High school football: North Sanpete Hawks 2013 preview

Here's an in-depth look at the North Sanpete Hawks football team heading into the 2013 season.

Note: North Sanpete finished with a 5-6 overall record in 2012 and tied for second in Region 12 with a 3-2 record. It lost to Dixie 35-6 in the 3A first round.

2012 North Sanpete statistical recap

MOUNT PLEASANT — North Sanpete’s football program is officially out of helmets and shoulder pads, and coach Matt Roberts couldn’t be happier.

In his second season as head coach at his alma mater, Roberts has 30 more kids coming out for football than he did last year. For a 3A school that hasn’t had a winning record since 2007 (6-5) and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2001, that’s a huge boost to the program.

Along with the increased participation comes higher expectations, something Roberts isn’t shy about reminding his players of.

“We understand if we go .500 this year that’s not acceptable,” said Roberts.

Last year’s 5-5 regular-season record and then first-round playoff loss to eventual champ Dixie was nothing to be ashamed of — far from it, in fact. The up-and-down campaign was a great first step for Roberts in his quest to get North Sanpete back on the map.

There are several reasons to believe the program is heading in the right direction, including being lumped into the smaller 3A classification in the UHSAA's realignment.

The smaller classification doesn’t necessarily make the regular season any easier; it just makes success in the playoffs more attainable. But region foes Delta, Juab, Richfield, Canyon View and Manti are all thinking the same thing, which should make for very competitive Friday nights in September and October.

“Manti is going to be tough; they return a lot. The good thing about our region, week in and week out it kind of reminds me how it was down in St. George. Week in and week out you didn’t know who was going to win. It was a battle every week,” said Roberts, who was an assistant coach at Desert Hills before taking over at North Sanpete.

Two additional factors have Roberts believing North Sanpete will be right in the thick of the region race all season. The first is the progression of junior quarterback Brady Wheeler. The second is the presence of two outstanding move-ins.

Offensively, it starts with Wheeler. As a sophomore last season, Wheeler looked awkward at times and only completed 37 percent of his passes for 574 yards, four TDs and six interceptions.

A year later, he’s a new man.

“Now he’s one of the fastest kids on the team. He’s put the weight room work in, the speed and agility work out. He’s been the first one there and the last one to leave,” said Roberts.

Wheeler participated in camps at Utah State, BYU and Utah to help hone his skills.

“Anything you can do to get better he’s done. Hopefully he has a breakout season because of all the work,” said Roberts. “He’s got this offense down as good as any quarterback I’ve seen both at Desert Hills or here.”

Defensively, without any returning starters, North Sanpete’s coaching staff was always going to experience some anxiety about this season. That all changed when a couple of defensive linemen moved to Mount Pleasant.

Garrett Turpin is a transfer from Provo High, and the junior will be a huge asset at 6 foot, 240 pounds.

“He’s just a mean, hard-nosed kid. From day one he came in with a work ethic, and that’s something these kids respect,” said Roberts.

The other addition is Hunter transfer Mark Out, a big, athletic nose guard who can also catch and block on the offensive side if necessary.

U.S. soccer: Jozy Altidore's hat trick leads US to 4-3 win vs Bosnia

U.S. Soccer vs. Bosnia highlights

Trailing 2-0 at halftime, their record winning streak in jeopardy, the Americans never panicked.

There was no need to, not with Jozy Altidore on their team.

Altidore led an impressive comeback Wednesday, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist on the other goal as the U.S. rallied to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-3 in an exhibition in Sarajevo and extend its record winning streak to 12 games. It was the first come-from-behind win on European soil for the Americans.

"We came in (at halftime) and said, 'Listen we can beat this team,'" said Altidore, who has scored in five straight games, a first for a U.S. player. "We came in and said, 'We have more weapons, we're just as confident as they are. We just have to put more passes together and be more confident.' And you saw that in the second half."

