Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 31

High school football Thursday Jay 37, Freeport13 Tonight West Florida Tech at Catholic Tate vs. Pine Forest at Woodham Pace at Milton Escambia at John Curtis (New Orleans) Choctawhatchee at Washington Gulf Breeze at DeFuniak Springs Walton Bonifay Holmes County ai Northview Saturday Woodham at Pensacola High, 10 a.m. TTPENSACOLA journal www.Pensaco!aNewsJoumaLcom FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2004 Can't hold them down Section tff won 18 straight games. Braves rookie Charles Thomas singled with one out in the 11th off Dan Miceli and stole second. Eli Marrero popped out to the catcher, but Furcal golfed a 1-2 pitch deep into the right-field seats, flipping his bat in the air about halfway down to celebrate his first postseason homer.

Furcal was in court hours before Game 1, where he was sentenced to 21 days in jail and 28 days in a treatment center for violating probation with his second drunken-driving arrest in four years. "For me, I come to the ballpark, walk in the stadium and forget about everything," said Furcal, who had three hits and drove in three runs. MLB playoffs WEDNESDAY'S LATE RESULT Red Sox 9, Angels 3 THURSDAY'S RESULTS Braves 4, Astros Cardinals 8, Dodgers 3 TODAY'S SCHEDULE Angels at Red Sox, 3:09 p.m., ESPN. Yankees at Twins, 7:09 p.m., ESPN. "I xr i Furcal's blast saves Braves from 0-2 deficit Paul Newberry Associated Press ATLANTA With plenty of incentive, Rafael Furcal made sure the Atlanta Braves' season lasts at least two more games.

Set to report to jail once the postseason ends, Furcal hit a two-out, two-run homer in the 11th inning that sent the Braves over the Houston Astros 4-2 Thursday and tied their NL playoff series at one game each. With Houston on the verge of a commanding lead, Atlanta rallied from a late two-run deficit to force extra innings. Both teams went to extraordinary means the Astros looking to go two-up in the best-of-five series, the Braves realizing they needed a split before heading to Minute Maid Park, where Houston has His sentence doesn't begin until the Braves' season finishes. Furcal ensured that that's a big boost for him." The Astros routed the Braves 9-3 in Game 1 and were ahead 2-0 going to the seventh with 20-game winner Roy Oswalt on the mound. But NL East champion Atlanta fought back, managing to overcome Ric FeldAssociated Press Atlanta's Rafael Furcal hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the 12th to lead the Braves to a Game 2 win over Houston.

The NLDS is tied 1-game apiece. it won't be ending with Saturday's Game 3. "I think he felt just terrible," Cox said. "Today, things worked out good for him. He got the game-winner, and See FURCAL, BRAVES, 4D NBC adds 5-second delay to NASCAR coverage after Earnhardt profanity NBC is adding a 5-second delay to its NASCAR telecasts after Dale Earnhardt Jr.

used a vulgarity during a postrace TV interview last weekend. Earnhardt was docked 25 points in the Nextel Cup standings and fined $10,000 for his slip of the tongue in an NBC interview after his victory at Talladega Superspeedway, dropping him to second place with seven races left in the season. He will appeal the point penalty. Federal regulators have cracked down on objectionable content on TV and radio since Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during her halftime performance at the Super Bowl. CBS was fined a record $550,000 by the FCC for Jackson's breast-baring incident.

Networks have installed delays of up to 10 seconds for some programming, and ABC's "Monday Night Football" is using a 5-second delay this season. Ivan forces Ice Pilots to move extent of training camp to Biloxi The Pensacola Ice Pilots begin training camp Saturday on their home ice at the Civic Center, but the majority of preparation for the team's ninth ECHL season will take place two states away. Players report Saturday for physicals and their first on-ice workout under coach Dave Farrish at 1 1 am On Sunday, the Ice Pilots will practice at the Civic Center from 1 1 a.m. to 1 p.m., then move training camp to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum i I Football not only sufferer Vhen Hnrricane lyan bronght SUP in Biloxi with no available housing for the players here because of Hurricane Ivan. Saturday's and Sunday's practices at the Pensacola Civic Center are free and open to the public.

The Ice Pilots will scrimmage with the Mississippi Sea Wolves 'Mriftf Unit AW Jim Scavino PensacolaNewsJourn al.com The relationship between a music stand and a goal-line stand, or an offensive line and a drum line is easy to see for Lawrence Young Jr. When Hurricane Ivan wiped out two weeks worth of football games, the Washington High band director, whose squad is funded by a portion of ticket sales, was left without his most reliable fund raiser. "We knew that (football) was always going to be there," he said. Ivan took care of that steady rev I left area ecnoals at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Coast Coliseum.

The Ice Pilots will play two preseason home games against the Gwinnett Gladiators at the Civic Center on Oct. 15-16. The regular season begins Oct. 23 at Mississippi, and the home opener is Oct. 30 against defending league runner-up Florida.

The Ice Pilots on Thursday obtained left wing Bill Kinkel on assignment from Houston of the American Hockey League. to copo vath a to cope wim a i a I IK. I enue stream, forcing football teams, bands, booster clubs and other groups that rely on big stadium crowds to redo their budgets for this year and beyond. "Whatever we lost is 4, lost," Navarre athletic Murphy director Scott Murphy said. "I don't know how we're going to make it up." A total of 12 home games involving area teams were postponed or canceled due to Ivan, with only Jay, Northview and Milton not losing a home game.

