High school football: Scores from the Week 8 games Thursday, Oct. 12

• October 13, 2023

All of the scores from the CIF-SS and L.A. City high school football games Thursday, Oct. 12.

THURSDAY’S SCORES

CIF-SS

605 LEAGUE

Artesia 37, Pioneer 19

Cerritos 38, Glenn 0

BIG 4 LEAGUE

Segerstrom 64, Katella 0

BIG WEST-UPPER LEAGUE

Corona Centennial 62, Vista Murrieta 14

CITRUS 4 LEAGUE

Colony 34, South Hills 14

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

Foothill 22, Villa Park 21

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Cypress 42, Placentia Valencia 14

HACIENDA LEAGUE

Diamond Bar 42, Nogales 0

Walnut 42, Ontario 6

IVY LEAGUE

Rancho Verde 45, Elsinore 10

MARMONTE LEAGUE

St. Bonaventure 29, Simi Valley 24

MIRAMONTE LEAGUE

La Puente 14, Bassett 10

MISSION VALLEY LEAGUE

Arroyo 63, Mountain View 14

MOORE LEAGUE

Long Beach Poly 50, Cabrillo 6

MOJAVE RIVER LEAGUE

Serrano 35, Sultana 22

MOUNTAIN VALLEY LEAGUE

San Bernardino 34, Rubidoux 16

ORANGE LEAGUE

Anaheim 51, Magnolia 22

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Burbank Burroughs 41, Arcadia 7

RIO HONDO LEAGUE

San Marino 35, Pasadena Poly 0

SKYLINE LEAGUE

Bloomington 20, Colton 18

Fontana 47, Riverside Notre Dame 6

SUNKIST LEAGUE

Summit 35, Grand Terrace 21

SUNSET LEAGUE

Edison 31, Newport Harbor 28

NONLEAGUE

Vista del Lago 41, Moreno Valley 18

L.A. CITY

EASTERN LEAGUE

Huntington Park 27, Los Angeles Roosevelt 12

Bell 14, South Gate 0

8-MAN

CIF-SS

Milken 69, Vista Meridian 6

CITY SECTION

Sherman Oaks CES 38, East Valley 14

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​ Orange County Register 

Passing attack lifts Anaheim football to win over Magnolia that boosts playoff chances

• October 13, 2023

ANAHEIM — The Anaheim football team stayed true to its new offensive philosophy by airing it out early and often in a 51-22 victory over Magnolia on Thursday night at Western High.

Colonists quarterback MJ Fernandez threw five touchdown passes, three going to wide receiver Jason Garrett, in the Orange League contest.

Anaheim (4-4, 2-1) is now on track for a postseason berth, and coach Lanny Booher hopes to continue the team’s momentum in an important league game next week against Savanna.

“Obviously, to get that one (next week), it would get us into the playoffs and it would be big,” Booher said. “Our third win (in league) would probably get us in, so that’s the most important thing right now. We’ll worry about Western when they come.”

Garrett caught three passes for 75 yards with each reception scoring a touchdown. Fernandez, who finished with 239 yards passing, also threw TD passes to Jeremiah Castro and Xavier Aviles.

“It was great,” Booher said of the Fernandez-Garrett connection. “Jason got hurt early in the season, so he’s only been back for a couple of games, so its really good to see that timing come back. Hopefully we can make a playoff run and they can continue to click.”

Anaheim running back Eduardo Guardado ran for 116 yards and two second-half touchdowns.

The Colonists scored on the first play of the game, a 68-yard catch by Castro, and made it 14-0 on Fernandez’s next completion, a 58-yard pass to Garrett.

Magnolia quarterback Andre Scott passed for 326 yards and three touchdowns and also recorded an interception on defense against Anaheim on Thursday, Oct. 12. (Photo by David Delgado)

Magnolia sophomore quarterback Andre Scott threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns passes. His favorite target was Dontay Houston, who caught nine passes for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Sentinels (1-7, 1-2) also got a big contribution from Samuel Alcazar, who had five receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Magnolia scored on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Scott to Alcazar and then recovered the ensuing onside kick.