The 12-game winning streak is the longest in the world right now, and three shy of the record set by Spain in 2009. The win over 13th-ranked Bosnia was the second over a top-15 team during the run, following a 4-3 victory over No. 2 Germany on June 2 that started the streak.

Edin Dzeko scored his second goal in the 90th minute. But it wasn't enough for the Dragons, who lost for the first time in 10 games.

"We absolutely deserved the win," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "This is good for the guys to see that we're going to come to Europe and play eye to eye. We're not here to defend or counterbreak. We're here to play."

The U.S. winning streak, the longest currently in the world, appeared to be jeopardy after the Americans fell behind 2-0 before halftime.

The Bosnians quickly pounced on a Johnson turnover in the eighth minute and fed it to Dzeko. His first shot, from just inside the penalty area, deflected off Tim Howard, but Dzeko was right there to collect the rebound and put it in the net for a 1-0 lead. Vedad Ibisevic, who spent part of his childhood in St. Louis and still has immediate family there, doubled Bosnia's lead in the 30th on a header.

But the U.S. was beginning to create chances even before the half, and Klinsmann told his players in the locker room that the game was still very much up for grabs.

"Jurgen has always said, even if we go down a goal, keep responding," Altidore said.

Respond they did. Resoundingly.

Altidore set up Johnson's goal in the 55th minute, controlling a long chip shot from Michael Bradley with a slight touch of his left foot. The ball fell right at Johnson's feet and, with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic out of the net to block Altidore, Johnson neatly tapped the ball into the empty net to cut Bosnia's lead to 2-1.

Four minutes later, Altidore evened things up.

Fabian Johnson slalomed through a crowd of Bosnian defenders, chipping the ball to Altidore. He took one shot and buried a left-footed shot from 16 yards that the diving Begovic had no chance to stop. It was Altidore's fifth goal in as many games, breaking the previous mark he'd shared with Eddie Johnson, William Looby, Eric Wynalda, Brian McBride and Landon Donovan.

He wasn't finished, either.

The Americans were awarded a free kick in the 84th minute when Edgar Castillo was tripped by Miroslav Stevanovic. Altidore lifted the ball over the wall of Bosnians and into the back of the net. Two minutes later, he finished off his second career hat trick with a shot from about 8 yards out.

"We see a Jozy that is enjoying himself," Klinsmann said of his striker, who has seven goals in the last five games. "He went through a lot of maturing elements over last couple of years ... But he really understands now how to zoom in when it counts. He makes everyone around him a better player. It's real enjoyable, it's really fun."

Utah State football: First-team offense shines during Aggies' second scrimmage of fall camp

Defensive back Devonta Glover-Wright defends Travis Van Leeuwen during Utah State Aggies football practice Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Logan

, Tom Smart, Deseret News

Enlarge photo»

LOGAN — Utah State head coach Matt Wells inherited a stout defense at USU, but the former offensive coordinator’s high-powered offense was the talk of the team after the Aggies’ second scrimmage of fall camp Wednesday evening.

Quarterback Chuckie Keeton was in midseason form, surgically picking apart the defense during his reps. The junior threw for 172 yards on 12 of 20 attempts and tossed three touchdowns.

“Explosive plays by the offense,” Wells said when asked about the highlights of the scrimmage. “That is what we are used to around here. That’s the standard and that will be the expectation every Saturday.”

Big plays included a 25-yard touchdown strike to Travis Reynolds, a 42-yard toss to Hayden Weichers, and several nice plays by Bruce Natson, including a touchdown catch of his own.

Keeton also finished as the third-leading rusher for the Aggies with 13 yards on five carries. He would have had many more had it not been for quick whistles from officials looking to protect the quarterback from onrushing defenders.

Although the first-team offense supplied many of the fireworks, USU had plenty to be happy about from the defensive side as well.

“I thought both defenses at the end of the two-minute drill ... studded it up against the offense,” Wells said. “The (first-team) defense absolutely shut down the (second-team) offense in their side of the two-minute drill.”

