Shots rambelles goal in jennifer miller dallas

Junior forward Skylar Searles scored her third goal of the season
early in the second half as the Angelo State women’s soccer team
(6-3-1, 1-0 LSC) opened up Lone Star Conference play with a 1-0 win at
Abilene Christian on Friday.

Searles’ tally came in the 49th minute as she found the net from in
front of the goal after a scramble for a loose ball.

The Fort Worth native has been instrumental for the Rambelles as of
late, scoring the game-tying goal for ASU on Sunday and assisting the
game-winner last Friday.

Sophomore Melanie Peterson (2-1) notched her first shutout of the
season as she collected four saves against the Wildcats.

It was Peterson’s first appearance for the Rambelles in 21 days, since
picking up the loss in ASU’s 1-0 match with Dallas Baptist on Sept. 5.

The Rambelles snapped a two-year losing skid in LSC openers, including
a 1-0 double-overtime loss to ACU last season in San Angelo. With the
win, ASU has equaled its best-ever 10-game start to season, matching
the 6-3-1 start of the 2006 squad.

The Rambelles had 14 total shots and seven shots on goal. ACU had 10
shots and four on goal.

Christy Knaub, Kristen Boister and Searles each had three shots.
Jennifer Bukowski had two and Brittany Tollison, Christian Willman and
Elyssa Hawknis each had one shot.

Jordan Reese and Alyson Thomas each had two shots for ACU. Anastasia
Nelson, Bree Craig, Lyndsey Womack, Jackie Gentile, Katie Miller and
Kendall Cooper each had one.

Angelo State will take a short rest until returning to action next
Friday, Oct. 3, as the Rambelles host Midwestern State at 4 p.m. at
the ASU Soccer Field.

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Season games quarterback in al davis raiders

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has thrown for 506 yards and
four touchdowns in his first two games as a starter, will try to keep
the Cowboys winless at Lambeau Field.

The undefeated Cowboys and Packers play in Green Bay on Sunday night.
Dallas, a three-point favorite, is 0-5 at Lambeau Field. Although
it’s early in the season, this game could have a bearing on the
playoffs because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Here are some interesting statistics about both teams: Dating to the
end of the 2006 season, the Packers are 19-3 in regular-season games.
For only the second time since 1967 when the NFL started divisional
play, the Packers have opened the season with consecutive victories
over division opponents: the Vikings and Lions.

Dating to the start of last season, the Cowboys are 15-3. They have
won 11 of their last 12 road games, including the season-opening
victory at Cleveland. Quarterback Tony Romo is 21-5 since becoming the
starter in 2006.

“I’m a nostalgic person in a sense (because) I enjoy
traditional things,” Romo said this week. “I enjoy
watching great players or great sporting events at a great atmosphere.
Lambeau Field, obviously, has a great history, and it’s going to
be fun to go up there and be part of that a little bit. But, at the
same time, it’s just another game.”

“I was a kid, maybe 14 years old or something,” he said.
“It’s cool. It was a neat atmosphere.”

This isn’t Romo’s first appearance at Lambeau Field since
he was 14. In 2004, the Cowboys lost 41-20 at Green Bay. Romo was
third string and held for kicks.

Astros first baseman Lance Berkman and Chargers running back LaDainian
Tomlinson head the Texas Sports Hall of Fame class that will be
inducted in Waco in February.

Berkman, who is finishing his 10th season with the Astros, and
Tomlinson, who’s the best running back in the NFL, will be
joined by three others with football backgrounds. Former Cowboys
middle linebacker Lee Roy Jordan, former Texas running back Steve
Worster and former Longhorn and Philadelphia Eagles safety Bill
Bradley are going in.

Bradley, who coaches the Chargers’ defensive backs, is one of
only two NFL players in history to lead the league in interceptions in
back-to-back seasons. Former Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls is the
other.

Also being inducted will be former soccer star Kyle Rote Jr., who has
been a sports agent for two decades; former Longhorns basketball All-
American Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil; and the late Longhorns basketball
coach, Abe Lemons.

In 19 seasons with the Oilers and Titans, Bruce Matthews never missed
a game because of an injury. When he retired after the 2001 season,
Matthews had played in 296 games, more than any non-kicker in NFL
history.

Now, though, for the second time since he retired, Matthews is
recovering from major surgery. Five years ago, Matthews suffered a
torn quad tendon in his right knee when he slipped in water while
throwing a ball during a pee-wee football practice. This time,
Hurricane Ike sent Matthews to the operating room.