The Sentinels took the lead, 15-14, with an 11-yard TD catch by Houston and a 2-point conversion by Scott.

Magnolia coach Poutoa Fuega recognizes that his team is very young and lacking experience, but he liked what he saw when the Sentinels took a brief advantage to end the first quarter after falling behind 14-0.

“Normally, when we get down like that, the kids are already breaking down,” Fuega said, “but this time they actually prevailed and picked up the pieces.”

“We knew they had some athletic guys and they were going to be tough to contain,” Booher said of the first-quarter play by Magnolia. “When you make mistakes, those guys will make you pay for it.”

Aviles’ 39-yard TD catch in the second quarter on third-and-28 gave the Colonists a 21-15 lead they would not relinquish.

The Sentinels fumbled on the next play from scrimmage and the loose ball was recovered by Joshua Meza.

Fernandez found Jason Garrett for a 15-yard TD pass later in the second quarter, then Ricardo Vela added a 23-yard field goal before halftime.

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​ Orange County Register 

Foothill football stuns Villa Park in Crestview League opener with rousing finish

• October 13, 2023

ORANGE — A gutsy decision by Foothill football coach Doug Case to go for a 2-point conversion after Aaron Mitchell’s 2-yard touchdown run with under two minutes remaining in the game proved to be the difference in the Knights’ 22-21, come from behind victory over previously undefeated Villa Park in a Crestview League opener Thursday at El Modena High School.

Mitchell’s scoring run was the highlight of a 53-yard scoring drive that featured huge completions from Foothill quarterback Nicholas Miali and a wild play in which possession changed twice.

Miali ran in the winning 2-point conversion following Mitchell’s touchdown.

Foothill quarterback Nicholas Miali (10) completed 11 of 22 passes for 162 yards and ran in the game-winning 2-point conversion in the Knights’ 22-21 victory over Villa Park on Thursday, Oct. 12, at El Modena High School. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

“We’re on the road, we’re fighting for a league title,” Case said. “There was no doubt in my mind we were going for two right then. We had momentum, the kids were fired up, we’ve been a great second-half team. They were tired at the end. Mitchell just scored on an easy jab, so we just faked it to Mitchell, and Miali ran it in for the 2-pointer.”

With Crestview League teams playing only three league games, one more victory for the Knights (5-3, 1-0) can almost guarantee a playoff berth.

The Spartans (7-1, 0-1), who are ranked No. 10 in Orange County, need to pick up a victory next week in a home contest against Yorba Linda.

In the game-winning drive, the Knights had possession on the Spartans’ 34 when Mialli completed a 30-yard pass to the 4.

But the ball was fumbled and picked up by Jacob Johnson of Villa Park, who ran 30 yards before fumbling the ball back to the Knights.

Foothill faced a fourth-and-9 from the Spartans 32 when Miali completed a 17-yard pass to Jack Zerkel, and that was followed by an 11-yard completion to Connor Pietras.

Mitchell scored two plays later, setting up the winning 2-point conversion.

Villa Park took over at its 20 with 1:49 remaining and in a position to win the game with a field goal.

But Foothill safety Bode Jellerson put an end to that possibility with an interception with 46 seconds remaining.

An interception by Foothill safety Bode Jellerson (3) with 49 seconds remaining sealed the Knights’ 22-21 victory over Villa Park in a Crestview LEague opener Thursday, Oct. 12, at El Modena High School. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

“We put in a cover four drop back because we knew we’d probably find ourselves in a situation like this,” Jellerson said. “They had a little bit of time in the pocket. It was probably bound to get intercepted if it took them that long to get it off. It was definitely a pop fly. We were locked in on the football.”

Vince Lagatta’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Jarrel gave Villa Park a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.

Lagatta then connected with Carter Christie for a 9-yard score, making the score 14-0 after the successful 2-point conversion.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jacob Williams recovered a fumble for the Spartans on the Foothill 23 and it appeared as though the Spartans would add to their lead.

But the momentum changed quickly when Foothill’s Bryce Perkins intercepted a third-down pass at the 1 and returned it 91 yards.

Aaron Mitchell scored on a 4-yard run three plays later to make the score 14-7.

