Florida Sports Wire

By Jeff Moeller Note to Jaguars: Don’t mess it up. Also, this is still the time to be thankful and believe in fate. The latter is a factor I have harped on over the past two weeks. Fate is on their side. You may have to take a second look, but the first-place Jaguars have placed themselves in a position to win the AFC South or gain a Wildcard spot. At this point, they control their one destiny. The key words are “at this point.” That means, they have to go into Houston Sunday afternoon and beat the 2-12-1 Texans. Remember, this is the same Texan team that came into Jacksonville and beat a sluggish Jaguars’ team, 13-6, behind the running of Dameon Pierce, who bulldozed his way for 99 yards and scored a late fourth-quarter touchdown that won it. Trevor Lawrence had a rough day with two bad interceptions on a 25-for-47, 286-yard performance, all was listless late Sunday afternoon as the Jags sat at 2-5. It had all the making of another 3-14 or 4-13 season. From there, the Jags took a gian

(SportsDay Photo by Nancy Beecher/Florida Sports Wire) By Mike Bonts JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) – Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner ran for two touchdowns and threw for three more as the Irish rallied to defeat South Carolina 45-38 before 67,383 in the Gator Bowl Friday. He was named the MVP. The sophomore threw for a career-high 274 yards with 18 completions on 33 attempts and three scores. He also added 61 yards on the ground. Tight end Mitchell Evans caught the winning TD from Buchner with 1:38 to play. The Irish offense ran for 264 yards total. Audric Estime led with 95 yards on 14 attempts. Logan Diggs added 13 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown. Chris Tyree added 21 yards on five rushes. Braden Lenzy added four catches for a game-best 89 yards and a touchdown. Buchner ran for an 11-yard score in the third quarter and 15 yards to tie the game with 5:54 to play in the first quarter. He had two passes returned for touchdowns. Trailing 38-31, O’Donnell Fortune picked off

  The golf world and the world in general lost one of its most incredible women with the passing of Kathy Whitworth yesterday. Kathy was a champion in the truest sense of the word, both on the golf course and off. In the short time I spent with Kathy, I was truly blown away by her and her approach to the game and to life. Her strength, insightfulness and vibrancy were obvious from the minute you met her! She inspired me as a young girl and now as the commissioner and I know she did the same for so many others. We all mourn with Bettye, her family and the entire golf world.” – LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan (From the LPGA) By Ron Sirak The dining room at Trophy Club Country Club near Flower Mound, Texas, gazes upon the rolling hills and old oak trees through which two courses meander, one named for the club’s most famous member, Kathy Whitworth, the other the lone design by the icon of Texas golf, Ben Hogan. Inside the dining room the wall opposite the windows appears at first

  By Jeff Moeller Thursday night’s game in the Meadowlands was billed as the showdown between the top two quarterbacks in the 2021 draft. The Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence showed up, the Jets’ Zach Wilson didn’t. Neither did the Jets on a night of steady, driving rain.  Still, the Jaguars looked like a team that already has clinched a postseason berth, a task they can achieve in two weeks. Last week, I wrote about how fate can be a factor for the Jags down the stretch, and it certainly appears possible. Jacksonville had their way with the New Yorkers most of the night until practice squad quarterback Chris Streveler provided some late spark in the second half, but the Jets couldn’t find the end zone in their 19-3 defeat. It was so bad that Streveler was their leading rusher with 54 yards. In a must-game situation for both teams, it only proved that both teams are currently heading in opposite directions. The Jags have their franchise quarterback, and again, the Jets don’t. More importantly,

(SportsDay Photo by Jim Brady.Florida Sports Wire)   (From the National Football League) Week 16 of the 2022 NFL season gets underway tonight (8:15 PM ET, Prime Video) as the Jacksonville Jaguars (6-8) visit the New York Jets (7-7) in a pivotal late-season meeting between playoff hopefuls. Each team enters the matchup only one game out of the AFC playoff picture. The Jaguars hold the all-time regular-season series advantage, 8-7, but the Jets earned the victory in the most recent meeting, a 26-21 win in Week 16 of the 2021 season. New York quarterback ZACH WILSON (91 rushing yards) and running back MICHAEL CARTER (118) each set career high rushing totals in rushing in that game, including a 52-yard touchdown run by Wilson. The Jaguars enter Week 16 with back-to-back wins and sit only a game back of Tennessee for first place in the AFC South. Jacksonville is looking to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2017. Last week, the Jaguars overcame a 17-point deficit in the thi