The morning after Ike hit, Matthews, 46, had three trees blocking the
drive at his house. He and Bob Queen, his close friend and business
partner in 2MQ Construction, got out the chainsaws and started
cutting. When they finished with the third tree, Matthews decided to
make one last cut, lost his balance, whacked his knee on a limb and
suffered the same injury to his left knee. He underwent surgery
immediately.

Matthews learned to play with pain a long time ago. That’s why
he’s already ready to resume his duties as the assistant video
coordinator at Elkins football games.

Even though Vince Young has moved into the background as the
Titans’ backup quarterback and won’t play again as long as
the team wins with Kerry Collins, Titans tight end Bo Scaife says fans
should not count out the former University of Texas quarterback.

Scaife, who played with Young at Texas, is one of the
quarterback’s closest friends on the team. Another former
Longhorn, Chris Simms, is the third quarterback.

“This is my job, so I have to go out there and perform no matter
who is quarterback,” Scaife said last week. “But Vince is
my friend, and to see him going through this … it’s a hard
time in his life, and he’s never dealt with stuff like this.

“I just try and do everything I can to stay behind him and try
and make sure he feels like he’s missed, because he is missed
throughout this locker room and on the field. There’ll
definitely come a time where we’re going to need him, but I
think everyone, or at least some people, keep thinking this is the
last we’ll ever see of him, that he won’t play for us
again. I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

Last season, Browns receiver Braylon had 80 catches for 1,289 yards
and 16 touchdowns. In their two losses this season, he has five
catches, six dropped passes and no touchdowns.

“It’s always troubling when a player goes through times
like he’s going through,” coach Romeo Crennel said.
“He’s dropping balls that we need him to catch.
We’re trying to do everything we can to help him get out of his
slump.”

Crennel is having his receivers catch balls with numbers painted on
them. The players have to shout out the numbers as soon as they see
them.

“We’re trying to improve his focus and be able to relax
and make some of those plays you saw him make last year,”
Crennel said. “I don’t think he’s lost
confidence.”

The Chiefs have been terrible at drafting quarterbacks since Len
Dawson retired. The last quarterback drafted by the Chiefs to win a
start was Todd Blackledge in 1987. Seems hard to believe,
doesn’t it?

The Chiefs haven’t won a game since Oct. 21 of last season. They
have an 11-game losing streak. They’ve scored 18 points.
They’re 0-2 for the third consecutive season under Herm Edwards.
They haven’t been 0-3 since Edwards became their coach.

Tyler Thigpen, who was drafted in the seventh round last year by
Minnesota and claimed on waivers by Kansas City, starts at quarterback
Sunday against Atlanta. He’s the Chiefs’ third starter in
the first three games, which has happened only three times in a non-
strike season since the merger in 1970.

Thigpen follows Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard. In 1976, the Rams
started Pat Haden, Ron Jaworski and James Harris in their first three
games. In 1988, the Browns started Bernie Kosar, Gary Danielson and
Mike Pagel. In 1997, the Jaguars started Mark Brunell, Rob Johnson and
Steve Matthews.

Interestingly, the Rams, Browns and Jaguars made the playoffs in those
seasons. The Chiefs won’t be making the playoffs.

The change at quarterback means that, going back to his years as the
Jets’ coach, Edwards will be making his 16th switch at
quarterback in 52 games. That’s a change every 3.25 games.

The Eagles have scored 75 points in their first two games, the highes
two-game total in franchise history. Receiver DeSean Jackson is the
second rookie in league history to start his career with two 100-yard
games, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Don Looney, who also played
for the Eagles, did it in 1940.

Jackson, who had six catches for 110 yards against the Cowboys, blew
his first touchdown by showboating. He tossed the ball before he
crossed the goal line. Naturally, he got a lot of grief from his
coaches and teammates and shouldn’t make that mistake again.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they retained possession and scored,
anyway.

“We told him you can’t afford those types of
mistakes,” running back Brian Westbrook said. “Because of
the position he’s in, we’re depending on him a whole lot
to do certain things for this team. He can’t make those types of
mistakes. I think he understands that, and I think that’s
something he’ll grow from and get better from.”

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb usually gets off to good starts.
Going back to the start of the 2004 season, in the first three weeks
of each season, he’s played in 14 games. He has 32 touchdowns,
four interceptions and 4,302 yards during that stretch.

McNabb has thrown one interception in his last 219 passes, giving him
the lowest interception percentage in league history. His percentage
is 2.08, moving him ahead of Neil O’Donnell (2.09).

After the Rams’ terrible start, owner Chip Rosenbloom put coach
Scott Linehan under even more pressure by voicing his displeasure.

“It’s the job of the head coach, Scott Linehan, to figure
out how to motivate and give some urgency to this team,”
Rosenbloom told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I believe in these
players, and I believe in this coach. The level of play is not
acceptable to me or anybody in the organization.

