Sports briefs
Boys soccer
Julian Hays had a goal and an assist, each in the second half, powering Bentworth to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Brentwood in Class A Section 4.
Hays scored off an assist by Brendon Taylor and had a helper on a goal by Ryan Colbert, giving the Bearcats the win in their section opener.
Goalkeeper Landon Urcho made seven saves for Bentworth (2-1 overall), which trailed 1-0 at halftime.
- Andrew Massucci scored two goals and assisted on another as Peters Township overwhelmed Baldwin 6-0 in Class 4A Section 2 opener.
Blake Gabelhart, Alex Grim, Steven Suchko and Joe Tornari each contibuted a goal in the balanced attack for the Indians (1-0, 3-0). Nick Magee had a pair of assists.
- Dylan Stewart and Elijah Jones each scored two goals to lead McGuffey to a 6-0 shutout of Southmoreland in the Class 2A Section opener in Claysville.
Andrew Brownlee and Eddie Goodman each contributed one goal for McGuffey, which improved to 3-0 overall. Goalkeeper Brandon Burt made two saves.
- Undefeated Albert Gallatin beat visiting Ringgold 2-0 in the Class 3A Section 3 opener.
AG improved to 3-0 overall. The match was the first of the year for Ringgold.
In football
The NFL Players Association wants daily COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated players.
The league and the union agreed last week to update protocols so vaccinated players would be tested weekly instead of every 14 days as they were during training camp.
That’s not enough, according to NFLPA president and Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter.
“Since the beginning of training camp, we have been testing our vaccinated players once every 14 days. It has been ineffective as we’ve had significantly more incidents of transmission inside the building this year than last year,” Tretter wrote in a column on the union’s website. “The NFLPA saw this coming months ago and has been advocating for a return to daily testing because it is more effective way to stop and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in our locker rooms. However, the NFL decided to move to weekly testing; and while that is a step in the right direction, it leaves us open to many of the same problems we’ve been facing.”
- Former NFL players Clinton Portis, Tamarick Vanover and Robert McCune pleaded guilty for their roles in a nationwide health care fraud scheme and could face years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Portis, Vanover and McCune admitted to defrauding an NFL program set up to reimburse medical expenses not covered by insurance for retired players and their families, the Justice Department said.
McCune could be facing life in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, 13 counts of health care fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 19.
The DOJ said McCune orchestrated the scheme that resulted in approximately $2.9 million worth of false and fraudulent claims being filed and $2.5 million paid out between June 2017 and April 2018.
Portis and Vanover each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and could face up to 10 years in prison. According to court documents, Portis was responsible for just under $100,000 and Vanover just under $160,000 in benefits for expensive medical equipment that were not provided.
They agreed to pay back that money. Portis is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 6 and Vanover on Jan. 22.
In auto racing
Kyle Busch was fined $50,000 by NASCAR on Tuesday for recklessly entering the garage following a crash in the opening race of the playoffs.
Busch was fined for a safety violation, actions detrimental to stock car racing and violating NASCAR member conduct guidelines during Saturday night’s race at Darlington Raceway. Busch had crashed midway through the race and as he pulled into the garage area, Busch ran over several orange safety cones at a considerable amount of speed as spectators hurried out the way of the No. 18 Toyota.
“It was a situation that could have been bad. Fortunately nobody got hit or anything like that,” Scott Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said Tuesday on SiriusXM. “Putting people in harm’s way for no reason is something we take seriously.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished 35th at Darlington. It dropped the two-time NASCAR champion from fourth to 14th in the playoff standings.