The Susquehanna Sabers needed just one week to take on an entirely different look.

The Sabers bounced back from a 50-point loss in the opener to pull out a 16-14 road victory over Northwest on Nick Lloyd’s sack for a safety midway through the fourth quarter.

First-year head coach John Salinkas shuffled the lineup and picked up his first career victory when the Sabers controlled possession and produced a physical effort defensively.

“The kids played up,” Salinkas said. “They surprised me in how well they responded to the previous week.

“I really wasn’t sure what we were going to have when we got there after a long bus ride.”

The Sabers answered the call by Salinkas to play more physically. The defense produced several big hits, threw the Rangers for 10 losses totaling 46 yards and took the ball away three times on fumbles.

Sophomore Austin White took over at quarterback and ran a balanced offense that piled up 249 yards rushing on 55 attempts.

“Austin did a great job of executing our offense,” Salinkas said. “For a sophomore, he made a number of reads. He missed a few. That’s to be expected, but for the most part, we had the one-two punch of (Cole) Mallery and James Murnock back there.”

White, Mallery and Murnock each carried 17 times.

Mallery, the quarterback in the opener, led the team with 97 yards and a touchdown rushing. Murnock picked up 75 yards and ran for the other touchdown. White had 72 yards.

“I was proud to see the statistics that we ran the ball (55) times,” Salinkas said. “That’s the kind of Saber football an offensive line coach dreams about.”

Willie Terpstra moved into the startling lineup up front and joined Jagr Briar on the right side where the Sabers had an advantage running the ball throughout the game.

John Haines moved from nose guard to middle linebacker where he was in on seven tackles, including one for a loss.

The Sabers took the opening kickoff and got inside the Northwest 10 with the help of a 52-yard run by White. The drive ended with three straight sacks.

Susquehanna moved 58 yards to take the lead 2:11 before halftime. Murnock carried four times for 25 yards in the drive to set up a 1-yard Mallery touchdown.

Sophomore Trey Hillard added the first of his two extra points for a 7-0 halftime lead.

Northwest scored three plays into the second half when Tony Politz raced 52 yards for a score. He finished with 158 yards on 20 carries.

A bad snap ruined the extra point, leaving the Sabers ahead, 7-6, with 10:35 left in the third quarter.

Mallery carried three times for 33 yards to set up a one-yard touchdown by Murnock for a 14-6 lead with 4:05 left in the third quarter.

White made a fourth-down fumble recovery, his second of the game, and Murnock broke up a fourth-down pass before the Rangers tied the game with 10:55 left.

Northwest moved from its 20 to the Susquehanna 16 where the Rangers gave the ball up on downs.

Murnock broke up a fourth-down pass as another drive stalled in Susquehanna territory before the Rangers went 68 yards in six plays to force a 14-14 tie.

Marcus Welliver’s 32-yard pass to Tyler Menninger and his two-point conversion pass tied the game, 14-14, early in the fourth quarter.

Brett Hepler, who earlier had a 51-yard punt, pinned Rochester at the 5.

Three penalties on the Rangers helped set up Lloyd’s tackle for the winning safety.

White was 3-for-7 passing for 29 yards with Zach Vaughn making all three catches. On defense, White had five tackles, including one for a loss, and two assists, in addition to his two fumble recoveries and a broken-up pass.

Hepler had a team-high nine tackles and three assists.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Montrose graduate Chris Snee was in his usual spot as starting offensive guard for the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants when the National Football League opened Sept. 5.

Snee began his ninth season by making his 123rd regular-season NFL start in a 24-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

In professional baseball, Rich Thompson, another Montrose graduate, returned to Major League Baseball for the second time this season and the third time in his career when the Tampa Bay Rays recalled him Sept. 1 from the Durham Bulls of the International League.

Thompson then produced his second career hit the next day against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Playing in the Major Leagues for the first time since June, Thompson went 1-for-2. He is hitting .105 (2-for-19) in 13 games for Tampa Bay this season.

