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2C Daily News – Thursday, September 27, 2012 49ERS Harbaugh balks at Ohio rain, practices BOARDMAN, Ohio (AP) — Coach Jim Harbaugh wants the San Francisco 49ers to get focused, avoid obstacles and get back to winning. Harbaugh refused to let a day-long rain dampen plans to get the offense untracked Wednesday. A purposefully placed bus wouldn't get in his way, either. Still smarting from a 24-13 loss at Minnesota on Sunday, Harbaugh directed a morning walkthrough on the rain-slick- ened asphalt of a hotel parking lot. Then practice took place in rain at their home-away-from home, Stambaugh Stadium at nearby Youngstown State Uni- versity. Patrick Willis, Brandon Jacobs and Ted Ginn returned from injuries to work in full pads, though nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, nursing a left knee injury, did not. work on issues that kept the 49ers from a 3-0 start. He ignored a bus parked in the RAIDERS Oakland sings Andre Carter for defensive boost ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Raiders made a move to bolster their struggling pass rush on Wednesday by signing proven defensive end Andre Carter to a free- agent contract. The Raiders (1-2) had brought Carter in twice before for workouts in training camp and earlier this season before signing him to fill a glaring need. ''I think he'll be instru- mental,'' said defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who was picked one spot ahead of Carter in the 2001 draft at sixth overall. ''He's a proven guy in this league. Obviously, it will take some times to get his legs under him, but he's a guy that's shown he can rush the pass- er and I think that will be essential for us.'' Carter has 76 sacks in 163 career games over 11 seasons in the NFL. He was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time last season MERCY (Continued from page 1C) 40-, 30- and 13-yard runs. So far, the Warriors (2-0 league) have placed itself in a great position for the playoffs. The team will be back in front of its home crowd at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sacred Heart Parish School, where it will try to continue keep its win- ning streak alive against the Greenville Indians (2- 2 overall, 1-0 league) And the Indians could prove to give Mercy more of a challenge. Both teams have played the young Hay- fork squad, with Mercy winning 47-24 and Greenville downing the team 56-26. The results from the teams' other shared opponent, Westwood, tell a more lopsided story. The Indians won a close, high-scoring game 42-40, while the Warriors went on the road to rout NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Brad Keselowski 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Tony Stewart 5. Kasey Kahne 6. Clint Bowyer 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8. Kevin Harvick 9. Greg Biffle 10. Martin Truex Jr. 11. Matt Kenseth 12. Jeff Gordon 2,096 2,095 2,089 2,086 2,081 2,081 2,070 2,065 2,063 2,062 2,061 2,051 Remaining schedule Sept. 30 — AAA 400, Dover, Del. Oct. 7 — Good Sam Roadside Assis- tance 500, Talladega, Ala. Oct. 13 — Bank of America 500, Con- cord, N.C. Oct. 21 — Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas City, Kan. Oct. 28 — TUMS Fast Relief 500, Ridge- way, Va. Nov. 4 — AAA Texas 500, Fort Worth, Texas Nov. 11 — Phoenix 500, Avondale, Ariz. Nov. 18 — Ford EcoBoost 400, Home- stead, Fla. after recording 10 sacks for the New England Patriots but his season was cut short by a quadriceps injury that forced him to miss the final two games of the regular season and the postseason. Carter was credited with 51 quarterback pressures by Pro Football Focus in 14 games for the Patriots last season. He tied a New Eng- land record with four sacks in a game against the New York Jets on Nov. 13. But because of the injury, Carter was still look- ing for a job this season. ''It's always tough,'' he said. ''It definitely gives you a different perspective. Here I am trying