FAIRFIELD — The Vanden Vikings outscored the Fairfield Falcons 17-11 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 60-49 victory in the Monticello Empire League boys basketball opener between former Solano County Athletic Conference rivals, Wednesday.,Both teams are at home Friday, with Fairfield hosting Rodriguez and Vanden playing Vacaville.,Wood 49, Rodriguez 48: At Vacaville, Jhalen Grayer grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the winning bucket with 20 seconds left in leading the Wildcats to a victory over the Mustangs in the MEL opener for both teams.,FAIRFIELD — Using four pins and six forfeit victories, the Rodriguez High wrestling team opened Monticello Empire League competition with a 60-24 win over MEL newcomer Vanden.,In other MEL games, Vacaville recorded a 4-1 victory over Armijo and Vanden blanked Fairfield, 8-0.

Nate, along with Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Bill Cowher and host James Brown will kick off CBS’ coverage of the game on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. Eastern Time.,CBS Local Sports: Philip Rivers doesn’t have the best history against Brady and the Patriots, going 1-7 in his career and 0-2 in the postseason.,CBS Local Sports: The Chargers coaching staff came up with an impressive game plan to stop the Ravens last Sunday.,CBS Local Sports: In the other AFC game, the Chiefs host the Colts.,That is important because, going into a game like this with Pat Mahomes, you can have a similar gameplan but you have to be sure that when you send a blitz it lands.

Two years to the day after McVay became the youngest head coach in modern NFL history, he will attempt to earn his first playoff victory Saturday night when the Rams (13-3) host the Dallas Cowboys (11-6) for a trip to the NFC championship game.,LaFleur was on McVay's staff with the Rams last year, while Kingsbury is a good friend and like-minded offensive innovator.,Two of McVay's current assistant coaches — Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor and passing game coordinator Shane Waldron — also landed recent interviews for head coaching jobs.,LaFleur was a longtime quarterbacks coach until McVay hired him as his offensive coordinator in 2017.,Kingsbury is coming off three consecutive losing seasons as the head coach at Texas Tech, but he improbably landed right next to McVay in the NFC West as the Arizona Cardinals' head coach.

NFL on CBS and Inside the NFL analyst Boomer Esiason looks at each of the four games.,Boomer Esiason: Going into the game against the Chicago Bears, I felt like the Bears and the Eagles had the best two combinations of offensive and defensive line personnel in the NFL.,CBS Local Sports: Philip Rivers has struggled against the Patriots in his career, going 1-7 against Belichick and company (0-7 when Tom Brady is quarterback).,And as long as his offensive line holds up, and Melvin Gordon is able to control the line of scrimmage a little bit with the running game, this could be Philip’s best opportunity to finally break through against Tom Brady.,Is Indianapolis going to come in here with this massive offensive line and control the football and keep the ball away from Patrick Mahomes, making those guys a little impatient on offense?

Tucson attorney Ali Farhang recently phoned Oakland Raiders president Marc Badain, introduced himself and pitched a plan for the Raiders to play their 2019 home schedule at Arizona Stadium.,The man who created the Arizona Bowl and has become part-owner of the indoor football league’s Tucson Sugar Skulls, is not shy about an attempt to execute a grandiose Act III, putting the National Football League in Tucson — if only for a season.,+1 

Before settling in Las Vegas, the NFL’s Raiders would be smart to call Tucson home in 2019, Ali Farhang believes.,Or, perhaps, the Raiders could be creative, schedule a preseason game or two at Arizona Stadium, and play the ’19 regular-season schedule — eight home games — in a variety of Western cities.,In the hallway to his office is a subway sign that reads: read more

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on the funeral service for Purdue University superfan and cancer activist Tyler Trent (all times local):

Hundreds of dignitaries, sports figures and other people have attended the funeral for Purdue University superfan and cancer activist Tyler Trent.,In a sanctuary of an Indianapolis church featuring many items of sports memorabilia collected by Trent, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb read a message Tuesday evening from Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen.,Purdue quarterback David Blough said Trent would want the evening "to be all about Jesus.",A former Purdue University student who inspired many as he battled cancer while cheering on Purdue's football team will be laid to rest.,Tuesday's funeral service for Tyler Trent will be livestreamed from College Park Church in Indianapolis. read more

BOSTON (CBS) — Bill Belichick and Nick Saban have done their share of winning on the football field.,Prior to that championship tilt, Belichick sat down with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi to chat about his relationship with Saban, which dates back to the early 1980s when Saban was coaching with Belichick’s father at the Naval Academy.,Belichick hired Saban to be his defensive coordinator in Cleveland in 1991, and even when they were AFC East foes in 2005 (when Saban was head coach of the Miami Dolphins), Saban made sure to attend the funeral for Belichick’s father despite it taking place in the middle of a game week.,So the two all-time coaches have a pretty good feel for each other, which led to some interesting responses during Rinaldi’s sitdown (Saban also shared his thoughts on Belichick for the piece).,And while Belichick probably doesn’t like to see his buddy lose on the biggest stage, Monday night’s Alabama loss may be good news for the Patriots.

Not only did the game have meaning on the national level, it was a game that attracted the attention of local football fans in the Wyoming Valley with Meyers graduate Raghib “Rocket” Ismail playing for Notre Dame, and GAR’s Greg Skrepenak playing on the offensive line for Michigan.,With less than a minute left in the game, Colorado punted to Ismail and he returned it nearly 90 yards for what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown.,In an interview with The Citizens’ Voice in October prior to the final football game between Meyers and GAR, Ismail recalled a visit from Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz while he was recruiting Ismail.,In 1990, Ismail received the Walter Camp Award, an honor given to college football’s player of the year as voted on by major college football coaches and sports information directors.,... Senior year, Ismail rushed for 2,210 yards and 35 touchdowns and was named to PARADE’s All-America team.

Before he knew the next opponent, owner Jerry Jones likened the recovery of his Dallas Cowboys from 3-5 to their first playoff win in four years to a boom-or-bust wagon train headed to California.,The other big change, also during the open week, was firing first-year offensive line coach Paul Alexander and promoting someone familiar with what had helped the Cowboys mold one of the best blocking units in football in former player and assistant line coach Marc Colombo.,In his first year, coach Sean McVay led LA to the NFC West title in the franchise's first winning season in 14 years, including a 35-30 victory at the Cowboys after falling behind 24-13.,Dallas has gone to Oxnard for training camp every year since 2010, and Jones played a pivotal role in getting league approval of LA owner Stan Kroenke's move from St. Louis three years ago.,The Rams' new stadium doesn't open until 2020, so the first playoff meeting between these teams since 1986 will be in the same place as that 20-0 LA victory: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Rickey Dixon, the great Oklahoma defensive back, will join the likes of Vince Young and Jacob Green, icons of Texas and Texas AM, in the next class of the College Football Hall of Fame.,On Monday, Lorraine asked her husband what everyone wants to know: "Would you play football again, knowing what you know now?","I don't know, I guess it's our faith," said Lorraine, who met Rickey in college and married him more than 25 years ago.,Before leaving, Switzer hugged Rickey close, looked into his haunting eyes and told him, "Good things will happen this year.",Rickey won't go, Lorraine said, but his children will represent their father on his big night.