The Knights forced a punt and then Miali then scored on a 1-yard run on the final play of the first half to tie the score.

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​ Orange County Register 

Edison football rallies to edge Newport Harbor in thriller that ends with blocked field goal attempt

• October 13, 2023

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HUNTINGTON BEACH — Edison’s football team found itself in familiar territory Thursday as it quickly faced adversity against Newport Harbor, falling behind by two touchdowns against a sizzling quarterback.

But the Chargers responded with the perseverance they’ve shown again this season.

Edison endured all the way to the final play, blocking a 32-yard field goal attempt by Newport Harbor as time expired to seal a dramatic 31-28 victory in the Sunset League at Huntington Beach High.

Junior Jake Minter leaped to deflect the low kick, igniting a wild celebration by Edison (5-3, 3-0), which rallied from a 14-0 deficit behind freshman quarterback Sam Thomson and junior running back Julius Gillick.

“It’s incredible,” Edison senior cornerback Jared Schnoor said of the victory. “The amount of energy and courage it took to finish that game out is crazy. Both teams played really well.”

Edison block for the win … great game! ⁦@EdisonChargerFB⁩ ⁦@EdisonSportsNet⁩ pic.twitter.com/YJfAbAx0N1

— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) October 13, 2023

Edison, ranked 12th in Orange County, navigated playing four of its first five games on the road after its season-opening trip to Hawaii was canceled due to the Maui fires. Against No. 13 Newport Harbor (3-5, 1-2), the challenge was slowing down quarterback Jaden O’Neal and wide receivers Jordan Anderson — an Oregon commit — and Josiah Lamarque.

O’Neal passed for 335 yards while Anderson finished with 16 catches for 167 yards. Lamarque added 12 catches for 115 yards.

Edison took a 31-28 lead on a 22-yard field goal by junior Nico Bammer with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Backup quarterback Bode Stefano then led Sailors down the field, converting a fourth-down pass in taking his team to the Edison 10 with 15 seconds left. The junior threw two passes toward the end zone for the victory before Newport Harbor tried to send the game into overtime with the field goal.

Newport Harbor was aiming for its first victory against Edison since 1979.

“I think in that final drive, a lot of our kids had a lot of confidence that we were going to punch it in,” Sailors coach Peter Lofthouse said. “Credit to Edison’s defense and special teams.”

O’Neal completed his first 12 passes in leading a sizzling start for Newport Harbor.

The sophomore opened the game by guiding a 67-yard scoring drive capped by a 3-yard TD pass to Cade Fegel.

O’Neal led another long scoring drive on Newport Harbor’s next possession, which he punctuated w/ a 1-yard TD run.

But Edison recovered to tie the score at 14-14 at halftime as Schnoor scored on a 4-yard run and Thomson tossed his first of two touchdowns to senior wide out Mason York.

In the second half, the teams were tied at 21-21 in the third, which saw the O’Neal leave late in period with an injury.

“He says he’ll be fine for next week,” Lofthouse said of O’Neal, who limped after a 16-yard run. “We’re going evaluate that.”

In the middle of the fourth quarter, Thomson threw a 25-yard TD to York to knot the score at 28-28 with 7:23 left.

Thomson spent most of the season with the freshmen team but played for injured starter Save Niumata, who warmed up but didn’t play.

Gillick rushed for 217 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown to give Edison its first lead early in the second half.

Next week, Edison plays rival Fountain Valley in the teams’ Bell Game at Orange Coast College on Oct. 20. The Chargers own an 18-game winning streak in the series.

Edison closes the Sunset League against Los Alamitos at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach on Oct. 27.

Newport Harbor next week plays host to rival Corona del Mar on Oct. 20 in the teams’ Battle of the Bay game. Corona del Mar has won 10 straight in the series.

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​ Orange County Register 

Harbor-UCLA orthopedic supervisor engaged in sexual misconduct with unconscious patients, doctors allege

• October 13, 2023

Three female physicians have filed lawsuits alleging that the former chairman of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center’s Orthopedic Department engaged in sexual misconduct involving unconscious patients, delayed acute surgeries in favor of elective procedures and repeatedly made misogynistic comments to staff.