The strength of USU's defense lies in a talented linebacker corps that goes six or seven deep, according to defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. Kyler Fackrell did most of the damage, finishing with three sacks, while Tavaris McMillian and Nick Vigil each added one of their own.

McMillian, in particular, showed the strength and versatility of the linebacker unit. The junior from Miami can play all four linebacker positions, but has been spending a lot of time opposite of Fackrell in the Aggies' base defense during camp.

“Depth is valuable, especially against pace teams where guys can rotate in and out,” McMillian said. “It plays into our hands.”

At cornerback, the Aggies have been trying several players opposite Nevin Lawson. Rashard Stewart, along with his teammates Tay Glover-Wright and Quinton Byrd, have all been seeing first-team snaps.

“Me and Tay (Glover-Wright) are like brothers,” Stewart said. “We learn from each other. The main thing I like is the DB group is all in competition. All these guys make me try and play harder.”

Stewart has worked hard to improve his consistency over the summer, going as far as to cut out his offseason rapping hobby to focus more on football. The effort has paid off, as Stewart has been one of the standouts of camp so far. The junior corner even registered a sack on Keeton coming off a corner blitz during the scrimmage.

“Chasing him is like chasing a rabbit,” Stewart joked. “I just like to watch a lot of D-linemen during their one-on-ones so when it’s time for me to rush I can steal their technique.”

AP Source: 76ers hire Brett Brown as coach

By DAN GELSTON — AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA — Four months later, the Philadelphia 76ers have a new coach.

A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Monday the Sixers have hired San Antonio assistant Brett Brown to replace Doug Collins, who resigned in April.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move has not been officially announced.

New general manager Sam Hinkie took quite a while looking for a replacement before choosing Brown, who was part of three NBA title teams with San Antonio. The 52-year-old Brown was an assistant under Gregg Popovich since 2002. He also coached the Australian men's national team from 2009-12, and played a key role in helping Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker develop into All-Stars with the Spurs.

Brown is the franchise's 24th coach and eighth since Larry Brown resigned in 2003.

Brett Brown inherits a team completely rebuilding. Hinkie, who was hired away from Houston, traded All-Star guard Jrue Holiday to New Orleans on draft night for the rights to Kentucky center Nerlens Noel. Hinkie also drafted Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams with the 11th overall pick in the first round.

Collins stepped down after the Sixers went 34-48, a year after advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals. A season that began with promise after the acquisition of former All-Star center Andrew Bynum unraveled quickly, and Bynum never played a game in a Sixers uniform because of knee problems.

Collins left with one year remaining on his original four-year deal worth $4.5 million. He led the Sixers to the playoffs his first two seasons.

Bell or Knight? QB mystery at Oklahoma

By MURRAY EVANS — Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. — Less than three weeks before Oklahoma's season opener, coach Bob Stoops seems unconcerned that he hasn't yet named a starting quarterback.

Stoops gave no indication that his decision will come any time soon and he told reporters he hasn't ruled out using both Blake Bell and Trevor Knight when the Sooners host Louisiana-Monroe on Aug. 31, saying "there's always that chance."

The last time Stoops waited this long to decide on a starting quarterback was 2007. He waited until that Aug. 21 to pick then-redshirt freshman Sam Bradford over Joey Halzle and Keith Nichol.

Bradford, of course, went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 2008 and returned to Oklahoma for the 2009 campaign, only to have his season shortened by injury. His backup, Landry Jones, ascended to the top job and held it through 2012.

Bell appeared to be Jones' heir apparent, as he saw considerable playing time last season as part of the Sooners' "Belldozer" power-running offensive set. Still, Stoops declared the job to be an open competition between Bell, Knight and Kendal Thompson. Thompson fractured his right foot on the opening day of preseason practice and fell out of the race, at least temporarily.

Stoops said he saw no drawbacks in waiting to name a starting quarterback.

