Falcons

Jaguars at Falcons Staff predictions for Thursday night's game between Jaguars and Falcons: Kevin Cowherd : Falcons Edward Lee : Falcons Mike Preston : Falcons Peter Schmuck : Falcons Kevin Van Valkenburg : Falcons Mark Viviano: Falcons Jeff Zrebiec : Falcons

After Winters Mill's girls lacrosse team started the season 2-4, coach Courtney Vaughn told her players that if the seniors led and the youngsters followed they would "do good things down the road. " The road for the Falcons' five leaders ended Tuesday with a third state championship in four years after an 8-7 victory over Easton in the Class 2A-1A final at UMBC Stadium. The seniors - twin midfielders Shelby and Sydney Trentzsch and defenders Maddie Bodden, Emily Horn and Delaney Norris - led their younger teammates to a big finish, winning 13 of their last 14 games with the only loss a 12-10 setback to No. 2 Century on April 30. "I told them after that game, the only team that can beat you is yourselves," Vaughn said.

Ravens run offense vs. Falcons run defense: Ray Rice has averaged 94 yards rushing the past four games. But Rice has been more efficient than electric in the running game. He hasn't broken a run longer than 18 yards during that stretch. The Ravens are 4-1 when they rush for over 100 yards as a team. The Falcons are fast and small, but they've been effective. Over the past six games, the Falcons' run defense has gone from No. 26 in the NFL to No. 6. Atlanta has allowed only three runs over 15 yards during that time, but two came Sunday against Tampa Bay. Curtis Lofton, the Falcons' leading tackler is questionable with a knee injury.

The Class 4A-3A boys lacrosse championship between defending champion South River and Westminster was suspended Wednesday night due to lightning at UMBC. The game was slated to pick up where it left off on Thursday, with the South River leading, 8-7, and just over a minute remaining in the first half. The first sight of lightning prompted an automatic 30-minute delay. Just as the players returned to the field and play was expected to continue, lightning was again seen in the area, forcing the suspension.

Ravens 21, Falcons 7 Fourth quarter: 2:37 Damien Berry rushes for a 5-yard touchdown. (Hunter Cantwell throws to Ryan Mahaffey for the 2-point conversion). Ravens 13, Falcons 7 Fourth quarter: 3:03 Billy Cundiff kicks a 44-yard field goal. Ravens 10, Falcons 7 Third quarter: 2:13 Chykie Brown intercepts John Parker Wilson and returns the pick 65 yards for a touchdown. (Billy Cundiff kicks the extra point) Falcons 7, Ravens 3 Third quarter: 9:39 Antone Smith rushes for a 46-yard touchdown.

Falcons 26, Ravens 21 Fourth quarter: 0:20 Atlanta Touchdown - 33-yard pass from Matt Ryan to Roddy White. (Matt Ryan pass incomplete, two-point conversion failed). Ravens 21, Falcons 20 Fourth quarter: 1:05 Baltimore Touchdown - 9-yard pass from Joe Flacco to Todd Heap. (Billy Cundiff extra point is good). Falcons 20, Ravens 14 Fourth quarter: 5:42 Baltimore Touchdown - Joe Flacco pass to Derrick Mason for 6 yards. (Billy Cundiff extra point is good)

1. Falcons running back Michael Turner runs wild. The Ravens have had trouble with power running backs in the past. Turner has been on a tear, gaining 100 yards in three of his past four games. 2. Ravens can't stop Atlanta in red zone. In their past two games, the Falcons have scored seven touchdowns in eight trips inside the 20-yard line. The Ravens have the NFL's fourth-best red-zone defense. 3. Ravens get into an early hole. The Falcons, who have averaged 30.7 points in four home games this season, are dangerous with a lead.

Falcons could run table Sam Farmer Los Angeles Times Were they to play each other, I'd give the Texans the edge over the Falcons. But Atlanta will hang on to its unblemished record longer, particularly with Texans linebacker Brian Cushing out for the year. The Texans have a tougher remaining schedule, with games they could lose Sunday against the Packers, Nov. 11 at Chicago and Dec. 10 at New England. Of course, there's also the possibility of another team pulling off an upset, the way the Colts rode a wave of emotion and knocked off the Packers.

They'd just won a game against a team that arrived being billed -- actually, billing itself -- as the NFC's best. And yet Mike Smith, the head coach, characterized the Falcons' mood thusly: "We're 6-2, but there's some guys in that locker room who are ticked off because they know we haven't put together 60 minutes of football. " The good news is that the Falcons lead the NFC South and hold the best record in their conference. The better news is that they've done this much while working hard not to make the opponent feel bad about itself.