Dr. Louis Kwong was named in one lawsuit by Drs. Haleh Badkoobehi and Jennifer Hsu, both orthopedic surgeons, and another by Dr. Madonna Fernandez-Frackelton, the hospital’s former director of emergency medicine. Both suits, filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, also name Los Angeles County, which operates the medical center and allegedly ignored the women’s complaints about Kwong.

The women, seeking more than $50,000 in damages, allege myriad employment violations, including retaliation, hostile work environment, harassment, and gender and pregnancy discrimination.

Kwong, who was placed on leave from his position more than a year ago, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Health said Thursday, Oct. 12, that steps were taken to investigate allegations against Kwong soon after the complaints surfaced in 2021. That investigation is nearing completion.

“Should the allegations be substantiated, appropriate corrective actions will be taken,” the DHS said in an email. “It is important to note that civil service rules do not permit any level of discipline against employees until an investigation has concluded. In adhering to these rules, the most an employer can do is place an employee on paid administrative leave until the investigation concludes. The decision to place a civil service employee on administrative leave is not taken lightly.”

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a public teaching hospital and one of two Level 1 trauma centers in the county, also has deep gratitude for “those who courageously stepped forward with their complaints,” DHS said.

Sexual misconduct alleged

The lawsuits contain a string of stunning allegations against Kwong.

Badkoobehi and Hsu allege Kwong committed sexual misconduct on unconscious patients in the Harbor-UCLA operating room in the presence of multiple witnesses. He engaged in “finger-banging” of surgical hip wounds in front of Badkoobehi, while making sexual sounds and saying he was finding the “G-spot,” the lawsuit states.

Additionally, Badkoobehi alleges Kwong undraped an anesthetized patient to look at his penis after being told it was large, and that he measured the penis size of some patients.

“He was also reported to lift the surgical gowns to ‘check under the hood’ to view the size of an unconscious Black male’s penis he had been told was large,” the suit states, adding that management at Harbor-UCLA did not investigate the complaint first reported by a UCLA medical student in 2019.

In another matter dubbed the “baseball incident,” Kwong ordered that a video monitor in the operating room used to measure patients’ vitals be switched off and be used to display a baseball game so that residents could watch during surgery.

After the baseball incident, Kwong allegedly stripped Badkoobehi of her position as associate program director of the Orthopedic Department, a post she had reportedly excelled in for four years.

The lawsuit also alleges Kwong told at least three other physicians that he wanted to get rid of Hsu while she was out on maternity leave by getting her to switch to part-time so he could release her, and force her to work at a much less desirable Los Angeles County hospital.

Fernandez-Frackelton, who served as program director of emergency medicine for 12 years at the 576-bed trauma center was removed from her post after lodging complaints regarding the safety of residents, faculty, and staff, according to her lawsuit.

“The working environment for women doctors at Harbor has become intolerable,” the suit states. “While numerous women enjoyed positions of leadership at Harbor until recently, the administration decided that there were not enough men in leadership roles, andsystemically removed a significant number of them in 2023.”

As a program director, Fernandez-Frackelton oversaw the recruitment and training of 64 resident physicians in a four-year training program in emergency medicine.

The lawsuit states Fernandez-Frackelton received numerous complaints from residents about the sexist, racist, homophobic and antisemitic environment in the Orthopedics Department under Kwong’s leadership.

Physician residents complain

Eventually, all 64 residents filed complaints with Harbor-UCLA’s accrediting body, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Among the complaints were allegations that Kwong and other male physicians in the Orthopedics Department made crude remarks about female physicians, patients and others, the lawsuit states. Kwong also allegedly covered up a complaint that a doctor was having sex with a patient.

When Harbor’s chief executive officer told Kwong not to make comments about female colleagues’ looks, Kwong angrily told a female member of the orthopedics faculty that the CEO was a “weak leader,” says the suit.

Additionally, after a female physician resident reported she had been sexually assaulted in the operating room by a co-worker, Kwong responded that people think Asian men have small genitalia, alleges the complaint.