(SportsDay Photo by Jim Brady/Florida Sports Wire) By Jeff Moeller JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) -The thump around Jacksonville came around 4:20 p.m. Sunday afternoon. A few minutes later, “Sweet Home Alabama” rang loudly through TIAA Bank Field. This could be fate. Better yet, call it about mettle and character. The days about wondering if they will get the top pick in next year’s draft are officially over. Welcome, Jaguars’ fans, to the beginning of the next chapter. Down 27-10, the Jaguars seemed destined to lose to the 10-3 Dallas Cowboys as a team that is still not there against a team that is there. This was supposed to be the game for the Cowboys to clinch a playoff berth and let them concentrate on their first-place showdown with Philadelphia Christmas eve. Yet, we got another glimpse of what could be. Rayshawn Jenkins’ 51-yard pick six gave the Jaguars a 40-34 overtime win over the Cowboys and sent the more than 60,000 into a state of pandemonium. Jenkins earlier had an i

 (SportsDay Photo Gallery by Jim Brady/Florida Sports Wire)

By Jake Wheeler  Florida Sports Wire TULSA, OK - - Parker Gahagen made 34 saves to pick up the win while Jacob Hamacher picked up his first career professional goal as the Jacksonville Icemen defeated the Tulsa Oilers 4-2 at the BOK Center Friday night.   The Icemen extended their win streak to five games.    The Icemen got off to a fantastic start in this contest as just 35 seconds into the game, Jacob Hamacher scored on a sharp angle shot on the goal line to pick up his first career professional goal.   Following the goal, the Oilers found their legs and started to get some scoring chances of their own. Jacksonville’s Parker Gahagen came up big with a few keys stops, including one where Tulsa generated a 2-0 breakaway.   Moments later, the Icemen’s Jacob Friend added another tally off of a slick dangle and shot from the slot. Late in the opening period, Tulsa went to the powerplay and made Jacksonville pay as Soper scored on a one-timer to cut their deficit to one goal at the end of

  JA CKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) –   The Jacksonville Icemen, ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack announced today that the team has agreed to terms with forward Craig Martin.      Martin’s return marks the fourth consecutive season he will be a member of the Icemen, where he is tied for third All-Time in points (91) and goals (39) in Icemen club history.   Martin was acquired by the Icemen from Adirondack during the 2019-20 season. Martin, 27, returns to Jacksonville after leading the Icemen in scoring last season with 60 points and a career high 29 goals.   Martin’s 60 points tied a team record for most points in a single season, originally held by former Icemen forward Wacey Rabbit. Martin began this season overseas with Slovakia’s Presov HC.  The 6-1, 182-pound forward totaled 75 points (27g, 48a) in 134 games during his four collegiate seasons at Quinnipiac University from 2015-2019.  The Trail, BC resident Martin was acquired by the I

Jim Wyatt,  Senior Writer/Editor Tennessee Titans.com NASHVILLE – The Titans lost their third straight game on Sunday – this one a sloppy, 36-22 loss to the Jaguars. Titans running back Derrick Henry ran for 121 yards in the contest. But on this day, the Titans didn't do much else right. The Titans turned the ball over four times in the game, including three times in the first half, which led to 17 points. "Nothing was good enough today," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. "Yeah, we're frustrated. It sucks to lose." The Jaguars scored 29 straight points at one point in the contest before a Tennessee touchdown in the fourth quarter. But by then, it was too little, too late. While the Jaguars were harassing Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was sacked four times, the Titans defense couldn't get to Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who wasn't sacked while throwing for 368 yards and three touchdowns. After starting the season 7-3, the Titans dropped

By Joey Johnston When the college football season began, practically no one expected the Illinois Fighting Illini and Mississippi State Bulldogs to be surrounded by beaches, palm trees, world-class attractions and the Tampa Bay area's inviting destination for a New Year's weekend bowl game. Let's roll the preseason predictions: Illinois: Picked sixth among seven teams in the Big Ten Conference's West Division. Mississippi State: Picked sixth among seven teams in the Southeastern Conference's West Division. Needless to say, the coaches, players and fans from Illinois and Mississippi State aren't just happy to be invited to the Jan. 2 ReliaQuest Bowl at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. They are thrilled. And after remarkably productive seasons that have stamped the Illini (8-4) and Bulldogs (8-4) as surprise contenders, they are determined to erase the last question marks with a resounding exclamation point. "For this season, it's more of a leap start f