The Bengals are 0-2 for the 14th time in franchise history. They were
0-3 12 times. Out of those 14 seasons, only three times did they
finish .500.

Cincinnati’s offense has been so unproductive the Bengals have
been outscored 41-17. They are last in passing (105.5 yards) and 31st
in offense (184.5). Quarterback Carson Palmer has been terrible. His
ratings in the two defeats have been 35.3 and 41.3, the worst of his
career. Entering this season, his career rating was 90.1.

Before the the Titans beat the Bengals 24-7 last week, Cincinnati
receiver Chad Ocho Cinco said the only thing keeping cornerback
Cortland Finnegan from being recognized as one of the best at his
position was more trash talking. Finnegan, who limited Johnson to four
catches for 37 yards, said thanks but no thanks. He wants to remain
humble, so there’ll be no trash talking.

The Cardinals play the Redskins today. Running backs Edgerrin James
and Clinton Portis are two of six NFL players who have played at least
85 games and averaged at least 110 yards from scrimmage.

James averages 115.5 yards and Portis 111.4. They’re in elite
company. The other four are Jim Brown (125.5 yards), LaDainian
Tomlinson (125.4), Barry Sanders (118.8) and Walter Payton (111.9).

The Cardinals are 2-0 for the first time since 1991 when they finished
4-12. They’ve beaten the 49ers and Dolphins. If they defeat
Washington today, they’ll be 3-0 for the first time since 1974
when they finished 10-4.

“When people start talking about the prosperity of being 2-0 it
almost makes me laugh,” quarterback Kurt Warner said. “To
me, prosperity is continually winning and continually playing at a
level where you deserve something to come out of it, to have an
expectation that comes with that. I don’t think we’re
anywhere close to that right now.

“I can’t believe anybody would be happy or content with
being 2-0. Hopefully, we have the mindset in here that this is where
we expected ourselves to be, so why are you getting excited about
something you expect?

“I’m not playing to be 9-7 and be one game better than we
were last year. I’m playing to win a championship, and you need
every single win you can get. To me, you play 16 games and see where
you are at that point. You don’t worry about the first two you
played.”

Jaguars running back Fred Taylor has a response for everyone who
believes the NFC East is tougher than the AFC South.

“Our division, I think, is the best in football regardless of
what people say about the NFC East,” he said. “I
don’t think the NFC East can match up against AFC South teams
when you put things on the line.”

Last season, Taylor made the Pro Bowl for the first time last season.
Just about everyone thought he was long overdue.

“I was never really worried about it, or even cared,” he
said. “I always felt like from my own perspective and that of my
peers, that I was always worthy. So I didn’t really care a whole
lot, but to finally get an opportunity to go, I think the thing that I
probably miss the most out of the entire thing was the camaraderie
with the fellows, guys that you see doing those big-time commercials.

“Peyton (Manning) would probably be the first example, LaDainian
(Tomlinson) and a couple of other guys are in there. Those guys are
just down to earth. They’re professionals, but they’re
human. They’re all silly, just joking around, having a great
time, relaxing, enjoying their family and friends.”

Before the Raiders beat the Chiefs, there were reports that Oakland
coach Lane Kiffin would be fired regardless of the game’s
outcome. The Raiders won, and Kiffin kept his job.

Kiffin has sounded like a coach who wants to be fired. He’s
taken some shots at owner Al Davis. Things have gotten so bad that
Davis had a member of his staff make copies of an ESPN.com column
critical of Kiffin and pass them out to writers covering the team.

Remember, Davis asked Kiffin to resign after last season so he
wouldn’t have to pay him off, and the coach refused. Kiffin
wanted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, but Davis
wouldn’t let him. Davis hired James Lofton as receivers coach
without consulting Kiffin.

No wonder the Raiders can’t win. Everyone expects Kiffin to get
fired soon. Davis fired Mike Shanahan 20 games into his career as the
Raiders’ coach.

In the film The Express, the story of the late Syracuse running back
Ernie Davis who died of leukemia before he could play for the Browns,
Houston native Dennis Quaid plays legendary coach Ben Schwartzwalder.
The film comes out on Oct. 10.

Quaid, who has acted in many sports films, including The Rookie,
Everybody’s All-American and Any Given Sunday, talked with Hall
of Fame running back Jim Brown to learn about Schwartzwalder. Brown
played at Syracuse before Davis.

“I knew Jim Brown from Any Given Sunday,” said Quaid, who
attended Bellaire High School and the University of Houston. “He
pretty much gave me some straight talk about what it was like playing
football back in the ’50s and about Ben Schwartzwalder’s
character.”