In another instance, Kwong allegedly discussed how he “cut his ex-wife’s vagina” to get his baby out and had the sound of a dog barking as the ringtone for her calls to his mobile phone. “He offered to give $100,000 to anyone that married his ex-wife so he did not have to pay her alimony,” the suit states.

Kwong also allegedly bragged to faculty and residents about his sexual exploits, including telling them about a woman who put her breast in his face and begged for sex.

The lawsuit states Kwong discussed “autoerotic asphyxiation” in clinics and discussed sex acts during surgeries. Additionally, he allegedly covered up racism, including an incident in which a junior resident called a chief resident the “n” word in a written document.

Kwong also allegedly regularly used the word “fag” to describe homosexuals, and went on to hire a male candidate without even interviewing a female candidate who was gay.

The lawsuit says Kwong gave a semi-annual lecture, for which attendance was required for medical students and residents, in which he used depictions and diagrams of males and females to demonstrate sexual positions to use after hip replacement surgery. During his lecture, Kwong allegedly asked female attendees questions that had nothing to do with orthopedic surgery, such as what sexual positions cause penile fractures.

Fernandez-Frackelton’s suit alleges some residents and interns were required to write notes and prescriptions, including for controlled substances, for patients they had not examined.

Allegedly armed at hospital

Members of the orthopedic faculty and others also complained that Kwong, who is a reserve Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, wore a gun at various times at Harbor-UCLA, including in the operating room, clinic, office and conference rooms, and at times when scrubbed in for surgery.

“Between cases, Dr. Kwong has been witnessed cleaning his gun in the semi-sterile area,” the suit states. “He generally kept his gun in a fanny pack on his waist. Dr. Kwong also made it known that he always carried a knife in his boots at Harbor.”

One physician resident took a widely circulated photograph of Kwong with the gun strapped to his leg in the Orthopedic Surgery Clinic.

Harbor-UCLA medical staff allege Orthepedic Department Chairman Dr. Louis Kwong, left, who is a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reserve deputy, frequently carried a gun at the hospital.

Staff at all medical centers are not allowed to carry weapons or have weapons on medical campuses, the DHS told the Southern California News Group last year after it inquired about the photo.

Limited exceptions to the weapons ban have previously been made in the case of physicians who also serve as reserve deputies and are fully trained to perform law enforcement functions when called on assignment to provide life-saving support.

“Reserve deputy physicians at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center must follow strict safety policies, including proper storage of their handgun in a locked safe box while on medical center premises,” DHS said. “They would not have a firearm on their person during a surgical procedure.”

Meanwhile, Kwong continues to collect about $1 million a year in salary while on administrative leave from Harbor-UCLA, said Carol Gillam, an attorney for the three doctors.

“Harbor-UCLA has covered up and thus perpetuated dangerous and cruel practices in its Orthopedics Department, in a racist, sexist, homophobic environment where Black and brown patients are treated far worse than white patients,” she said. “This story is unfortunately an all-too-familiar one about powerful doctors at prestigious teaching hospitals abusing patients and flaunting their own privileges and connections to the men who are supposed to supervise, discipline and remove them.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Phillies bounce Braves again, ride Nick Castellanos’ big night into 2nd straight NLCS

• October 13, 2023

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA — Nick Castellanos became the first player to hit multiple homers in consecutive postseason games, sending the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-1 victory in Game 4 of their National League Division Series on Thursday night that knocked the 104-win Atlanta Braves out of the playoffs for the second straight year.

Matt Strahm struck out pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom with runners at the corners to clinch the series and send the Phillies rushing the field in a wild celebration. The Phillies set off fireworks, the Liberty Bell rang and the reigning NL champions were ready to pop bubbly again.

Bryce Harper gave the Phillies a scare when he clutched his surgically repaired right elbow after a collision in the eighth inning. Matt Olson’s left knee clipped Harper’s elbow on a play at first base that ended the inning. Harper, the two-time NL MVP, flexed his elbow after a quick examination from the medical staff. He stayed in the game in the ninth.

“Just hit my funny bone,” Harper said after the game.

Trea Turner singled twice, doubled and hit a solo homer in the fifth for a 2-1 lead as the Phillies make another run at the franchise’s first World Series title since 2008.

