asked question through the years, “Is Miami back?” I then wrote, “They’re so back.”

Onward and upward was my message for this season. But after four easy games, this sloppy Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium capped by this frantic finish, gave another view.

Look what Miami gave up at home: Three turnovers, 206 surrendered rushing yards and 34 surrendered points against 2-2 Virginia Tech, whose two wins came against Marshall and Old Dominion.

“I could sit here and talk about things we could’ve done better,’’ Cristobal said. “I don’t want to do that. This team the last 20 years found a way to lose that game like this one found a way to win it.”

Maybe that’s it. Maybe somewhere in those is the idea that lets Miami feel good about its night – or good enough at 5-0 and a No. 7 ranking to become better from the pain.

This was four hours of seismic shifts. Ward made big plays for both sides: throwing four touchdowns and two interceptions; fumbling on the first possession and then making so many plays on the final, touchdown drive that a fourth-and-three pass Xavier Restrepo caught while lying on the field just seemed part of the night’s menu

“God took care of that,’’ Restrepo said of the catch. “I slipped. When I looked up the ball was there.”

See how the night went? Ward then shook would-be tacklers and threw a 26-yard pass to the Virginia Tech 1-yard line. That set up the winning TD pass to Isaiah Horton.

But why it was the winning score was the story of the night. Virginia Tech had a final play at Miami’s 30-yard line, and quarterback Kyron Drones threw into the end zone.

A blob of players went up for the ball. Who came down with it? Was it Virginia’s Da’Quan Felton or Horton, the receiver turned 6-4 defender?

Horton came out with the ball. Miami celebrated. The referee signaled touchdown. Virginia Tech celebrated. To replay it went. Some, like ESPN analyst Andre Ware, “There wasn’t enough to overturn the call.”

The referees overturned it. “The loose ball was touched by a Miami player while he was out of bounds, which makes it an incomplete pass and immediately ends the play,’’ an ACC statement said.

So Miami won its conference opener, won the kind of game they didn’t want to play, won with Ward showing why he can be a top NFL draft pick and what he needs to get there.

Mainly, it won by losing its grip on the game in the second quarter and then coming back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve been doing this thing a couple years before this and I’ve seen this team flinch,’’ Cristobal said. “I didn’t see that tonight.”

Maybe it’s different. Maybe the idea holds: They’re back. There, celebrating the win in Miami’s locker room, Hurricane great Michael Irvin was pitching the idea.

“We are the Miami Hurricanes, and we’re back,’’ Irvin said on WQAM immediately after the game. “We’re all the back. You can’t get there without coming out of this kind of game – and we’re coming out the right way.”

That’s it. They’re so back. Just like I said. Irvin, then, piled on a bit, saying, “I’ve been crying. My eyes are red. I’m crying like a proud papa.”

This was 2-2 Virginia Tech. This was a replay away from being a bad loss. It wasn’t a night for tears. Maybe it’s the kind of game every great season survives, the kind as Cristobal says this team hasn’t won of late.

Or maybe the only truth was spoken by Ward, who asked about celebrating the win said he wasn’t celebrating. He said, “I don’t feel good about this win.”

 

WELLINGTON — Palm Beach Central junior quarterback Chance Routson passed for three touchdowns to lead the host Broncos past Jupiter 26-10 in a District 12-7A matchup on Friday night.

Palm Beach Central senior wide receivers Kamare Williams, Nedrick Boldin and Preston Parker each scored in the victory.

Palm Beach Central quarterback Chance Routson (16) drops back to pass against Jupiter. Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 (Jim Rassol/Contributor).

The teams were locked in a 10-10 tie at halftime, but Palm Beach Central (4-1) scored on the opening possession of the third quarter and pulled away, holding the Warriors scoreless in the second half.

“We made the necessary adjustments and came out strong in the second half,” Palm Beach Central coach Kevin Thompson said. “It was a great job by our coaching staff. Chance is making some strides and we have made adjustments and he has really caught on and it’s working for him. Our defense needs to have that belief and we need to keep working. We still have a long way to go.”

Routson had a strong performance to lead the Broncos offense, which included a go-ahead 38-yard touchdown pass to Boldin in the third quarter.

“We got a talented team all over the field on offense and defense,” Routson said. “We have threats in every category of receiver. We are working on getting the ball out early to them and they go out and make a play. Jupiter is a great team. They’re very disciplined and have great coaches. I feel like our coaches did a good job with the play-calling and we did a good job of executing what we saw.”

Palm Beach Central takes the field to play Jupiter. Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 (Jim Rassol/Contributor).

Palm Beach Central’s defense forced a punt to begin the contest. The Broncos offense opened the scoring on their second play on the ensuing drive. Routson connected with Williams for a 58-yard touchdown down the right sideline to make it 7-0.

Jupiter (4-1) failed to convert on fourth-and-2 at the Broncos 26-yard line on the ensuing drive.

Jupiter made a big play early in the second quarter to tie the score. Junior quarterback Andrew Embick fired a 59-yard scoring pass to senior running back Chris Vanhorn down the right sideline with 11:49 left in the first half.

Palm Beach Central senior kicker Ethan Dagostino drilled a 46-yard field goal to make it 10-7 with 7:02 left in the second quarter.

Jupiter stepped up on special teams with a fake punt near midfield late in the first half. Senior Ryan Senecal took the direct snap and tossed a pass over the middle of the field to senior Reagan Fowle to the Broncos 17-yard line. The Warriors settled for a 30-yard field goal by senior kicker Brogan Woeber to tie the score.

Palm Beach Central marched downfield on the opening series of the second half. Routson fired a pass over the middle of the field to Boldin for a 38-yard score as the Broncos jumped ahead 17-10 with 8:13 left in the third quarter.

Palm Beach Central stepped up with a blocked punt as the ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety on the play with 1:59 left in the third quarter.

Maths Gibson (0) of Palm Beach Central gets upended by Nick Bothe (13) of Jupiter in the first half. Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 (Jim Rassol/Contributor).

Routson had a 12-yard pass to Parker in the right corner of the end zone with 3:30 left to push the lead to 26-10.

Junior Emmanuel Toussaint recorded an interception near the goal line with 36 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Broncos.

Jupiter entered the game unbeaten and had allowed just 19 combined points through the first four games.

“Credit goes out to them,” Jupiter coach Jason Kradman said. “It’s a great battle. I don’t think we’re 16 points away. I think we’re super close. As a young team, we made some mistakes and had some inconsistencies over the first few weeks and it did not come back to bite us because we were able to overcome it and we were better I think than a couple of those teams. Then, this week in an evenly matched game, those mistakes cost us. We’re a young team overall. I thought our defense played really well again. Our guys were in position to make plays and there guys just made them.”

Chris Vanhorn (4) of Jupiter looks for running room against Palm Beach Central in the first half. Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 (Jim Rassol/Contributor).