to train hard and work hard and just get better, and as the season continued to progressed and watching Sunday foot- ball on the couch with my son ... I knew God had a plan and I just kept on con- tinuing to be patient and in the end it worked out well.'' Carter is trying to get up Westwood 35-6. backfield in Jose and Juan Rosales, in addition to a line that, Ford said, stepped up against Her- long, the Warriors make a strong case to come out of Saturday's game with its fifth straight win and third straight league vic- tory. Boosted by a strong If there's a point of concern for Mercy, it's its now 12-man roster. The Warriors routinely play team's that double that amount. And Greenville is listed as having 27 on its roster. lem so far, but with few reserves, avoiding injuries is imperative. It hasn't been a prob- ——— Sports Editor Andre Byik can be reached at 527-2151, ext. 111 or at sports@redbluffdai- lynews.com.Follow him on Twit- ter:@TehamaSports WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB z-Minnesota 27 7 .794 — x-Sparks x-San Antonio 21 13 .618 6 x-Seattle Tulsa Phoenix 24 10 .706 3 16 18 .471 11 9 25 .265 18 7 27 .206 20 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB z-Connecticut 25 9 .735 — x-Indiana x-Atlanta 22 12 .647 3 19 15 .559 6 x-New York 15 19 .441 10 Chicago x-clinched playoff spot z-clinched conference —————————————————— End of Regular Season CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS (Best-of-3) Today's games New York at Connecticut, 5 p.m. Series tied 0-0 San Antonio at Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Series tied 0-0 Friday's games Atlanta at Indiana, 4 p.m. Series tied 0-0 Seattle at Minnesota, 6 p.m. Series tied 0-0 14 20 .412 11 Washington 5 29 .147 20 to speed with the playbook and his new teammates this week but said he'd be ready to play Sunday in Denver against Peyton Manning and the Broncos if he gets the call. ''If I wasn't ready then I wouldn't be here,'' he said. Carter said on a scale of 1-to-10 that he was physi- cally at 100, but acknowl- edged it would take some time to get into ''football shape.'' it doesn't take long because they are in dire need of a proven pass rusher after having let Kamerion Wim- bley go in the offseason in a cost-cutting move. Oakland has just three sacks this sea- son — one ahead of last- place Jacksonville — as their lack of a speed rusher on the outside has hurt them. ''There were a few times where we had a little some- thing going in the game last week, and (Ben) Roethlis- The Raiders are hoping berger does a good job of maneuvering in the pock- et,'' coach Dennis Allen said before the team announced the move. ''But, obviously, we got to try to do some things that get a lit- tle bit more pressure on the quarterback. As we go throughout the season, we're going to need that.'' Carter also worked out for Arizona and St. Louis before signing with the Raiders. He has returned to his roots, having starred in high school in San Jose, playing college ball at Cali- fornia and spending his first seasons in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers. Now after stops in career why not be back in the Bay Area where it all started for me.'' Washington for five years and one year in New Eng- land, Carter is back home with the Bay Area's other team. ''I had a lot of friends who said you crossed over to the dark side,'' he said. ''Everything comes full cir- cle. Where I'm at in my The Raiders made room for Carter by releasing offensive lineman Joe Barksdale, a third-round pick out of LSU last year. Barksdale played all 16 games as a rookie last sea- son backing up on the offensive line and playing on special teams. But he did not fit well with the team's new zone blocking system and was inactive for each of the first three games. Barksdale is the latest member of the 2011 draft class to be cut from the team under general manag- er Reggie McKenzie's new regime. Oakland released third-round cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke