ROANOKE — It was almost too easy. Freshman quarterback Kendall Becraft just threw the ball in senior wide receiver Alec Thompson’s direction, and time after time, Thompson came down with the pass for a big play.

Anyone who looked at Liberty’s roster and the Flames’ early-season schedule could see something like this coming.

Preview capsules for Friday night’s three high school football playoff games.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Chad Knaus was clearly distracted as he leaned against a cart during a casual conversation before last week’s race in Phoenix. His eyes darted around, finally settling on an aerosol can and a box of towels.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The bowl representatives have quit visiting, but Virginia’s football complex is still a hot spot for NFL scouts.

The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from a group of Native Americans who think the name of the NFL’s Washington Redskins football team is offensive.

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Jim Zorn’s Washington Redskins seemingly were delivering a tutorial on how NOT to set up a trick play on fourth-and-20 at the opponent’s 35:

Prep scoreboard from Friday night’s action

The Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s football season once again has boiled down to one of college football’s oldest rivalries.

Tommy Beecher knew Ervin Garner would be open. The two took one look at VMI’s coverage Saturday night and realized that the Keydets’ safeties were dropping down in run support. Garner is quick, and once he made a move to get past the safeties and into one-on-one coverage with the cornerbacks, it was too late to adjust.

For years, Liberty’s identity heading into a women’s basketball season has been predetermined. First, it was Katie Feenstra’s team. Once she moved on to the WNBA, the Flames quickly became Megan Frazee’s team.

BLACKSBURG — Two straight seasons of narrowly missing the NCAA tournament prompted major changes this preseason for Virginia Tech’s men’s basketball team.

Tuesday’s high school scoreboard

Liberty enters Saturday’s game against Gardner-Webb ranked fourth nationally in FCS football in scoring offense at 35.1 points per game, an amazing stat considering the Flames aren’t ranked in the top 40 nationally in total offense. Only one Flame — sophomore receiver Chris Summers — is ranked in the top five in the Big South in passing yards, rushing yards or receiving yards per game.

BLACKSBURG — A return to the playing field this season seems unlikely for Virginia Tech tailback Darren Evans, but it hasn’t stopped him from attacking his rehab from the torn left ACL he suffered in the preseason.

ATLANTA - Losing is one thing. Losing with a distinct lack of class is another.

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer was diagnosed last December with chronic myeloid leukemia, he told The Associated Press on Monday.

How strange that Boston College and Virginia have been members of the ACC for five years and have met only once on the gridiron leading into Saturday’s visit by the Eagles to UVa’s Scott Stadium.

ATLANTA (AP) — Michael Turner prefers to stay on his feet. For some reason, it just felt right to jump.

Staunton River clinched its first playoff berth in more than a decade despite losing Friday night’s game to a Northside team that was an offensive buzzsaw.

The Vikings rolled up 601 yards of total offense in a 51-26 victory that sealed the Blue Ridge District title outright.

Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest sees redshirt freshman Joey Ehrmann as the kind of player who will grow on you.

In the past 30 years, the Washington Redskins have seen the best of times—three Super Bowl victories—and the worst of times, one playoff appearance between 1994 and 2004, including a 0-7 start in 1998 and a 0-5 start in 2001.

Defending champions the Philadelphia Phillies fell two wins short in their bid to become the first NL team in 33 years to win consecutive World Series titles. Their quest ended with a 7-3 loss to the New York Yankees in Game 6 on Wednesday night.

Andy Pettitte against Pedro Martinez, with the Yankees one win from ecstasy. Now that’s a World Series matchup worth talking about.

By the ninth inning, Phillies fans were preparing for the worst. The New York Yankees were at it again, chipping away at a dwindling lead and threatening to take away the Phils’ World Series title right there at Citizens Bank Park. Desperate to hang on, somehow Chase Utley and the Phillies did.

PHILADELPHIA — Alex Rodriguez waited all game for this hit. Heck, he waited his whole career.

Kenny Scott already had two touchdowns by the end of the third quarter. Both of them came on the ground, the first from four yards out and the second from 15.

Still, the Gretna Hawks had held him mostly in check, limiting him to short carries and stifling the passing game. So when Scott stood over the ball on his own 20 after a Gretna punt, with the game tied at 20 in the fourth quarter, facing a Hawks team he had never beat, he must have felt the eyes of the home crowd watching him, silently pleading with him to make a play.

Scott did, breaking loose from a pack of defenders on first down for an 80-yard touchdown, putting the Raiders on top for good in a wild 28-26 shootout win on senior night at Appomattox.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees waited six long years for this.

NEW YORK (AP) — The ho-hum catch that tickled his teammates, the behind-the-back snag that looked so easy.

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — DeSean Jackson scored on a 67-yard run and a 57-yard reception, both in the first half. His night might have been perfect if his tender right ankle hadn’t messed up his touchdown tap dance.