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Monday Field Hockey —Pleasant Valley at Corning, 3:30 p.m. MLB Playoffs —Giants at Braves, 4:37 p.m., TBS NFL —Vikings at Jets, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Soccer — Brazil vs. Ukraine, 11:25 a.m., ESPN2 Sports 1B Monday October 11, 2010 Big plays hurt Warriors Lady Bulldogs reach Yuba championship VOLLEYBALL Yuba College Tournament The Lady Bulldogs reached a tournament championship game for the third time in three tries this season, when they finished as the runner-up at the Yuba College Tournament on Saturday. After a hard-fought first game, Sutter knocked off Los Molinos in the finals 25-22, 25-13. “We got a lil’ tired in Game 2 from the long day and it showed,” coach Chas Konopka said. Callie Carruth had 17 assists in the championship game and Nikki Quirke had 11 digs. Los Molinos won it’s first three matches of the tourna- ment. The Lady Bulldogs knocked off Colusa 25-21, 25-21 after overcoming an early seven-point deficit in Game 1. Carruth had 14 assists in the win and Jessey Quirke and Kiersten Seaman had seven kills each. Los Molinos used a strong passing game to beat Yuba City 25-15, 19-25, 25-22. “The Wonder Twins — Jessey and Nikki — had big games and attacked strong via the middle,” Konopka said. The Quirkes combined for 19 kills as Carruth had 27 assists. Briselda Castillo had 15 digs and Seaman 10 digs. The Bulldogs rallied back to defeat Gridley 21-25, 25-17, 27-25. Los Molinos was trailing 24-21 in Game 3 when the Bulldogs went “en fuego” according to Konopka and came back for the win. Seaman had 18 kills and Jessey Quirke 11 kills in the win. Carruth had 28 assists, Castillo had 12 digs and Nikki Quirke 10 digs. Daily News photo by Rich Greene Mercy quarterback Mitchell Lopez delivers a forearm to Butte Valley’s Tony Dicicco, Saturday. 8-MAN Butte Valley 66 Mercy 36 By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor Mitchell Lopez had a strong game for Mercy, but Jeremy Lopez had an even better one for Butte Valley. Jeremy Lopez rushed for 381 yards and scored seven total touchdowns, Saturday, as Butte Valley thrashed Mercy 66-36. A tight game at halftime, Mercy’s tackling problems allowed the visiting Bulldogs to turn the game into a blowout during the third quarter. Butte Valley scored four times dur- ing the third quarter, needing just four offensive plays and a kickoff return to do it. Lopez scored all four third quarter touchdowns on runs of 56, 70 and 52 yards and a kickoff return. He completed his remarkable sec- ond half with a 71-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Lopez rushed and passed for a touchdown in the first half. Mercy was having its own success on the ground — although at a less frantic pace — as the Warriors racked up 437 rushing yards. Mitchell Lopez had 216 yards, three touchdowns on 25 carries and Royce Crane had 171 yards and two touch- downs on 13 carries to lead the War- riors. But a pair of interceptions and a Kolb leads Eagles past winless 49ers 27-24 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — While the Philadelphia Eagles came together just fine behind Kevin Kolb, the San Francisco 49ers appeared to be coming apart at the seams until Alex Smith led a thrilling fourth-quarter rally that fell just short. Kolb passed for 253 yards while capably filling in for injured Michael Vick, and Quintin Mikell returned Smith’s fumble 51 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ 27-24 victory over the winless 49ers on Sun- day night. LeSean McCoy rushed for 92 yards and a score, and Trevard Lindley made a last-minute interception for the Eagles (3-2), who forced five turnovers and survived San Francisco’s 14-point surge in the final minutes for their fifth straight win over the 49ers (0-5). ‘‘We just tried to stick with our game plan and do what we do,’’ Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson said. ‘‘Kolb came in and did a great job in place of Vick. That finish scared me a little bit, but I’m glad the troops stayed together.’’ Smith passed for 309 yards, but also committed three turnovers that led to thunderous boos from the Candlestick Park crowd and an apparent tongue-lashing from coach Mike Singletary. Smith shook it off and defiantly led two fourth-quarter scoring drives. After throwing TD passes to Vernon Davis and Frank Gore, Smith got the 49ers past midfield again in the final minute, but he was hit by Trevor Laws while making a throw. Lindley intercepted the wobbling pass with 28 sec- onds to play, and the 49ers dropped to their worst start in 31 years with their third loss this season by three points or fewer. ‘‘We knew they were going to come out with a give-it- all-they’ve-got mentality,’’ Kolb said. ‘‘We wanted to match them in intensity from the start.’’ Kolb made his fourth career start in place of Vick, who injured his ribs in last week’s loss to Washington. Kolb was the Eagles’ starting quarterback out of training camp, but sat out with a concussion after the opener while Vick was cho- sen the NFC’s offensive player of the month for September. The 49ers sacked Kolb four times, but he capably man- aged the offense during a 21-for-31 performance, hitting tight end Brent Celek for an early score. Kolb also showed off some surprisingly fleet feet with a 19-yard run on a third-and-18 play in the third quarter, dodging between See 49ERS, page 2B fumble prevented the Warriors’ offense from keeping pace with the Bulldogs. Butte Valley also outplayed Mercy in special teams as the Warriors allowed kickoff returns for touch- downs to Lopez and Trevor Robertson. Robertson’s return tied the game at 14-14 late in the second quarter erasing Mercy’s early lead. Butte Valley took their first lead of the game with just seconds to go in the first half when Lopez took a pitch and threw to a wide open Bulldog receiver in the end zone. The Bulldogs never relinquished their lead thanks to Lopez’s huge third quarter. Wesley Inman finished with 13 total tackles for Mercy (2-2, 0-2), who trav- el to Big Valley on Friday night. Raiders rally to beat Chargers OAKLAND (AP) — Just when it looked as if Philip Rivers would lead another late drive to crush the Raiders, Oakland’s beleaguered defense came up with the big play. Michael Huff knocked the ball out of Rivers’ hand and Tyvon Branch returned the fumble 64 yards for a score to help the Raiders snap their 13-game losing streak to San Diego with a 35-27 Sun- day over their AFC West rivals. ‘‘That’s a heck of a team, and it’s been nemesis for a number of years, obviously dat- ing back to 2003,’’ coach Tom Cable said. ‘‘They’ve been the champ. And if you ever want to be that, you’ve got to beat the champ. So it’s just a good win.’’ It sure didn’t come easy. The Raiders (2-3) used two blocked two punts, two long touchdown drives in the sec- See RAIDERS, page 2B Giants 1 win from facing Philly Giants 3, Braves 2. ATLANTA (AP) — Brooks Conrad stood near second base, all alone. He didn’t dare go near Braves manager Bobby Cox, standing on the mound making a pitching change. Finally, teammate Derrek Lee wandered over, giving Conrad a pat on the back. Nothing helped. All Conrad could do was bend over in anguish. ‘‘I wish I could just dig a hole,’’ he said, ‘‘and sleep in it.’’ The Braves were within one out of taking control of the NL division series, but a 30-year-old journeyman infielder who wouldn’t have been playing if not for season-ending injuries to Chipper Jones and Mar- tin Prado simply couldn’t catch the ball Sunday. Conrad made three errors, the last of them on a two-out grounder in the ninth inning that gave the San Francisco Giants a 3-2 victory over Atlanta. ‘‘It was completely embarrassing,’’ said Con- rad, who has made eight errors in the last seven games going back to the regular season. ‘‘Once again, I feel like I let every- one down.’’ He bobbled a grounder in the first, but that one didn’t hurt. He dropped a popup the next inning, allowing an unearned run to score. Finally, Buster Posey’s hard grounder skidded under Conrad’s glove, bringing home the run that capped San Fran- cisco’s two-run ninth. MCT photo Giants Freddy Sanchez slides home for the winning run against the Braves during the 9th inning in Game 3 of the National League Division Series in Atlanta, Sunday. ‘‘I thought he would make the play,’’ Posey said. ‘‘I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.’’ Brian Wilson shut down the Braves in the ninth to give the Giants a 2-1 lead in a tense best-of-five series in which all three games have been decided by one run. San Francisco can close it out Monday night. For Conrad, the memories of this one will linger for a lifetime. He tied a postsea- son record for errors in a game and became the fourth second baseman to make three, according to STATS LLC. Those blunders might just speed up the retire- ment of Cox, whose long managing career ends as soon as Atlanta’s season is done. ‘‘We had this one won,’’ Cox said. ‘‘We can win games and we can com- pete against anybody. But we can’t afford to make mistakes.’’ Atlanta did nothing against Jonathan Sanchez, managing only two hits in 7 1-3 innings and trailing 1-0. But when pinch-hitter Eric Hinske lined a two- run homer off Sergio Romo in the eighth, the Braves suddenly had the lead. Unfortunately for Atlanta, there was no Billy Wagner to close it out. He was removed from the ros- ter before the game with a pulled muscle on his left side. Rookie reliever Craig Kimbrel was within one out of a save before the Giants rallied. Aubrey Huff tied it with a run- scoring single off Mike Dunn. Then, Posey hit a grounder to just the right man. See GIANTS, page 2B