  By Mike Bonts TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Lightning (17-9-1) scored three goals in the third period as they earned their 10th win in their last 13 games with a 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers (13-11-4) Saturday at AMALIE Arena. "I didn't think we moved the puck, managed the puck or moved our feet particularly well tonight," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "We were trying to play a game slower than the game demanded itself to be played. We've got to find a way to get fast on a back-to-back." Pat Maroon opened the scoring and notched his first goal of the season at 8:40 of the first period. Zac Dalpe tied the game at 1-1 for the Panthers with a goal at 6:02 of the second period. Assists went to Josh Mahura and Eric Staal. Brayden Point gave the Bolts a 2-1 lead at 3:03 of the third, sneaking a shot underneath the arm of Panthers goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky. The goal was Point’s 14th of the season. Mikhail Sergachev scored his fifth goal of the season

By Jeff Moeller This last one was a head scratcher. There have been a couple of those this season, especially with the Jaguars’ defense. Here was a Jaguars’ defense in Detroit last weekend that didn’t look anything like they did at home against Baltimore the previous week. Against the Ravens, the Jags’ defense was able to keep Lamar Jackson in check enough for them to pull out a last-second statement victory. Once again, the pendulum swung upward toward the anticipation most Jaguars’ fans and even brass believed where it should be. A win in Detroit against a seemingly evenly matched team could ignite a possibly late-season surge. However, once again, those hopes were dashed. Another opportunity that was wasted. The Jags will be in Tennessee Sunday against a team that is struggling to find its consistency presumably at the right time to capture the AFC South title. Tennessee is 7-5 and coming off a 35-10 thumping from the Eagles last week and a tight 20-16 loss to the Bengals the previo

By Mike Bonts JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) – The Jacksonville Icemen (10-9) opened a three-game series against the Utah Grizzlies (9-10) Wednesday night before 5,125 at Veterans Memorial Arena with a 5-2 win. Neil Robinson cut into a two-goal Jacksonville lead just 22 seconds into the final period. But Travis Howe increased the Icemen’s advantage with his first goal of the year midway through the third. Then made it 5-2 on a shot into an empty net. The Icemen scored twice in the decisive second period. Luke Martin and Zach Jordan lit the lamp. Jordan made it 3-0 on a shorthanded goal. Utah averted a shutout on Tyler Penner’s fourth goal of the season on a power play in the final minute of the second period. Icemen defenseman Hunter Skinner scored his second goal of the season on a power play to open the scoring. Derek Lodermeier picked up two assists in the victory. Parker Gahagen stopped 27 shots for the Icemen. Trent Miner made 33 saves for the visitors. The clubs meet again in

Tim Twentyman Senior Writer, Detroit Lion s When asked this week about facing the Jacksonville Jaguars at Ford Field on Sunday, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he thought the two teams were mirror images of one another.  Both teams are young, building a culture under new coaching staffs, had 11 one-score losses on the year between them, and came in with identical 4-7 records. But on this day, Detroit was clearly the more dominant football team. The Lions raced out to a double-digit lead early and were on cruise control from there for a 40-14 win at home for their fourth victory in the last five contests. They improve to 5-7 on the season. Detroit's offense scored on their first eight possessions of the game (TD, TD, FG, FG, FG, TD, FG, TD). The only possession they didn't score on was the final one with a couple kneel downs to end the game.  Detroit racked up 31 first downs and had 437 total yards of offense. Detroit scored 30-plus points for the sixth time this seas

 By Jeff Moeller Last week’ s last-second, 28-27 win over Baltimore certainly as a statement win for Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. Lawrence was brilliant with his overall play throughout, reaching his crescendo on the final game-winning drive and subsequent two-point conversion to cap a 321-yard, three touchdown and no turnovers game in which he completed 29 of 37. His biggest previous win likely was- against Miami in London last year, or even the blowout 38-10 win in San Diego in Week Three. But in this case, Lawrence and his team finished. It wasn’t just Lawrence, who had time to find his receivers, but it also was the Jags’ defense, which kept Lamar Jackson out of the end zone when needed. They closed the door when they had to do it, and they didn’t leave it hanging. This can be the character-type win they have been anticipating. Last week was about staying close enough to have the chance to win. This week, it is a must win to take the first step to begin a new identity. They are