• “It is the stupidest phrase ever invented. Why would you
want to lose at anything? Must win? Everything’s a must win,
everything you do.” – Jaguars RB Fred Taylor on how
ridiculous the term “must win” is.

• “We’ve got a chance to be as good as anybody.
We’ve got a chance to be the best in the league.” –
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan on his offense that leads the NFL with 80
points.

• “Rodgers, I mean, dude, he’s calm under pressure,
and he’s right on the money. He’s definitely impressed me.
He (Brett Favre) was a great player, but I just think as a team
we’re a year older, a little more experienced and a little
better than we were.” – Packers DT Ryan Pickett on QB
Aaron Rodgers.

• “We haven’t done that in a long time, and
there’s reason to be proud of our accomplishment (but), football
is a game of forget. You forget about what you did last week or
yesterday, and you just move on.” – Cardinals DE Chike
Okeafor on their first 2-0 start since 1991.

• “The one thing I know is that it saves us 6,000 miles of
travel and saves us 10 hours in an airplane. “Last year, we had
some games on the East Coast, and let’s face it, we
sucked.” – Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt on why his team
is staying in the east to prepare for next week’s Jets game
after they play the Redskins Sunday.

• “I’m not trying to look at it as me trying to
prove myself. I’m here for a reason. When you try to prove
yourself, you sometimes make bad decisions. I’m going to go out
and play within the game, make good decisions and try to do my
best.” – Cowboys SS Patrick Watkins, who was benched at
free safety last season but is now replacing the injured Roy Williams.

• “As much as it hurts my heart to tell him this, I think
me being able to work with Michael all those years has really helped
me to become the player I am today. Being able to watch him on the
field and off the field and work directly beside him, I really owe
Mike a lot.” – Giants DE Justin Tuck on watching and
learning from Michael Strahan.

• Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall has 55 catches in his last
five games, the most in NFL history during a five-game stretch.

• When the Browns finished 10-6 last season, they were 7-1 at
home, and they didn’t lose two in a row all season. Now
they’re 0-2 at home, including 10 consecutive losses to the
Steelers.

• On eight big plays, the Lions have allowed 397 yards. The
Titans, who lead the league in defense, have allowed 404 yards on 115
plays.

• In last week’s victory over Miami, Cardinals quarterback
Kurt Warner was 19-of-24 for 261 yards, three touchdowns and no
interceptions. The third perfect 158.3 rating of his career tied
Peyton Manning for the NFL record.

• Colts second-year strong safety Melvin Bullitt, who was
undrafted out of Texas A&M, is replacing Bob Sanders, out for four to
six weeks because of a sprained ankle.

• In quarterback Matt Cassel’s first start in place of the
injured Tom Brady, he was 16-of-23 for 165 yards with no touchdowns or
interceptions. He was 12-of-15 for 127 yards on passes thrown behind
the line of scrimmage or no more than 5 yards down the field.

• Rookie running backs, led by Chicago’s Matt Forte with
215 yards, have rushed for 1,197 yards through two weeks. That’s
the most in the first two weeks of the season since 1979 when rookies
rushed for 1,306.

The Lions are 31-83 since Matt Millen became team president in 2001,
including 10-24 under Rod Marinelli . . . The Patriots have a 21-game
winning streak in regular season, a league record . . . The Steelers
are 13-2 in their last 15 games against the NFC . . . Since 1978 when
the league went to a 16-game schedule, of the 232 teams that began
2-0, 153 (66 percent) made the playoffs . . . Redskins receiver
Santana Moss is the first player on his team to catch a touchdown pass
in five consecutive games since 1982 . . . In the 15 seasons of
what’s called the salary cap era, 78 teams have started 0-3.
Only the 1995 Lions and 1998 Bills made the playoffs. Of those 78
teams, 68 finished with losing records . . . Injured Colts safety Bob
Sanders is out four week to six weeks. The last time the Colts played
the Jaguars without Sanders, they allowed 375 yards rushing in 2006 .
. . Peyton Manning is 10-3 against the Jaguars, including 5-1 the last
three seasons . . . Dating back to 2002, the Bucs are 17-0 when they
don’t commit a turnover . . . Steelers quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger hasn’t thrown an interception in five games. He
has 10 scoring passes in those five games . . . Second-year Bills
quarterback Trent Edwards is 7-4 as a starter . . . Vikings tight end
Visanthe Shiancoe has dropped four touchdown passes in 18 games with
Minnesota . . . Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is 15-2 as a
starter at home.

John McClain covers the Texans and the NFL for the Chronicle. He can
be heard on Sports Radio 610 Monday at 7:30 a.m. and Friday at 4:30
p.m.