The Phillies head next week to an all-wild card NLCS and will face the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are making their first trip since 2007 after sweeping the 100-win Dodgers in their NLDS.

Game 1 is Monday in Philadelphia.

The Phillies withstood a pair of scares to get to the Diamondbacks. Before the collision involving Harper, rookie center fielder Johan Rojas made a huge defensive play with the bases loaded to end the seventh, running down a deep drive to left-center and denying Ronald Acuña Jr. an extra-base hit that could have put Atlanta ahead.

Wearing throwback powder blue jerseys and maroon hats as they do every Thursday at home, the Phillies took an identical path from a year ago to reach another NLCS: first a Wild Card Series sweep; then they won Game 1 in Atlanta and lost Game 2. Like last season, the Phillies returned home and scored six runs in the third inning of a Game 3 rout.

Then a repeat of a barrage of homers that signaled a knockout victory over their NL East rival, a year after 101 wins wasn’t enough in another early postseason exit.

“The only thing that I can say is that I’m learning that the season and the postseason are completely different,” Castellanos said.

Atlanta will surely find little consolation that they are not the only regular-season heavyweight already out of the playoffs. The teams with the five best regular-season records – the Braves, Baltimore Orioles (101 wins), Dodgers (100), Tampa Bay Rays (99) and Milwaukee Brewers (92) – all failed to reach LCS.

The night belonged to Castellanos, the All-Star right fielder whose production tailed off in the second half only to rally with his son in the front row for the postseason.

A night after he hit two homers in Game 3, Castellanos became the first Phillies slugger, heck, any slugger in baseball history, to drill multiple homers in consecutive playoff games.

His second one ultimately ended the night for Braves starter and 20-game winner Spencer Strider. Castellanos chased Strider in the sixth with a 415-foot moonshot to left field that sent 45,831 fans at Citizens Bank Park into a towel-waving frenzy. Castellanos soaked in the cheers during the pitching change; he poked his head out of the dugout and raised his arms as Phillies fans grew louder.

Castellanos continued to wave his arms toward the crowd as he headed to right field in the seventh and the Phillies ahead 3-1.

Manager Rob Thomson again turned to starter Ranger Suárez to keep the Phillies in the game until turning the game over to a parade of hard-throwing relievers. The plan worked once in this series already. Suárez had allowed just one hit through one hit in 3⅔ innings in his Game 1 start before Thomson turned the game over to six relievers in a 3-0 win. The plan in this one, get Suárez at least twice through the lineup – and the pitcher often overshadowed by Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola succeeded.

The hard-throwing lefty buzzed through three hitless innings – hitting 95.3 mph when he caught Sean Murphy looking to end the second – before Austin Riley homered in the fourth for a 1-0 lead.

The early homer, the early deficit, rarely troubles these Phillies. They wait for their long ball-heavy lineup to deliver and – for the second straight game – it was Castellanos who tied the score at 1-all on a solo shot. Castellanos socked one inside the left-field foul pole and pointed to his young son, Liam, as he crossed the plate.

Liam was a fixture at the ballpark for most of the summer and tagged along with Castellanos from the clubhouse to the All-Star Game. Liam had been absent from the ballpark once school resumed, but his father has gushed about his presence this postseason.

Father, son – and all of Philadelphia – get at least one more round together.

FLASHING LEATHER

Center fielder Michael Harris II saved Atlanta’s Game 2 win with a leaping catch in the ninth and helped double off Harper at first base to end the game. Harris flashed his leather again in the third, this time on a sliding catch that led to Castellanos getting doubled off at second to end the inning.

UP NEXT

The Phillies get three days off before the NLCS opener.

The Braves have lost 10 of their last 11 elimination games and will ponder what went wrong after another empty postseason.

More to come on this story.

The Philadelphia Phillies celebrate after beating the Atlanta Braves, 3-1, in Game 4 of their National League Division Series on Thursday night in Philadelphia. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

​ Orange County Register 

Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs extend their dominance of Broncos

• October 13, 2023

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes passed for 306 yards and a touchdown, Harrison Butker kicked four field goals, and the Kansas City Chiefs held off the Denver Broncos, 19-8, on Thursday night for their 16th consecutive win against their longtime AFC West rivals.

