Sports briefs
Steel Valley rolls
to Class 2A title
Kameron Williams and Todd Hill combined for 314 rushing yards and six touchdowns as Steel Valley routed South Side Beaver 48-6 in the WPIAL Class 2A football championship game Saturday afternoon at Robert Morris’ Joe Walton Stadium.
Second-seeded Steel Valley (12-1) won its four games in the WPIAL playoffs by a 176-13 margin. Against South Side Beaver (10-4), which upset two of the top four seeds to reach the final, Steel Valley rolled up 531 yards of total offense, 331 on the ground and 200 through the air.
The WPIAL title was the second in three seasons for Steel Valley. Washington won the 2A championship last season, beating Steel valley in the title game.
Williams had 196 rushing yards, 104 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Hill contributed 118 rushing yards, 62 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
South Side wide receiver Jake McDougal had seven receptions for 93 yards and scored the Rams’ lone touchdown.
Steel Valley will play Wilmington in the PIAA semifinals next weekend.
Duquesne wins
in FCS playoffs
A.J. Hines turned a screen pass into a 71-yard touchdown for the lead, rushed for 175 yards and another score and Duquesne defeated Towson 31-10 in a relentless downpour Saturday to advance to the second round of the FCS playoffs.
The Dukes (9-3), who lost to William & Mary in 2015 in their only other FCS playoff appearance, will travel again next Saturday, taking on No. 5 seed South Dakota State (8-2).
But Daquan Worley scored up the middle on a 48-yard run early in the third quarter to tie the game at 101-10 before Hines took Daniel Parr’s pass to the end zone. Parr capped a 10-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter before Hines went in from 3 yards for the final points.
The Tigers scored on Tom Flacco’s 34-yard pass to Jabari Allen in the first quarter and Aidan O’Neill’s field goal in the second quarter.
Jags’ Campbell fined
for hit on Big Ben
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill was fined $10,026 by the NFL on Saturday for taunting after he flashed a peace sign at the end of a touchdown catch.
Hill was running into the end zone during a 73-yard reception in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ 54-51 loss to the Los Angeles Rams last Monday night when he turned back at a pursuing defender and raised two fingers at him – a gesture he has done previously without being fined. He was assessed a 15-yard penalty for taunting.
Denver safety Justin Simmons was fined $53,482 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on a defenseless receiver in the Broncos’ 23-22 win over the Chargers last Sunday.
Jacksonville’s Calais Campbell was fined $20,054 for roughing the passer after his hit on Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger in the Jaguars’ 20-16 loss. The penalty wiped out an interception by Myles Jack.
Campbell wrote on Twitter that he was “shocked by the call and even more shocked by the fine!” He added that he planned to appeal the league’s decision.
Jaguars teammates Yannick Ngakoue and Telvin Smith were each fined $10,026 for unnecessary roughness calls.
Ditka suffers
heart attack
Hall of Fame tight end and former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka is recovering from a mild heart attack.
Steve Mandell, Ditka’s agent, tells ESPN that doctors inserted a pacemaker. He says Ditka is “doing much better,” and the iconic coach “appreciates the outpouring of support and expects to be home soon.”
The 79-year-old Ditka played 12 seasons in the NFL and made the Pro Bowl five times. He finished with 427 receptions for 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl title after the 1985 season.