The money lost from those games varies greatly based on school size and opponent. However, most Class 4A and 3A school coaches put the figure be- See IVAN, 3D small They play football TALK on the West Coast? This is one of the few weekends during the college football season that I will be paying close attention to PAC-10 football. No. 1 Southern Cal faces its biggest test when it hosts California on Saturday. The sad part about this is that USC, which plays in the not-so-tough PAC-10, may not be the best team in the country despite holding down the top spot in both the Associated Press and coaches' polls.

Even worse, Auburn and Georgia, unquestionably two of the best teams in the country, might play twice this year, making it very difficult for either one of those programs to go undefeated. This is troublesome because the current structure of college football makes me and others root for teams such as Cal with the Ron StallcupPensacolaNewsJournal.com Intense atmosphere awaits Milton, Pace hopes that justice prevails. r3 of the 23 meetings between the two schools. Lindsey hasn't fared well against the Panthers either, winning only three of the last between two good programs." If you want to go, get there early. A capacity crowd is expected to fill Milton's sta Lindsey McMillion Because Division I college football has no playoff system in place, national champions rarely seem deserving of that honor.

Instead it is the team that beats the system. Chris Kazakos Fax: 434-6241 E-mail: Chris Kazakos PensacolaNews Journal.com very much," Lindsey said. "We have improved the past two weeks, but they have spent more time getting ready for us. It's hard to say." Gardner sees the layoff as a plus. "I think its going to help," Gardner said.

"We have wanted to play football, and have all this frustration built up." McMillion has a similar outlook. "Our kids are hungry to play," Milton coach Mike McMillion said. "They're working hard. I don't know what effect (the layoff) will have. We're going to try to pick up where we left off." Chris Kazakos PensacolaNewsJournal.com It's not a replay of Super Bowl XXXVIII between New England and Carolina, but tonight's showdown between another group of Patriots and Panthers is sure to be an intriguing one.

It's Milton (2-0) versus Pace (3-1) one of Northwest Florida's biggest high school football rivalries. Even though the two teams are no longer in the same district, the importance of this clash still makes this matchup special. "It's Milton-Pace," Pace coach Mickey Lindsey said of Milton (2-0) vs. Pace (3-1) WHEN: 7:30 p.m., today. WHERE: Milton.

SERIES RECORD: Milton 1 9 P3C6 4. LAST YEAR: Milton 34, P3C8 6. TV: BLAB-TV (Cox 6, Mediacom 38) on Sunday at 10 p.m., taped. the 7:30 p.m. kickoff in Milton.

"It's bragging rights. It's a game between two cities 8-10 miles apart. Just a big game 11 matchups as Pace's coach. Lindsey and the Patriots are hoping to capitalize on, perhaps, a rusty Milton team. While it is the only remaining undefeated team in the area, the Panthers have not played a game since September 10 because of Hurricane Ivan.

"I haven't thought of that dium between the two neighboring schools. "This is my favorite game of the year," said Milton offensive lineman David Gardner, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound junior. "With the huge crowd, it's a different atmosphere. It's really a wonderful time." The Panthers have a huge edge in the series, winning 19 To report a story Call Sports Editor Joe Culpepper at 435-8552. Backup helps Southern Miss stay perfect Rogelio SolisAssociated Press Southern Miss quarterback Dustin Almond, right, threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score during the Golden Eagles' 35-29 overtime victory Thursday.

Almond left the game with an injury following his touchdown run that came with 1 :22 left in regulation. Backup QB Damion Carter led USM to the win in the extra frame. A. i from a 21-7 deficit and led 29-21 before Almond's touchdown run. Vincent Marshall had four catches for 190 yards, turning several short slants into long gains for the Cougars, who haven't beaten Southern Miss since 1996.

Backup quarterback Kendal Briles used by his father, Houston coach Art Briles as a multipurpose threat caught 10 passes for 101 yards, and ran for 24 yards and a touchdown. run with 1:22 remaining and Anthony Harris' game-tying 2-point conversion run. Almond injured his left leg on the TD run, forcing sophomore Carter who had attempted only two passes all season into the game. Southern Miss got the ball first in overtime and scored when Carter rolled right and hit Graves, who made a fingertip grab in the back of the end zone. Dustin Mc-Caleb's extra-point was blocked.

Associated Press HATTIESBURG, Miss. Backup quarterback Da-mion Carter threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Otho Graves in overtime, giving Southern Mississippi a 35-29 victory over Houston on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles (4-0, 3-0 Conference USA), who blew a 14-point lead and trailed for most of the second half, forced overtime on starting quarterback Dustin Almond's 18-yard touchdown Houston then advanced to the Southern Miss 15 before faltering with two plays for negative yardage, a false-start penalty and two incompletions. Southern Miss fans stormed the field after Kevin Kolb's final pass sailed out of the end zone. The Golden Eagles have won 12 straight Conference USA games since 2002.

Kolb was 19-of-36 for 345 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars (1-5, 1-3), who rallied 7 Hi SI IfllilU' "lH Wl I vum wur vvposiiv www3anay5ans1nK.com 6200 IVnsicob Blvd Pensacola FL WO AFTER FACTORY REGIES. CMC HUMICANE SBUSC DAMAGE DECOUNT fllOM HURRICANE..