Since getting that hit, he appeared three more times without an at-bat. He scored a run and stole his third base of the season.

Major League teams are allowed to expand their active rosters from September 1 through the end of the regular season, meaning Thompson is likely to finish the season with Tampa Bay.

Thompson batted .310 in 93 International League games this season. He hit .307 in 30 games for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs before the Philadelphia Phillies organization traded him to Tampa Bay. He then hit .311 in 63 games for Durham.

Overall in the IL, Thompson had 17 doubles, seven triples, two homers, 47 runs scored, 30 RBI and 29 stolen bases.

Elsewhere in the IL, the Pawtucket Red Sox ended the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees season Saturday with a 7-1 victory that completed a three-games-to-one triumph in the best-of-five International League playoff semifinals.

The season on the road came to an end for the Yankees in Rochester, N.Y., the most frequent of their temporary, rotating home stadiums while PNC Field in Moosic is being reconstructed.

While away from Moosic, the Yankees went 84-60 in the regular season to win the IL North Division title.

The Binghamton Mets went 68-74 to finish fifth in the six-team Eastern League Southern Division.

In high school football, Dustin Jones carried 17 times for 145 yards to lead a 353-yard ground attack that carried Lake-Lehman to a 49-0 rout of visiting Montrose Friday night.

John Lawson carried 25 times for 82 yards for Montrose, but the Meteors managed only 29 other yards offensively.

In high school cross country, Elk Lake opened with 2-0 starts in both the Lackawanna League boys’ and girls’ schedules.

COLLEGE CORNER

Elk Lake graduates Karin Mowry, a senior defender, and Abigail Zdancewicz, a freshman midfielder/defender, are members of the Baptist Bible College women’s soccer team.

Mowry started both games and took seven shots as the Lady Defenders began 0-1-1 with a 1-1 tie against Cazenovia and a 4-1 loss to Penn College.

Zdancewicz did not appear in the first two games.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Susquehanna and Montrose each play non-league football games Monday night against Wyoming Valley Conference teams.

The Sabers are at Nanticoke in a meeting of 1-1 teams. The Meteors are home against Tunkhannock in a game between 0-2 teams.

Last week’s predictions were 10-5 (66.7 percent) in games completed through Sunday, bringing our season record to 22-8 (73.3 percent).

This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: Susquehanna 23, NANTICOKE 22; Tunkhannock 31, MONTROSE 19; Riverside 23, NORTH POCONO 17; OLD FORGE 51, Holy Redeemer 0; WALLENPAUPACK 50, Allentown Dieruff 29; Dunmore 26, WEST SCRANTON 13; Delaware Valley 47, HAZLETON AREA 0; Valley View 26, HONESDALE 0; WESTERN WAYNE 31, Coughlin 19; Scranton 39, WYOMING VALLEY WEST 8; CARBONDALE 35, Gar 13; Lakeland 43, HANOVER AREA 0; Lackawanna Trail 38, MEYERS 7; ABINGTON HEIGHTS 44, Williamsport 6; Northwest 29, HOLY CROSS 18; Mid Valley 47, SCRANTON PREP 32.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.

BOWYER WINS THRILLER AT RICHMOND

RICHMOND, Vir.—Clint Bowyer’s gamble on fuel, allowed him to win Saturday night’s rain-delayed race at Richmond, as the Chase for the Sprint Cup is set.

Bowyer made it to the finish line 1.198 seconds ahead of Jeff Gordon, then ran out of fuel doing a victory lane burn out.

Bowyer recovered from a spin on lap 235 of the 400-lap race, after contact with Juan Montoya caused a left-rear tire on Bowyer’s car to go down. Fighting for control, Bowyer looped his car near the start/finish line.

“Thank you, Juan Pablo, for wrecking me and then winning me the race -- thank you!” said Bowyer, who was then in position to gamble on fuel mileage. “We had a bad race last weekend [at Atlanta] and had a lot of adversity we had to bounce through, were kind of bummed out as a team, as a whole, coming into this race.

