BRIEFS

Williams leads

Texans over Denver

Mario Williams dragged down Jay Cutler for the third time, jumped up and sashayed like a hula dancer.

Last year's No. 1 pick had a career-high 3 1/2 sacks to lead the Houston Texans to a 31-13 victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.

With its seventh of the season, Houston tied the franchise record for victories.

Texans (7-7) fans yelled ''overrated'' when Williams was picked, but chanted his name Thursday as he posed Superman-like with his hands on his hips for several seconds after he took Cutler down for the second time.

Williams performance made him Houston's career sack leader with 17 1/2. He's had a sack in a teamrecord five straight games and has 13 for the season and nine in the last five games.

His sack of Cutler forced a fourth down and the Broncos went for it, but the pass fell short, giving Houston the ball.

Rodriguez finalizes

deal with Yanks

Alex Rodriguez set another record for baseball's highest contract, finalizing his $275 million, 10- year agreement with the New York Yankees on Thursday.

A-Rod set the previous mark with his $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas in December 2000. Traded to the Yankees in 2004, he opted out of that contract Oct. 28, during the final game of the World Series.

Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said New York would not negotiate further with Rodriguez because his decision eliminated the $21.3 million subsidy the Yankees were to receive from Texas from 2008-10, a figure negotiated at the time of the trade.

But Rodriguez then approached the Yankees through a managing director at Goldman Sachs and negotiated his new deal without agent Scott Boras.

Rodriguez won his third AL Most Valuable Player award last month after hitting .314 with 54 homers and 156 RBIs.

Arrested Tiger

to start in bowl game

Clemson linebacker Cortney Vincent is expected to start in the Tigers' bowl game despite his arrest on a drunken driving charge, coach Tommy Bowden said Thursday.

Vincent, 22, was pulled over early Sunday by the South Carolina Highway Patrol and booked at the Pickens County jail, officials said.

The junior was charged with first offense driving under the influence, detained for about eight hours and released on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond, jail officials said.

''We'll let the legal process run and then make a decision accordingly,'' Bowden said during a Chick-fil-A Bowl news conference in Atlanta.

It was not immediately clear whether Vincent had an attorney. His phone number was unlisted in the university directory and he did not return an e-mail requesting comment.

A Highway Patrol officer observed Vincent driving suspiciously on state Highway 93 in the city of Clemson and gave him a field sobriety test, patrol spokeswoman Lance Cpl. Kathy Hills said.

The junior has 64 tackles and two sacks in 12 starts this season. Bowden said Vincent is practicing with the team and the coach said he was immediately made aware of the arrest Sunday.

Granard hoop teams

sweep McCracken

The Granard Lady Warriors remain undeafeated at 5-0 with a narrow 23-19 victory over McCracken on Thursday.

"We played well and played together," said coach Kathy Littlejohn.

Treshada Dawkins led the Lady Warriors with nine points.

In boys action, the Warriors improved to 4-1 with a 50-30 win over McCracken on Thursday.

Both Granard squads will resume league action after the holiday break.