earli- er this month and fourth- round cornerback Chimdi Chekwa was demoted to practice squad. The Raiders gave up a 2012 second-round pick to New England to draft NFL, refs near lockout deal versial call cost the Green Bay Packers a win, the NFL and the referees' union are reportedly nearing an end to a lockout that put replace- ment officials on the field since the start of the season. According to several reports, the NFL and the union are close to a new deal that would allow the league's regular officials to return to work, possibly as early as this weekend. ESPN reported Wednesday that ''an agreement in principle is at hand,'' and The New York Times reported that the sides ''were closing in'' on a way to end the impasse. ESPN cited unidentified sources from both sides; the Two days after a contro- MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-QUAKES 18 6 6 60 62 36 x-Galaxy 15 11 4 49 54 42 x-Salt Lake 15 11 4 49 40 34 Seattle 13 7 9 48 45 31 Vancouver 10 12 8 38 31 40 FC Dallas 9 12 9 36 35 38 Colorado 9 18 3 30 38 45 Portland 7 15 8 29 31 51 Chivas USA 7 15 7 28 21 45 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Kansas City16 7 7 55 37 25 Chicago 16 8 5 53 42 34 D.C. 15 10 5 50 47 39 New York 14 8 8 50 50 43 Houston 12 8 10 46 42 37 Columbus 13 11 6 45 36 37 Montreal 12 15 4 40 44 49 Philadelphia 8 14 6 30 29 33 N. England 7 15 8 29 37 41 Toronto FC 5 18 7 22 34 55 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. x- clinched playoff berth —————————————————— Friday's game Chicago at Kansas City, 5:30 p.m. Saturday's games FC Dallas at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Toronto FC at New York, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. New England at Houston, 5:30 p.m. Seattle FC at Vancouver, 6 p.m. D.C. United at Portland, 7:30 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Chivas USA, 7:30 p.m. Sunday's game Los Angeles at Colorado, 4 p.m. Times cited a person briefed on the negotiations. The NFL declined to confirm that a deal was imminent. ''Until somebody tells me differently, it's not really changed,'' Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. Still, even the suggestion that regular refs could be back as early as Sunday was greeted with welcoming words. ''If it's final and they are, I'm sure a lot of people will MLB West Division Texas A's Angels Seattle East Division New York Baltimore American League WL Pct GB 91 63 .591 — 87 67 .565 4 85 69 .552 6 72 82 .468 19 WL Pct GB 90 65 .581 — 89 67 .571 1.5 Tampa Bay 85 70 .548 5 Boston Toronto Central Division Detroit Chicago 69 87 .442 21.5 68 87 .439 22 WL Pct GB 83 72 .535 — 82 72 .532 .5 Kansas City 70 85 .452 13 Minnesota 65 91 .417 18.5 Cleveland 64 91 .413 19 —————————————————— Wednesday's results N.Y.Yankees 8, Minnesota 2 Detroit 5, Kansas City 4 Baltimore 12, Toronto 2 Tampa Bay 4, Boston 2 Oakland at Texas, late Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, late Seattle at L.A. Angels, late Today's Games Kansas City (Mendoza 8-9) at Detroit (Fister 10-9), 10:05 a.m. Oakland (Blackley 5-3) at Texas (M.Harri- son 17-10), 11:05 a.m. Seattle (Iwakuma 7-5) at L.A. Angels (Haren 12-11), 12:35 p.m. N.Y.Yankees (Nova 12-7) at Toronto (Morrow 8-7), 4:07 p.m. Tampa Bay (Shields 15-9) at Chicago White Sox (Peavy 11-12), 5:10 p.m. Friday's games Boston at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Kansas City at Cleveland, 4:05 p.m. N.Y.Yankees at Toronto, 4:07 p.m. L.A. Angels at Texas, 5:05 p.m. Detroit at Minnesota, 5:10 p.m. Tampa Bay at Chicago White Sox, 5:10 p.m. Seattle at Oakland, 7:05 p.m. be happy — and I'll be one of those guys, too,'' Min- nesota running back Adrian Peterson said on a confer- ence call with reporters from Detroit in advance of the upcoming Vikings-Lions game. NFL agent David Canter tweeted: ''Welcome back real refs. Just remember when you blow a call you'll get no sympathy.'' MLB West Division x-GIANTS Dodgers Arizona East Division National League