Comment on Donte Smith helps USC avoid trap

CLASS 5A No. 1 Cherry Creek (3-1) vs. No. 8 Pine Creek (3-1) When/where: 7 p.m. Friday at Stutler Bowl Last meeting: Cherry Creek 41, vs. Pine Creek 21, Nov. 26, 2022 A week after handing Texas prep power Highland Park its first home loss in three years, the Bruins return to Stutler Bowl for their second in-state game of the season.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. — The Broncos on Wednesday added a veteran inside linebacker to their practice squad. Denver is signing Kwon Alexander, a 10th-year player, to its practice squad as it kicks off a practice week at The Greenbrier here, a source confirmed to The Denver Post. Alexander most recently played nine games in 2023 for Pittsburgh, but his season ended in November when he ruptured his Achilles for the second time in his career. Alexander, a Pro Bowler in 2017, spent the first four years of his career in Tampa before playing for San Francisco, New Orleans, the New York Jets and then the Steelers. He has familiarity with Broncos head coach Sean Payton and some of the staffers because he played for Payton with the Saints in 2020 and 2021. Alexander joins undrafted rookie Levelle Bailey as inside linebackers on the practice squad.

On cue, that old Blackmon magic showed up Tuesday night at Coors Field, but the Rockies’ chances of beating the Cardinals disappeared with the return of late-inning pratfalls. St. Louis scored a run in the seventh and four more in the eighth to turn a tight game into a 7-3 cruiser. Colorado lost when leading after six innings for the 15th time this season (a 43-15 record), the second-most such losses in the National League behind the Mets (61-16). A day after announcing his retirement, 14-year veteran Charlie Blackmon swung his magic wand and gave the Rockies a short-lived 3-2 lead in the fifth with an RBI triple into the right-center gap. Blackmon is 38, but he still has the wheels of a much younger player, and he burned up the basepath on his way to third.

Despite a powder blue shirt and a red cap, Nolan Arenado wore a purple heart on his sleeve. “I didn’t know the press conference was going to happen until this morning,” the St. Louis Cardinals third baseman said Tuesday inside the visiting clubhouse at Coors Field, an hour after he’d conspicuously attended the news conference down the hall, watching former Rockies teammate Charlie Blackmon say farewell to a game they both love. “Got a few texts, and I’m happy that all the guys let me know.

Pregame, in-game, postgame, off day, or offseason, Charlie Blackmon always had a game plan precisely mapped out. Until now. With his retirement on the near horizon, the Rockies’ star outfielder and fan favorite finds himself in limbo at age 38. He’s not even sure what will happen to the gnarly beard he’s been growing for over a decade. “My wife (Ashley) has actually never seen me without it, so I’m a little bit concerned about how that would be received at home,” he joked.

The moment Brandon Jones secured his first interception of the season on Sunday against Tampa Bay transported him back in time. It came in the first quarter of Sunday’s 26-7 road victory over the Buccaneers when Jones got a bead on Baker Mayfield. Reading the quarterback’s eyes as turned toward receiver Mike Evans, the Broncos safety stepped in front of Evans for the pick before zig-zagging across the field for a 37-yard return to Tampa Bay’s 9-yard line. “I saw Mike Evans take a vertical release out of some sort of bunch look.