"They're both being prepared to play, as well as (current third-stringer) Cody Thomas as well," Stoops said Monday. "But at the end of the day, I keep saying this, this isn't our first rodeo. We've done this a lot. We've won eight Big 12 championships with six different quarterbacks, so it hasn't really hurt us a lot. We're trying to get them all ready to play."

Stoops also said there's no guarantee that whoever is the starter against Louisiana-Monroe would keep the job the entire season, saying the quarterback position is just like any other. He said a second-teamer could become a starter "if you played better than the other guy or if you have a better week of practice and the other guy junks it up. They can always change. In this (team meeting) room, that's not the case. No one is treated differently than anyone else."

When Stoops decides to name a starter, he said he'll meet with Knight and Bell but won't announce it to the team, figuring other players will "start realizing who's getting all the No. 1 reps." He said that making an announcement to the team would improperly elevate the quarterback position over other positions.

"We don't tell them who's going to start at (defensive) end or at linebacker or at wide receiver, so there's no sense in doing it with (the quarterbacks)," Stoops said.

Stoops said no one on the team is too worked up about the current situation. Two of his players said as much before the coach arrived in the room, although they appeared to carefully choose their words.

"We get a lot of reps with all of them," sophomore wide receiver Sterling Shepard said. "I wouldn't say that I needed to know right now."

Added senior offensive lineman Bronson Irwin: "I can't say a whole lot about them, but both those guys have looked good. . To me, it doesn't affect me. I'm just going to prepare and be ready to be the best at my job. We have two guys that are capable of playing high-level football and whichever one ends up being the guy, that's going to be beneficial for us and we'll do all right."

Braunschweig back in Bundesliga 28 years later

BERLIN — Eintracht Braunschweig isn't letting one defeat spoil the joy of returning to the Bundesliga after 28 years in the wilderness.

A third-division side just four seasons ago, Braunschweig dominated the second half against Werder Bremen on Saturday, but a moment of inexperience allowed the visitors to steal in for the winning goal with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Yet the Braunschweig fans stayed long after the final whistle, singing, chanting, jumping up and down in appreciation of the effort made by their side, buoyed with the joy of being back in Germany's top division.

Also known as Brunswick, the small northern city east of Hannover has a population of around a quarter of a million people.

Saturday's loss was a bittersweet moment for supporters at the sold-out 23,000-capacity Eintracht Stadium, where a large banner proclaimed "Something was missing for 28 years" before kickoff.

"For many players and for me it was the first game in the Bundesliga," said Braunschweig coach Torsten Lieberknecht. "The loss hurts, but this day has shown that we want to meet this incredible challenge, and that we can meet it, too."

Braunschweig, promoted as runner-up in the second-division last season, hadn't played in the Bundesliga since June 8, 1985, losing then — like Saturday — 1-0 at home, albeit to champion Bayern Munich.

Braunschweig has made several important contributions to German soccer since it was founded as Football and Cricket-Club Eintracht Braunschweig on Dec. 15, 1895.

It was one of the founding members of the German Football Federation in 1900, went on to win the North German Football Championship twice (1908 and 1913), and the succeeding championships on several occasions, culminating with the club being asked to take part in the newly formed Bundesliga in 1963.

Braunschweig won the Bundesliga in 1967, its only national title to date, but became caught up in a game manipulation scandal in 1971, when several players accepted third-party payments to improve their performances — prohibited under league rules. Playmaker and West Germany international Lothar Ulsass was among those suspended.

The club is best known, however, as the first to introduce jersey sponsorship to the league in 1973, when Braunschweig sported the Jaegermeister logo. The shirts became ubiquitous in Germany.

Based in the nearby city of Wolfenbuettel, the company behind the alcoholic drink paid Braunschweig 100,000 German marks to carry the deer's-head logo that year, though it didn't prevent relegation on the last day of the season — its first from the Bundesliga.

Braunschweig bounced back the following season and the sponsorship continued until 1987. Today, because it has an alcohol content of over 15 percent, such sponsorship would not be allowed.

