The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California • Page 19

ML A win is a win Tony Stewart is out ofNASCAR's Chase for the championship, but won Sunday's race on a day when several of the Chase leaders struggled. NASCAR, C2 TheBcscrtSun Monday, Octobkr 30, 2006 Section Host Of The 1999-2002 COACHELLA VALLEY RESIDENT RATES 65 Mon-Thurs 80 Fri- Sun I 5KNIOR RMIDKNT $55 MOM-THUBl $75 FRt-SUN I I (Oil I I TERRA LGO' sports iditor Matt Solinsky phoni 778-4629 fax 778-4654 e-mail Matt.Solinskythedeseitsun.com FOR HOMI DELIVERY ASSISTANCE PHONE: 322-5555 760-775-2000 WWW.OOLFCLUB-TERRALAOO.COM Mum pro id proof of Rfiidency SPORTS NFL WEEK San Dtego Chargers Bolts Rack In Win Column Prep Sports Weekly Planner 8 rui RJl mm, 29 27 FALC0NS BENGALS Hot hot, hot Michael Vick throws three more TD passes; has seven In last two games. Tomlinson Rolls Through Rams For Three Touchdowns CHIEFS J5 28 SEA HAWKS Backup battle: Chiefs' Damon Huard outduels Seahawks' Seneca Wallace. By Bernie Wilson THH ASSOCIATED PRESS 4 1 1 i 35 SAN DIEGO For those who might have been thinking there RAVENS SAINTS 22 Scoring machine LaDainian Tomlinson surpassed 8,000 yards rushing for his six-year career, and tied his boyhood Idol, Emmitt Smith, as the second-fastest players to score 90 touchdowns, in 86 games. The quickest was Jim Brown in 81 games.

4 Rude guests: Baltimore becomes first team to win In Superdome this year. 00 was something wrong with 13 JAGUARS LaDainian Tom-linson, there isn't. Tomlinson re- 6 EAGLES i i Taylor made: Jags R8 Fred Taylor scores games only touchdown. GIANTS 17 BUCCANEERS Brother battle: Giants' Tiki Barbers helps topple brother Ronde's Buccaneers. RAIDERS JO 13 STEELERS Every Monday, we '11 get you ready for the week ahead in prep sports by spotlighting each day's must-see event.

We'll start each lookahead with the event of the week. There's plenty of must-see games this week, but the biggest will be Thursday at La Quinta High School. The two top volleyball teams in the Desert Valley League clash for the final time with the DVL title on the line. Once-beaten Palm Desert takes on undefeated La Quinta. The last time these two teams met, hundreds of fans packed the Palm Desert gym, so get there early for this one (game time approximately 5:30 p.m., following JV).

In the last match, it went five games. A La Quinta victory would give the Blackhawks the outright DVL title and top seed in the playoffs. If Palm Desert wins, the two would share the league title. Today: Palm Desert vs. Cathedral City in boys water polo.

The Lions must win to stay in hunt for their first league title on the road in Palm Desert. In golf, it's the first round of CIF team competition at Seven Hills Golf Course in Hemet (8 a.m. shotgun start.) Top four teams will advance to Southern Sec-, tion Championships. Tuesday: DVL tennis individual prelims at Indian Wells Tennis Garden starting at 1 p.m. Wednesday: Third and final all-DVL cross country meet at Palm Springs, 1 p.m.

start. In golf, Southern Section Championships at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai, (near Ventura). The top 16 teams from four first round sites. Top four teams advance to Southern California Championship next week. Thursday: Palm Desert at La Quinta volleyball and the individual league finals in both the Desert Valley and DeAnza leagues will be decided in tennis at the Indian Well, 'ennis Garden.

Return specialists: Raiders defense returns two interceptions for scores. BEARS 41 04 minded everyone 4" just how good he is when he rushed for a season-high 183 yards and scored three more touchdowns to lead the San Diego Chargers to a 38-24 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. "So many questions start to come when you don't have 100 yards," said Tomlinson, who has scored 11 touchdowns in helping the Chargers to a 5-2 record. "People start to wonder, are you getting old or have you lost a step? For me, it's all motivation.

"If I lost a step and had a day like this today, I'd hate to see if I was a young man what I would have done today with the kind of holes I ran through.1' Tomlinson, who carried 25 times, reached 90 career TDs by scoring on the ground to cap the Chargers' first two drives. He added his 91st when he caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers with 3:58 remaining in the game. The star running back also had three catches for 57 yards, and recovered an on-side kick after the Rams pulled to 31-17 midway through the fourth quarter. The Chargers rebounded from a 30-27 loss the week before at AFC West rival Kansas City. St.

Louis (4-3), coming off its bye, lost consecutive games for the first time this year. Outside linebacker Shawne Merriman, who's facing a four-game suspension for a positive drug test, played with his usual urgency, sacking Marc Bulger three times, followed by his spasmodic "Lights Out" dance. Said Rams running back Steven Jackson: "We're a tough opponent. I had a feeling he wanted to play against us." Merriman had two sacks in the first quarter and got his third on the opening possession of the second half, which forced the Rams to punt. 1 f-zlp 1 i wi v3- Ly Jjamif.r- 49ERS 10 Back on track: Rex Grossman throws three touchdowns in rout 28 TITANS 22 TEXANS Homecoming: Titans QB Vince Young runs for a score and throws for another.