WL Pct GB 89 65 .578 — 80 75 .5169 1/2 78 76 .506 11 San Diego 74 81 .47715 1/2 Colorado z-Washington 94 61 .606 — z-Atlanta Central Division Philadelphia 78 77 .503 16 New York Miami x-Cincinnati 93 62 .600 — St. Louis 60 94 .390 29 WL Pct GB 90 65 .581 4 71 84 .458 23 66 89 .426 28 WL Pct GB 84 72 .538 9.5 Milwaukee 80 75 .516 13 Pittsburgh 76 79 .490 17 Chicago Houston z-clinched playoff berth x-clinched division —————————————————— Wednesday's games L.A. Dodgers 8, San Diego 2 Washington 8, Philadelphia 4 Atlanta 3, Miami 0 Milwaukee 8, Cincinnati 1 N.Y. Mets 6, Pittsburgh 0 Houston 2, St. Louis 0 Chicago Cubs at Colorado, late Arizona at San Francisco, late Today's games Milwaukee (W.Peralta 2-1) at Cincinnati (Latos 13-4), 9:35 a.m. Pittsburgh (Correia 11-10) at N.Y. Mets (Dickey 19-6), 10:10 a.m. Chicago Cubs (Volstad 3-10) at Colorado (Chacin 2-5), 12:10 p.m. Arizona (Corbin 6-7) at San Francisco (Zito 13-8), 12:45 p.m. Washington (G.Gonzalez 20-8) at Philadelphia (Cloyd 2-1), 4:05 p.m. Miami (Ja.Turner 1-3) at Atlanta (Hanson 12-9), 4:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Capuano 11-11) at San Diego (C.Kelly 2-2), 7:05 p.m. Friday's games Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. Philadelphia at Miami, 4:10 p.m. N.Y. Mets at Atlanta, 4:35 p.m. Houston at Milwaukee, 5:10 p.m. Washington at St. Louis, 5:15 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Arizona, 6:40 p.m. San Francisco at San Diego, 7:05 p.m. Colorado at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. 59 95 .383 33.5 51 105 .327 42.5 Barksdale and fourth-round running back Taiwan Jones, who has played one offen- sive play all season. NCAA Top 25 Schedule Thursday's game No. 8 Stanford at Washington, 6 p.m. Saturday's games No. 1 Alabama vs. Mississippi, 6:15 p.m. No. 2 Oregon vs.Washington State at Seattle, 7:30 p.m. No. 3 LSU vs. Towson, 4 p.m. No. 4 Florida State at South Florida, 3 p.m. No. 5 Georgia vs. Tennessee, 12:30 p.m. No. 6 South Carolina at Kentucky, 4 p.m. No. 9 West Virginia vs.No.25 Baylor, 9 a.m. No. 12 Texas at Oklahoma State, 4:50 p.m. No.14 Ohio St.at No.20 Mich.St., 12:30 p.m. No. 15 TCU at SMU, 4 p.m. No.17 Clemson at Boston Co., 12:30 p.m. No. 18 Oregon St. vs.Washington St., 7 p.m. No. 19 Louisville at Southern Miss., 5 p.m. No. 22 Nebraska vs. Wisconsin, 5 p.m. No. 24 Boise State at New Mexico, 3 p.m. NFL AFC West WL T Pct PF PA Chargers 2 1 0 .667 63 51 Denver 1 2 0 .333 77 77 Kansas City 1 2 0 .333 68 99 RAIDERS 12 0 .333 61 88 East WL T Pct PF PA N.Y. Jets 2 1 0 .667 81 75 Buffalo 2 1 0 .667 87 79 N. England 1 2 0 .333 82 64 Miami South 1 2 0 .333 65 66 WL T Pct PF PA Houston 3 0 0 1.000 88 42 Jacksonville 1 2 0 .333 52 70 Tennessee 1 2 0 .333 67 113 Indianapolis 1 2 0 .333 61 83 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 2 1 0 .667 98 67 Cincinnati 2 1 0 .667 85 102 Pittsburgh 1 2 0 .333 77 75 Cleveland 0 3 0 .000 57 75 NFC West WL T Pct PF PA Arizona 3 0 0 1.000 67 40 49ERS 21 0 .667 70 65 Seattle 2 1 0 .667 57 39 St. Louis 1 2 0 .333 60 78 East Dallas WL T Pct PF PA 2 1 0 .667 47 54 Philadelphia 2 1 0 .667 47 66 N.Y. Giants 2 1 0 .667 94 65 Washington 1 2 0 .333 99 101 South WL T Pct PF PA Atlanta 3 0 0 1.000 94 48 Tampa Bay 1 2 0 .333 60 67 Carolina 1 2 0 .333 52 79 N. Orleans 0 3 0 .000 83 102 North WL T Pct PF PA Minnesota 2 1 0 .667 70 59 Chicago 2 1 0 .667 74 50 Green Bay 1 2 0 .333 57 54 Detroit 1 2 0 .333 87 94 —————————————————— Week 3 results Thursday's result N.Y. Giants 36, Carolina 7 Sunday's results Minnesota 24, San Francisco 13 Oakland 34, Pittsburgh 31 Arizona 27, Philadelphia 6 Atlanta 27, San Diego 3 Baltimore 31, New England 30 Buffalo 24, Cleveland 14 Chicago 23, St. Louis 6 Cincinnati 38, Washington 31 Dallas 16, Tampa Bay 10 Houston 31, Denver 25 Jacksonville 22, Indianapolis 17 Kansas City 27, New Orleans 24, OT N.Y. Jets 23, Miami 20, OT Tennessee 44, Detroit 41, OT Monday's result Seattle 14, Green Bay 12 Week 4 schedule Today's game Cleveland at Baltimore, 5:20 