Guenter Mast, chief executive of the family-run Jaegermeister company, was clearly a Braunschweig fan. He made possible the club-record 1.6 million German mark deal to buy West German international Paul Breitner from Real Madrid in 1977. Breitner did not settle in the team, however, and returned to Bayern Munich the following season.

Braunschweig was relegated again in 1980, re-promoted again the following season, but arguably its darkest period came after the third relegation in 1985, when the years were spent between second- and third-division soccer.

Braunschweig was facing the prospect of fourth-tier soccer in 2008, but Lieberknecht was appointed with three games remaining and he helped the side clinch 10th-place with the last game, enough for a place in the newly formed nationwide third-division the following season.

The affable coach is widely credited with Braunschweig's resurgence in the years since, winning the third-division to gain second-division promotion in 2011 and then securing Bundesliga promotion last season.

"After 28 years back in the Bundesliga, every game is a highlight. Every opponent is a challenge," the 40-year-old Lieberknecht told Kicker magazine earlier this month.

According to the Braunschweiger Zeitung newspaper, Braunschweig's overall budget is just $49 million — the same amount Bayern Munich paid Borussia Dortmund for Mario Goetze in the offseason.

The club's budget for player wages is $20 million, the lowest in Germany's top-division. Bayern's players reportedly earn $186 million.

"We were still in the third-division four years ago. Now I'm talking about clubs that are in a whole other world for years," Lieberknecht said.

Some 36 years later, Breitner's transfer in 1977 remains the club record for the equivalent of about $1.1 million.

German-born defender Lars Christopher Vilsvik was expected to become Braunschweig's new record signing for about $1.3 million from the Norwegian team Stromsgodset, but he was reportedly unable to agree personal terms with the club.

Lieberknecht knows his club is the firm favorite to be relegated at the end of the season.

"We in Braunschweig try to contribute more to the romantic part," he said. "But we have something in our chests and we want to surprise."

Canes, Cards change signing rules for fan events

By TIM REYNOLDS — AP Sports Writer

The fallout from the Johnny Manziel autograph allegations prompted Louisville and Miami to announce changes to their signing policies Monday.

At Miami's annual CanesFest on Saturday, the Hurricanes will be signing only school-issued posters and nothing else. And when Louisville has its Fan Day on Sunday, players won't be permitted to sign anything in response to what Cardinals coach Charlie Strong called "a national problem."

Both schools said the moves are being made because of ongoing concerns about college athletes and autograph sales, and neither mentioned Manziel by name. ESPN reported earlier this month that Manziel, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, is being investigated by the NCAA amid allegations that he took money in exchange for signing memorabilia.

If true, Manziel's eligibility and Heisman standing would both be jeopardized.

"We have monitored the situation closely, and we decided to protect the eligibility of our players and operate under the principle that it not permissible to accept any type of compensation for their autograph or the sale of memorabilia," Strong said in a statement released through the school. "I know this will disappoint a lot of our fans, especially the young children who look up to our players, but I strongly feel this is the best decision for our football program."

Other schools, including South Carolina and Ohio State, have acknowledged in recent days that they have looked into whether some of their star players — such as Jadeveon Clowney for the Gamecocks and the Buckeyes' Braxton Miller — broke any NCAA rules by signing memorabilia that others are selling on eBay and in other manners.

Miami's decision to limit player signings to posters that the school will distribute — one per fan who shows up Saturday — would figure to at least slow down anyone who planned to attend CanesFest solely to get autographs for resale. Miami fans have brought items such as photos, shirts, footballs and helmets for players to sign at past events like CanesFest.

"As part of the University of Miami's commitment to NCAA compliance and in light of recent national news, student-athletes will only sign the" poster that will be handed out, the Hurricanes said in a statement.

Strong said he's offering fans something else instead of autographs: Sunday's planned full-pads practice will be open to spectators.