Yarder

After spending five consecutive quarters riding the bench, the longest such inactive stretch of his four-year career, Ravens wide receiver Derrick Alexander was itching to make someone pay for his frustration.Seattle cornerback Fred Thomas, step right up.All Alexander did after entering yesterday's game midway through the second quarter was grace Memorial Stadium with his most inspired performance in several weeks. Gone were the puzzling number of dropped balls in recent games. Alexander ran precise patterns and snared every pass from Eric Zeier that came his way.And Thomas was the main victim of Alexander's inspiration -- six catches for 150 yards, both game highs.

All afternoon, Towson and Bucknell sparred, grunted and ground it out, both teams bucking a stiff wind that made passing and kicking difficult. But with 11 seconds remaining in the game, Tigers junior place-kicker Ed Kulic defied the hardy breeze, drilling a 35-yard field goal that lifted Towson to a 15-13 Patriot League victory in the final game at Minnegan Stadium before its renovation for next season. The game-winning three points marked the first time either team had scored against the wind, which collaborated with tough defenses to make the second half a slugfest instead of a scorefest.

After getting shut down by the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, Baltimore Stallions running back Mike Pringle promised to deliver in yesterday's rematch at Memorial Stadium.Pringle, the Canadian Football League's premier runner, meant what he said.He rushed for 179 yards, including 161 in the second half. And he ripped off sizable chunks of yardage on Baltimore's final drive to put kicker Carlos Huerta in position to kick a 21-yard field goal with five seconds left, giving the Stallions a wild, 29-27 victory before 31,421, the largest crowd here this year.

WASHINGTON -- After David Meggett's total yardage dipped noticeably last year and he had become almost a missing person in the New York Giants' offense early this season, there were murmurs that the former Towson State star had lost his explosiveness or NFL defenses had caught up with him.But Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Larry Peccatiello was not fooled."

It's not that Billy Davis had begun to doubt his ability as a wide receiver. But by igniting the Ravens' biggest play from scrimmage a week ago, Davis presented a long-awaited reminder of the threat he could be.The 1999 season has been a strange trip for Davis.He signed a one-year contract with the Ravens after enjoying a breakthrough season in Dallas last year. Upon his arrival at training camp, Davis looked around at all of the young and unproven receivers and figured he had a legitimate chance to crack the starting lineup.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Ravens' locker room was nearly empty, but quarterback Vinny Testaverde was still sitting half-dressed on the stool, waiting patiently as the last batch of reporters asked a few more questions.Testaverde had friends and family outside waiting from his hometown of Elmont, N.Y., but he was willing to savor the moments of the Ravens' 24-23, come-from-behind win over the New Giants yesterday before 69,768 at Giants Stadium.The Ravens scored on their final two drives, including a 37-yard field goal by Matt Stover with 34 seconds left to pull out the win."

The Ravens' locker room was nearly empty, but quarterback Vinny Testaverde was still sitting half-dressed on the stool, waiting patiently as the last batch of reporters asked a few more questions. Testaverde had friends and family outside waiting from his hometown of Elmont, N.Y., but he was willing to savor the moments of the Ravens' 24-23, come-from-behind win over the New Giants yesterday before 69,768 at Giants Stadium. The Ravens scored on their final two drives, including a 37-yard field goal by Matt Stover with 34 seconds left to pull out the win. "I'm hanging around for this one," said Testaverde, who injured the thumb on his right throwing hand in the second quarter but remained in the game.

Maybe now, Havre de Grace football coach Johnny Brooks won't have to deal with that look. All season, Brooks has fielded questions about what constitutes Warriors senior quarterback and kicker Shane West's field-goal range. And Brooks always gets that same quizzical, non-believing look when he tells them that West makes field goals from more than 60 yards in practice. "Maybe, they'll understand now because I don't think they believed me," Brooks said. In the fourth quarter of the Warriors' 34-14 home victory over Joppatowne on Friday at James R. Harris Memorial Field, West set a state record by booting a 59-yard field goal.

DENVER -- Just when you think John Elway has done it all on a football field, he does something new to take your breath away.Elway threw a game-winning touchdown pass on the final play for the first time in his storied career yesterday to give the Denver Broncos a 38-31 victory over the Washington Redskins at Mile High Stadium.The 43-yarder was caught by a backup player named Rod Smith, who had never caught a pass in the NFL.It was a memorable game that included 830 yards of offense, 48 first downs, 240 yards of return yardage by Brian Mitchell (most ever against the Broncos)

LANDOVER - A broken play fixed the Washington Redskins' breakdown. Quarterback Patrick Ramsey's 24-yard scamper on a fruitless pass attempt late in the fourth quarter led to John Hall's game-winning, 33-yard field goal with five seconds left as the Redskins earned a 16-13 victory over the New York Jets last night before 85,420 at FedEx Field. Armed with a 13-7 lead at halftime in the NFL's lone prime-time season opener, Washington let the Jets claw their way back to a tie. New York had converted two Ramsey turnovers in the second half into Doug Brien field goals to tie the game 13-13 with 8:13 left in the fourth quarter.