Severna Park junior Madison Thomas seemed almost to be dancing, as she weaved down the field in the 27th minute of the first half of the Falcons' Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association's Class 4A state semifinal match against No. 13 Dulaney on Monday night.. Dulaney's Lions had held their ground and played tough for the first 15 minutes, but then Thomas had broken through, and with the Falcons now leading by three goals, No. 3 Severna Park was well on its way to a 5-0 victory and a 24th appearance in the state championship finals.

As a four-year varsity player, captain and the catalyst of his team's undefeated start this season, South River pitcher Scott Mitchell has earned the right to have a say. So when he asked to stay on the mound to get the final out in Friday's showdown against Anne Arundel County rival Severna Park, the Seahawks' brass obliged. And Mitchell finished what he started. When Severna Park second baseman Danny Fulton swung through Mitchell's high fastball for the third strike, the No. 2 Seahawks completed a sound 2-1 win over the No. 9 Falcons in Edgewater.

The Ravens 2013 preseason schedule is highlighted by a prime-time home game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, Aug. 22 at M&T Bank Stadium, the NFL announced today. That game, which will be the third of four preseason games for the Super Bowl XLVII champions, will start at 8 p.m. and be televised by ESPN. The Ravens will open up the preseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. The exact date and time of the game has yet to be announced. In Week Two of the preseason, the Ravens will host the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday, Aug. 15 at M&T Bank Stadium.

John Lowe Winters Mill John Lowe isn't ready to use the "D" word when he describes the wrestling program at Winters Mill. Other people, however, find it easier to call the Falcons a dynasty. For the third straight season, Lowe led Winters Mill to a Class 2A-1A state tournament title. He also led the Falcons to their second straight state dual meet championship. With his team performing at such a consistently high level, Lowe earned Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive year.

Winters Mill's Wes Cook knew who he was facing in the 145-pound final during the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Class 2A-1A state championship at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House. He also knew he had a debt to pay. Cook scored all three points of his 3-1 victory over Owings Mills' Demetrius Johnson in the third period to win his second straight state title (the other was at 138 last year). If it wasn't for Johnson, it may have been three. "He beat me by a point two years ago, so I guess you can call this payback," Cook said.

For a few minutes on Saturday afternoon, St. Vincent Pallotti's Antonio Santoro was the most popular person on McDonogh's campus. Unfortunately for him and the No. 1 Eagles, it didn't last. Santoro lost a 6-1 decision in the championship match at 285 pounds to Good Counsel's Jemal Averette, giving the Falcons the three points they needed to pass host McDonogh to win their first-ever A Division team championship at the Maryland Independent Schools state tournament. The Falcons accumulated 266 points en route to the win, besting McDonogh's total of 264.5 points.

Winters Mill hadn't really been tested in a state dual meet all year. On Saturday night at North Point, that all changed. The No. 2 Falcons got a pin from senior Chase Cullison at 3:44 in the second period over No. 9 Glenelg's Anthony Pagnotta to give Winters Mill its second consecutive Class 2A-1A state dual meet title, 35-30, over the Gladiators. Winters Mill entered the final match trailing, 30-29. "Let's just say I'm speechless," Cullison said after the match. "Other than that, no comment.

The No. 5 Severna Park girls and Old Mill boys showed their local rivals the importance of depth Tuesday as both cruised to repeat team titles in the Anne Arundel County indoor track championship meet at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex. This was the third consecutive county championship for the Old Mill boys, while the Severna Park girls have won two in a row - their first two in school history. In the boys meet, Old Mill finished with 122 points to easily beat out No. 9 Severna Park, which finished in second place with 83. The Falcons did even better in the girls meet, scoring 135 points to run away from No. 7 Broadneck (88)

SANTA CLARA -- So which Vernon Davis will we see in Super Bowl XLVII? Will it be the man who made just six catches for 61 yards over the final six regular-season games? Or the guy who in two postseason games has caught six balls for 150 yards and a touchdown while being targeted 11 times? It's probably a better question for the Baltimore Ravens and how they choose to defend the 49ers' dangerous tight end, but to date, they haven't been forthcoming with answers. In NFC Championship game, though, the Atlanta Falcons clearly didn't make Davis a major focal point of their pass defense and paid dearly as a result.