MINNEAPOLIS — In Favre they trust.

Brett Favre’s 58-yard completion to Sidney Rice setup Ryan Longwell’s fourth field goal, and Baltimore’s Steve Hauschka missed a 44-yard field goal at the final whistle, allowing the Minnesota Vikings to remain undefeated with a 33-31 victory on Sunday.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Even in lovely weather, Maryland has had trouble holding onto the football.

The problem became more pronounced in a steady rain, and Virginia took full advantage of four turnovers Saturday in a 20-9 victory.

ATLANTA — Virginia Tech might have lost its shot at a national championship on another doomed trip to Atlanta.

Josh Nesbitt rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns — the last of them tiptoeing down the sideline to finish off the fourth-ranked Hokies with 3 minutes left — as No. 19 Georgia Tech ran to a 28-23 win that threw the Atlantic Coast Conference race up for grabs while perhaps finishing off the league’s top contender in the national race.

FORT DEFIANCE — A couple of big plays could have changed a Homecoming full of what might have been’s into one of the biggest upsets of the 2009 football season in the area.

STUARTS DRAFT — As the final whistle blew on Friday night, Stuarts Draft coach Rod Bowers looked at the final score of 58-31 in favor of the Blue Streaks and completely disregarded the 27-point defeat.

SWOOPE – On a Homecoming night fit for neither man nor beast, the Bison and the Bulldogs battled to the last play.

GREENVILLE – Demetrius Younger is a beast.

More times than not, the team that wins the turnover battle also wins the war. That was the case Friday night as Broadway turned two Waynesboro first-quarter turnovers into touchdowns in route to a 45-20 victory, keeping Waynesboro winless for the season.

Khalil Murphy has only been in Waynesboro for a couple of months, but thinks he knows what is in store for the River City.

In Luray, the Buffalo Gap Volleyball team was one game away from earning its first Shenandoah District win of the year before Luray started to rally.

Little Giants senior leads team to 4-game win over TA

For the first time since joining the USA South Conference, Mary Baldwin College will open official basketball practice with a full 15-man roster.

GREENVILLE — Shenandoah District rivals Buffalo Gap and Riverheads squared off on the volleyball court Tuesday night, but more importantly the two teams joined hands together and took the fight to breast cancer in a match that benefited the Susan G. Komen Foundation. While both teams collaboratively raised awareness and support in the battle against breast cancer, the Gladiators came away victorious, staying perfect in the district with a three-game sweep over the Bison 25-17, 25-16, 25-19.

STUARTS DRAFT — It looked like Wilson Memorial was going to spoil Stuarts Draft’s senior night after taking the opening game, but the five Draft seniors stood as one and defeated the Green Hornets in four games, 23-25, 25-9, 26-24 25-19.

In Lexington, Waynesboro needed five games to dispose of Rockbridge County on a rare Monday night edition of Southern Valley District volleyball.

FORT DEFIANCE — The Fort Defiance Indians volleyball team is quickly learning that a first-place district ranking brings much more than just accolades and high praise. That distinction also earns you the best shot your respective opponent can bring at you and that is exactly what they received from Robert E. Lee on Monday night.  And once again the Indians were up to the challenge, defeating Lee in four games 25-15, 25-20, 16-25, 25-8.

Missed opportunities and key turnovers spelled doom for Fishburne Military School on Monday afternoon.

FONTANA, Calif. — Jimmie Johnson is back in control of NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship.

The three-time defending Sprint Cup champion easily pulled away from Jeff Gordon following a restart with three laps left to win the Pepsi 500 on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway for his fifth victory of the year and 45th overall.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Aided by a disputed call and Jake Delhomme’s bold third-down run, the Carolina Panthers jump-started a sagging season at the expense of embattled Washington coach Jim Zorn.

The Panthers scored the game’s final 18 points Sunday, with Jonathan Stewart’s 8-yard run with 9:21 left the go-ahead touchdown in a 20-17 win over the Redskins.

BLACKSBURG — Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams and No. 5 Virginia Tech’s swarming defense made sure the Hokies’ regular season losing streak against Boston College ended.

Taylor threw two early touchdown passes, Williams ran for 159 yards and a TD and the Hokies rolled 48-14 against the Eagles on Saturday.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — For once, Virginia’s home crowd had nothing to boo about.

Cornerback Ras-I Dowling set the tone early by stripping the ball from Indiana receiver Terrance Turner, and it was all cheers from that point on as the Cavaliers rolled to a 47-7 victory Saturday.

STAUNTON — Friday night featured the top two teams from the Southern Valley and Massanutten Districts. The undefeated Spotswood Trailblazers marched into Staunton to take on one-loss Robert E. Lee and put up 15 fourth-quarter points to defeat the Leemen 29-10.

BROADWAY— “It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get back up,” said Stuarts Draft coach Rod Bowers.

HARRISONBURG — Even without star running back Michael Holmes for most of the game, the Harrisonburg Blue Streaks were able to get by the Fort Defiance Indians on Friday night, 34-12.

Wilson gets 1st SVD victory

Game 3s have been a sticking point for the Waynesboro volleyball team, but in non-district action against Broadway on Thursday night it didn’t show.

In Penn Laird, the Wilson Memorial girls cross country team won the Old Valley Challenge on Thursday afternoon at Spotswood High School.

In Stuarts Draft, the Stuarts Draft volleyball team squeaked out a win against Turner Ashby on Thursday night, taking it to five games.

Kala and Candice meet on the court

FISHERSVILLE — For the first time since 1996, the rivalry between the storied volleyball programs of Stuarts Draft and Wilson Memorial again holds district ramifications. The former Skyline District members hooked up Tuesday night in a Southern Valley contest that saw the visiting Cougars win in a three-game sweep 25-21, 25-13, 25-20.