PACKERS 31 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CARDINALS 14 San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson knocks the helmet off SL Louis Rams safety Oshiomogho Atogwe with a stiff arm on his way to a 38-yard touchdown run during the first quarter Sunday in San Diego. In a rush: Packers have two 100-yard rushers in home victory. BROWNS 20 13 JETS Manning, Wayne shred Broncos Tough loss: Jets have tying touchdown ruled out on questionable call. By Eddie Pells THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 35 COWBOYS 14 PANTHERS DENVER Maddeningly meticulous and impeccably precise, this was Peyton Manning at his cruel best. Flnslhlng strong: Cowboys score 25 unanswered fourth-quarter points.

Skewering a Denver defense uictl was ucMgiicu accuiuaii lu stop him, Manning led the Indianapolis Colts over, around and through the Broncos on Sunday, throwing for 345 yards and three cushy zone defense. Wayne dissected it best, catching 10 passes for 138 yards, most of them in front of Broncos cornerback Dar-rent Williams. It was Williams who Denver picked first in the 2005 draft, a defense-heavy class that was part of an ongoing effort by the Broncos to shore things up after 41-10 and 49-24 playoff losses at Indy in 2003 and '04. But the Broncos aren't the only team that uses the offseason to get better. Manning's work ethic is impeccable, and in a 2006 full of stops and starts, he was practically perfect against the team many thought would be Indy's biggest challenger.

"When you're throwing against Bailey and Williams, that's why you work in April, May and June," Manning said. "That's why you throw a lot in the offseason, with nobody' covering. You pretend it's Champ Bailey covering. You have to throw a perfect throw and run a perfect route." The Colts gained 437 yards and fell 10 points short of matching what the Denver defense had allowed all season. Manning went 32 for 39 for 345 yards with a passer rating of 129.2.

He wasn't intercepted, wasn't sacked and probably won't even need to send that white Colts uniform to the laundry room. Today's schedule BOYS WATER POLO: Granite Hills at Palm Springs, 3:15 p.m.; Cathedral City at Palm Desert, 3:15 p.m.; Indio at La Quinta, 3:15 p.m. i 4 touchdowns to Reggie Wayne for -a message-sending 34-31 victory. "When you play a guy like Peyton Manning, and the guy's going to put it on there on the money, what can you do?" Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. Not much, as the Broncos (5-2) found out repeatedly, watching Manning lead the Colts to scores on seven of their final eight drives the only miss coming when he kneeled on the ball to end the first half.

Manning's final drive set up the winning points on a 37-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri with 2 seconds remaining. It made the Colts the first team to go 7-0 in consecutive seasons since the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers did it three consecutive times. Manning made a mockery of Denver's THH ASSOCIATED PRESS THH ASSOCIATED PRESS Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne (87) celebrates his second touchdown catch during the third quarter against the Denver Broncos on Sunday in Denver. Wayne finished with three touchdown catches in the Colts' 34-31 victory. Dallas Cowboys' Tony Romo throws a pass during the first quarter Sunday against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C.

thedesertsun.compreps See for yourself: Tons of online photb galleries of all your favorite sports. West Virginia doesn't necessarily have inside track to BCS title game -A Mike Lopresti record 20-4 over 15' days. And USC is not USC. It's been hard enough that the Trojans had to replace two Heisman Trophy winners on offense, with an 18-point drop in scoring average. But more important is not making big plays on defense.

They forced 38 turnovers last season to rank No. 2 in the nation. This year they've caused 10, and rank 108th. Of 1 1 Pete Carroll losses in his 5 '4 years, by the way, only one was by more than a touchdown. The five losses since 2002 have been by 7, 3, 3, 3 and 2 points.

on the road to the championship game. But it'll be looking in the rearview mirror. Weekend award Bowling Green had more first downs, 27-12, and 151 more yards. But if anybody knows the only thing that counts is the final score, it's Temple, a team that had lost 20 in a row and been outscored 351-71 this season. Temple beat the Falcons 28-14, a year after losing to them 70-7.

Too bad coach Al Golden could not savor the moment, leaving for the hospital where his expecting wife was having, according to reports, "mild "We talk about faith is belief without evidence. But what evidence did they have? They hadn't won a game," defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio said of the Owls. "Now we have a team that beat us 70-7 and we turn around and beat them. There's some evidence now." Memo for Central Michigan this week: The last time Temple won two straight was 2002. Issue of the week More losses may be coming for USC.

The Trojans haven't even gotten to the toughest part of their schedule. Next month, they play Oregon, California, Notre Dame combined loss teams who have had to go through fire. Round up the usual suspects: Auburn, Florida, Notre Dame, etc. Even, dare we say, the Michigan-Ohio State loser (talking heads are already starting to use the word "rematch" as if they were boxing promoters). Louisville would seem particular vulnerable.

West Virginia has a better pedigree. Last January's Sugar Bowl score should be noted too, when everyone was dumping on the Big East. West Virginia 38, Georgia 35. But it wouldn't be November without debate. Thursday night's winner will consider itself So now what? USC's demise would seem to leave a vacancy in the national championship game, presumably against the Michigan-Ohio State winner.

Simple, right? The survivor of Thursday's clash of 7-0 Big East titans West Virginia at Louisville runs the table, disposes of Rutgers, and packs for Arizona as the only other BCS conference unbeaten out there. Well maybe. It is a luminous pairing West Virginia leads the nation in rushing and is No. 2 in scoring, while Louisville is No. 5 in scoring.

They met last year and it ended 46-44 for West Virginia in three overtimes. One small trifle. Neither has played a team that is currently ranked. West Virginia has met only one Division I-A opponent with a winning record. The question will naturally arise about whether Thursday's winner is more deserving than one- Mike Lopresti is a columnist for Gannett News Service.

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