Travis Kelce had nine catches for 124 yards for Kansas City with Taylor Swift again cheering him on from an Arrowhead Stadium suite. But the Chiefs (5-1) leaned more heavily on their defense to shut down erratic Russell Wilson and the Broncos (1-5).

Wilson was held to 95 yards passing with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions, and woebegone Denver finished with just 197 yards of total offense.

Still, the Chiefs’ inability to turn red-zone trips into touchdowns nearly cost them.

Butker’s first three field goals helped them to a 16-0 lead, but Wilson’s touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton – ruled incomplete but overturned upon review – with about six minutes remaining kept the Broncos alive. And when Javonte Williams bulled into the end zone for the 2-point conversion, what had been a one-sided shutout was a one-possession game.

The Broncos’ league-worst defense couldn’t make a stop, though. Mahomes converted third-and-2 with a 28-yard pass to Rashee Rice, and that put Butker in position for a 52-yard field goal with 1:55 left that put the game away.

The Broncos have not beaten the Chiefs since Sept. 17, 2015, the year Peyton Manning led Denver to the Super Bowl. That was six head and interim coaches ago, and nothing changed with Sean Payton leading them Thursday night. In a league built for parity, their losing streak is the fourth-longest for any team against another in NFL history.

As bad as the Broncos’ defense has been this season, it was Wilson and their offense that kept dragging them down. He had 37 yards passing in the first half, and the only drive Wilson led past midfield ended on fourth down.

The Chiefs weren’t doing a whole lot better.

Their first three forays into the red zone netted three points, thanks to an interception by Justin Simmons and a failed tush-push out of a field-goal lineup on fourth down. Mahomes, who has struggled by his standards all season, only found his rhythm once in the first half, when he ended a 62-yard drive with a short touchdown pass to Kadarius Toney.

Butker made it 13-0 at the break when he drilled a 60-yard field goal as time expired.

The Chiefs’ red-zone woes continued in the second half. They began by swiftly marching downfield and setting up first-and-goal at the Denver 8-yard line, but that quickly turned into fourth-and-goal at the 7 and Butker was forced to kick another field goal.

That was all Kansas City could muster until his clinching kick in the final minutes.

Isiah Pacheco carried 16 times for 62 yards for the Chiefs.

SWIFT IN THE HOUSE

Swift watched Kelce and the Chiefs in person for the third time this season on Thursday night. The two began a relationship a few weeks ago when he invited Swift to a Chiefs game after failing to meet her during her Eras Tour. Swift flew in from Los Angeles, where she walked the red carpet on Wednesday night for the premiere of her concert film.

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SACK SITUATION

Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones had a sack in his eighth consecutive regular-season game, which trails only his own 11-game streak in 2018 for the longest in franchise history. With at least one in his first five this season, Jones broke the club record to start the season held by Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas.

INJURIES

Broncos: Tight end Greg Dulcich, who had just come off injured reserve, left in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury. It’s the same injury that landed Dulcich on IR after hurting it in Week 1 against the Raiders.

Chiefs: Safety Justin Reid, who had an interception earlier in the game, briefly left in the second half. Wide receiver Justin Watson left in the fourth quarter with an elbow injury sustained while trying to make a diving catch.

UP NEXT

The Broncos host Green Bay on Oct. 22.

The Chiefs host the Chargers on the same day.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers left to sift through wreckage of another postseason failure

• October 13, 2023

PHOENIX — After another shocking crash in October, the Dodgers are once again sifting through the wreckage, hoping to find a black box that will explain what went wrong.

“How do I explain it?” pitcher Clayton Kershaw said, repeating a question about the Dodgers’ consecutive first-round failures in a somber post-game clubhouse at Chase Field on Wednesday night.

“I can’t really explain it. Yeah – I’m not sure.”

Self-reflection should cause the Dodgers to question their preparation and motivation and a flawed roster constructed by the front office. But there seems to be an impulse to save one finger to point at the playoff format adopted by MLB before the 2022 season.