p.m. Sunday's games San Francisco at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. Oakland at Denver, 1:05 p.m. Carolina at Atlanta, 10 a.m. Minnesota at Detroit, 10 a.m. New England at Buffalo, 10 a.m. San Diego at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Seattle at St. Louis, 10 a.m. Tennessee at Houston, 10 a.m. Cincinnati at Jacksonville, 1:05 p.m. Miami at Arizona, 1:05 p.m. New Orleans at Green Bay, 1:25 p.m. Washington at Tampa Bay, 1:25 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 5:20 p.m. Monday's game Chicago at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Open: Indianapolis, Pittsburgh Harbaugh couldn't wait to middle of his walkthrough, then had players slog through rain to correct mistakes. ''I think when you come off a loss, you want to get back to work and make darn sure it doesn't happen again,'' he said. ''That's the mindset we have every day, including today, to work on that mindset in prepa- ration for the game.'' The 49ers moved practice to Ohio this week in preparation for playing the Jets at the Meadowlands on Sunday. A year ago, they came to the area between road wins in Cincinnati and Philadelphia. Harbaugh said then it was a unique experience for a young team to bond with its new coach. Now in his second season and after a trip to the NFC championship game, Harbaugh doesn't want distractions derailing the same atmosphere from developing. It was busi- ness as usual, with an extra helping of hard work. ''The challenge (is), see how much you can get out of today as it relates to preparation for the Jets game,'' Harbaugh said. ''Don't know that there's any rule that it has to be exactly like it was when we're back in San Francisco or even similar. Challenge is to see how much we can get out of today.'' Quarterback Alex Smith believes the 49ers are more advanced at this point than a year ago. He cautioned that it won't automatically lead to an eight-game winning streak and 13-3 finish like last season. ''We certainly feel like we're a lot further ahead,'' Smith said. ''With that, nothing's guaranteed. This is the NFL. But for sure I think we would all say we feel a lot more confi- dent about where we're at right now than a year ago.'' it's so easy to say.'' Smith said he's getting more comfortable working with receivers Mario Manningham and Randy Moss. Fans expect those two free agent signings to add a more exciting dimension to the offense. So does Smith. ''Mario was an awesome player when he came here and I think it's not so much the development, just all of us kind of molding and shaping this thing together,'' Smith said. ''It's going to change as we go on.'' Smith said he probably should have played with a bit more urgency against the Vikings. ''Looking back, could we have taken more shots?'' he said. ''For sure, but hindsight Harbaugh said Manningham already has contributed as expected. ''He's fit in real nice here,'' Harbaugh said. ''He just has a knack, has a savvy, very talent- ed. High character guy that makes plays.'' Smith is still upset at miss- ing connections with Moss in Minnesota, though he insists he will continue to utilize all his receivers. ''We missed, threw the high ball in the corner there, another high ball on the over,'' he said. ''I really feel like we hit those two, we're not necessarily talk- ing about this, especially with him. ''We got a lot of guys, a lot of guys that can make plays, not just those two. Going to continue to spread the ball around and go to the best matchup.'' The opportunity could arise against the Jets with star cor- nerback Darrelle Revis out for the season. expect,'' Smith said. ''There's the unknown right there.'' Harbaugh listed plenty of Still, Smith is wary of Jets coach Rex Ryan's ability to make defensive adjustments. ''Don't know what to ''Outstanding ball skills,'' Harbaugh said. ''Very aggres- sive. Talented, prototypical type of corner. Big challenge for us.'' attributes about the Jets other cornerback, Antonio Cromar- tie.