Thursday, August 28, 2008

By BEE NEWS SERVICES

last updated: July 06, 2008 03:02:51 AM

SAN JOSE -- Mark Grieb threw for 283 yards and seven touchdowns, and the defending Arena Football League champion San Jose SaberCats advanced to the conference finals with a wild 64-51 victory over the Colorado Crush on Saturday.

San Jose plays the winner of today's Grand Rapids-Chicago game next week for the right to play in the Arena Bowl on July 27 in New Orleans.

San Jose entered the fourth quarter with a 36-24 lead, and the teams combined for 55 points in the final period. Grieb's 10-yard touchdown pass to Cleannord Saintil with 3:04 left gave San Jose a 57-37 lead.

Grieb went 25 for 34 and connected with James Roe for three touchdowns. Ex-Fresno State star Rodney Wright had nine catches for 116 yards and two TDs, and Saintil had eight for 95 yards and two scores. ...

Matt D'Orazio threw a 28-yard TD pass to Larry Brackins on the final play of the game to give the host Philadelphia Soul a 49-48 victory over the New York Dragons in another AFL playoff game. With 7 seconds left, D'Orazio dropped back and connected with Brackins on a crossing pattern. The receiver dashed toward the end zone and barely broke the goal line while two Dragons tried to bring him down. Downey grad Tony Graziani, normally the Soul's starting quarterback, has battled injuries this season.

NFL

Former Chargers safety Terrence Kiel was killed after he was thrown from a Chevy sedan, police said Saturday. Kiel, 27, was driving alone after leaving a party at about 10:15 Friday night when he hit a wall in San Diego's Scripps Ranch neighborhood and was thrown from the car, police Sgt. Alan Hayward said. He died about an hour later. In February 2007, Kiel pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor drug charges involving sending codeine-based cough syrup to Texas. He was cut from the team soon thereafter.

College Football

Louisville junior wide receiver Trent Guy was shot in the back early Saturday outside a garage near a downtown nightclub. The school said he's expected to fully recover.

NBA

Michael Beasley resumed contact drills with the Miami Heat summer league team Saturday, his first regular basketball activity since slightly cracking his sternum in practice three days earlier.

NHL

Forward Marcel Goc of the San Jose Sharks was among 15 players who elected Saturday to take their teams to salary arbitration. ... Free agent forward Matt Cooke signed a two-year contract with Pittsburgh on Saturday, replacing Jarkko Ruutu as the Penguins' primary agitator.

Boxing

Kendall Holt survived two knockdowns in the first 35 seconds, then landed a right that stopped Ricardo Torres just more than a minute into the first round to capture the WBO junior welterweight championship in Las Vegas. Holt landed a left to the body that forced Torres to drop his hands and fall backward off balance. The usually light-hitting Holt then landed a looping right to the head that draped Torres over the bottom rope, prompting ref Jay Nady ref to stop it at 1:01 of the first round. ... Felix Sturm jabbed his way to a lopsided decision over Randy Griffin in Halle, Germany, successfully defending his WBA middleweight title.

Mixed Martial Arts

Forrest Griffin upset light heavyweight champ Quinton (Rampage) Jackson on Saturday night, winning a five-round unanimous decision at UFC 86 in Las Vegas. Griffin used his movement, reach and kicks to slow Jackson and survived the champion's power shots in an action-packed fight at Mandalay Bay Events Center. In the co-main event, middleweight Patrick Cote decisioned Ricardo Almeida.

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