“For me, I’ve got to do a better job of figuring out a way to get our guys prepared for the postseason. I’ll own that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, to his credit, after the team was swept in three games by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series. “I think we’ve got great players. I’ve got to figure out a way to get these guys prepared for whatever format, whatever series.

“Yeah, the regular season, I think we do a great job. But the last couple of postseasons, it just hasn’t gone well for us and so I’ve got to figure it out.”

Roberts has led his team to 100 wins five times in the past six full seasons. But 100 wins don’t seem to mean what they used to.

In the first two years of the new format which awards the top two teams in each league a first-round bye, those teams have gone 12-16 (with the Atlanta Braves playing to avoid elimination on Thursday night). The Houston Astros have half of those 12 wins and seem immune, having won the World Series last year after long breaks before each round.

“No comment,” Dodgers star Mookie Betts said when asked for his opinion of the postseason format.

The Baltimore Orioles finished with the best record in the American League this season then were swept by the Texas Rangers in their American League Division Series. But the five-day break before the division series round seems to be particularly debilitating for NL teams.

The Dodgers and Braves have finished with the NL’s two best records each of the past two regular seasons. Both were eliminated in the NLDS round last season, winning one game each.

This year, the Dodgers were swept by the Diamondbacks while the Braves went into Game 4 on Thursday night trailing the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.

“Look, it’s hard,” Kershaw said of the unnatural – by baseball calendar standards – break before playing the most important games of the season. “I mean, pitching maybe not so much, but obviously offensively these guys are so used to playing every day. So I get it. Extra teams and more money, all that stuff. I get it.

“But I do think that – I’m not a hitter, but it does seem like it’s a bit of a challenge for guys. It’s not an excuse, though.”

The Dodgers’ offense has indeed been a no-show in each of their first-round failures.

Last year, the Dodgers led the majors with 847 runs scored during the regular season but managed just 12 in four postseason games (five of them in the first three innings of Game 1 against the Padres). This year, they were even better in the regular season (906 runs scored) – and worse in the postseason (six runs in three games and a .177 team batting average).

The Braves have had the same problem. They hit .180 in their first-round loss last season. One of the most productive lineups in baseball history this season, they were held to seven runs and a .184 average in the first three games of this year’s NLDS.

“It felt like that throughout the series,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said when asked if the Diamondbacks were the team with momentum in this year’s NLDS. “I don’t know if they got that from the (best-of-three) wild card (series) or not. But they were definitely the team that was getting the hits. They were the team that was making the pitches. They were making the plays. Just all across the board, they just dominated us, really. We just didn’t give ourself a chance at all.”

Recent successes of wild-card teams in the playoffs provide anecdotal evidence that playing meaningful games down the stretch and rolling into the postseason without a long break might be advantageous. The Dodgers haven’t won a postseason series since 2021 after they finished second in the NL West and went into the playoffs as a wild card. They beat the first-place San Francisco Giants in the NLDS – a pattern that repeated in the next two postseasons with the Dodgers in the reverse role.

“It’s a tough question, because I can’t answer it honestly, not having been on the other side of it, not having gone through the wild card and not having done that whole situation,” said Muncy, who suffered a severe elbow injury on the final day of the 2021 regular season and did not play in the postseason.

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“I just know that from an offensive side, we weren’t swinging the bats great at the end of the season. And we get a week off and we clearly weren’t able to get hot again. So I don’t know if it’s five days off or if it’s not. All I know is we didn’t get hits in the big situations. And that’s really all it boils down to.”

And that is a trend that predates this playoff format, the one thread that seems to tie the Dodgers’ postseason disappointments together.

Starting with the 2018 World Series, the Dodgers have hit .190 (29 for 153) with runners in scoring position in their season-ending series – .212 (14 for 66) in the three first-round defeats (to the Washington Nationals in 2019, the Padres in 2022 and the Diamondbacks this year).

“I don’t know if you can point to anything,” outfielder Chris Taylor said. “There is a bit of a break there for us. That could have played some part of it. But at the end of the day, we just didn’t play well.”

​ Orange County Register