BRIEFS

Rocky McIntosh Former Gaffney star linebacker Rocky McIntosh and his Washington Redskins can be seen on Monday Night Football against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers. The game will begin at 8:30 p.m.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver and former Gaffney High star Sidney Rice had an 8-yard touchdown catch in the Vikings' 28-21 win over Houston.

Wildcats advance to title game

The Blacksburg Middle School Wildcats defeated the Chesnee Eagles on Thursday 32-8 to advance to the Foothills Athletic Conference Championship Game.

Blacksburg Middle improves to 7-0 on the season.

Nick Hames took the opening handoff 62 yards to get the Wildcats on the scoreboard. Hames scored on the next Wildcat possession from 4 yards out to increase the lead. With under a minute left in the half, Treyvone Parker hit Terrell Allen for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 18-0 at the half.

Timothy Stephenson and Marty Burris added second half touchdowns for the Wildcats. Blacksburg Middle will try to defend their conference title Thursday against Mabry.

Sidney Rice Game time is set for 5 p.m. at Mabry.

Conference soccer brackets announced

The 2008 Conference Carolinas Soccer Tournament brackets are set. The Lady Saints (8-9/7-4 conference), seeded fifth in the upcoming tournament, will face fourth-seeded Barton (8-7-2/7-3-1 conference) in the first round today at 7 p.m.

The third-seeded Saints (15-2- 1/7-2-1 conference) will host sixth-seeded Belmont Abbey (9-9- 2/4-4-2 conference) on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Injured rider reportedly OK

Gaffney student Caroline Howell was thrown from her horse during a pre-game ceremony Friday at the Reservation.

Howell was placed in a stretcher by emergency officials and transported by ambulance. She was reportedly doing OK.

Howell is the daughter of Upstate Carolina Medical Center administrator Joe Howell.

It was the second time this season that Howell has had a mishap during pregame ceremonies. On the first instance when Howell fell off her horse, she quickly regained her mount and completed the pregame ritual of hurling the spear into the ground near midfield.

Edwards narrows Johnson's lead

No reason for Jimmie Johnson to panic. Not yet anyway.

As frustrating as Johnson's race was at Texas, struggling to a 15thplace finish while Carl Edwards gambled on fuel and won by a wide margin, Johnson maintained a somewhat comfortable 106-point lead in NASCAR's Sprint Cup chase with two races left.

Still, Johnson knows that his third consecutive championship isn't quite wrapped up.

Edwards won for the second consecutive week, squeezing a victory out of his last tank of fuel Sunday in the Dickies 500, slashing 77 points off his second-place deficit behind Johnson.