Clint Bowyer, winner of Richmond Cup race

“It's a good way to get things bounced back headed into this Chase. You can't ask for a better race team. It's just unbelievable.”

Bowyer’s teammate Mark Martin ran third Saturday, followed by Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth, but the big story was Gordon's miracle comeback that put all four Hendrick Motorsports cars in the Chase. Gordon joined Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR's 10-race playoff.

For Kyle Busch, it was a failed pit strategy that led to his ouster from the second wild-card spot, a position he held entering the race and for the vast majority of Saturday night's event. When a light rain caused the sixth caution on Lap 275, Busch stayed out while others came to pit road for fuel. A slow pit stop under green on Lap 334, thanks to a dropped lug nut on the right-rear wheel, did further damage to Busch’s chances.

Several times in the last 10 laps, the second provisional wild-card spot changed hands between Gordon and Busch, who entered the race with a 12-point lead over Gordon. When Busch passed Martin Truex Jr. for the 15th position on Lap 390 of 400, he had the berth. When Gordon passed Mark Martin on Lap 394, he took it back.

Ultimately, Busch dropped positions to Marcos Ambrose and Hendrick driver and pole-sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was on a late-race mission to help his teammate make the Chase.

“We missed it, plain and simple,” said Busch.

Gordon made the Chase by a three-point margin over Busch

“I felt like I won the race tonight,” Gordon said. “When that was over, when they told me I was in the Chase, we made it -- I mean, I was ecstatic. I was going nuts. To me, after you have that kind of effort, fall back, then come up there and finish second, almost win the race, make it by (three points), man, I don't see any reason why we can't go over these next 10 races and be a real threat for the championship.”

Top-12 Chase contenders and reset points: 1. Hamlin-2012, 2. Johnson-2009, 3. Stewart-2009, 4. Keselowski-2009, 5. Biffle-2006, 6. Bowyer-2006, 7. Earnhardt-2003, 8. Kenseth-2002, 9. Harvick-2000, 10. Truex-2000, 11. Kahne-2000, 12. Gordon-2000

HARVICK IS RICHMOND NATIONWIDE WINNER

Kevin Harvick took the lead on a late restart in Friday night’s Nationwide race at Richmond, and beat Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to the finish line by 1.944 seconds to win for the fifth time at the .75-mile short track and for the 38th time in the series, tying Carl Edwards for third on the all-time victory list.

“It's been a great year in this Nationwide car,” said Harvick, who led a race-high 141 laps. “I know we haven't won the races that we needed to, but, man, we've led a ton of laps and been in contention to win just about every race I've been in this car this year.

“Sometimes you go through slumps like that, and when you break 'em, it just makes it that much sweeter.”

Kurt Busch ran third, followed by Denny Hamlin, Michael Annett, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Joe Nemechek, Ryan Blaney, and Darrell Wallace Jr.

The championship battle took a sudden turn on Lap 186, with Stenhouse and Elliott Sadler racing side-by-side through Turn 3 and 4. Sadler, on the inside during a sustained fight for the second position that already had lasted seven laps, broke loose beneath Stenhouse and backed his Chevrolet into the outside wall, crushing the rear deck.

Sadler lost a lap and restarted 28th on Lap 193. He rallied to finish 12th and retained the championship lead by one point over Stenhouse, the defending champion.

Top-10 leaders after 25 of 33: 1. Sadler-936, 2. Stenhouse-935, 3. A. Dillon-906, 4. Hornish-886, 5. Allgaier-841, 6. Annett-799, 7. Whitt-737, 8. Bliss-691, 9. Nemechek-605, 10. Scott-599

CHILDRESS CONSIDERING KURT BUSCH

Richard Childress told ESPN last week at Richmond that he has talked with Kurt Busch about driving a fourth Cup car in 2013.

“I have talked to Kurt about running a full season with a fourth team if we had sponsorship,'” Childress told ESPN. “He's a very, very talented driver. I like Kurt. Kurt and I would get along. There's just not a sponsor out there today that can fill a complete car.”

Busch through a team public relations representative said he had nothing to add to Childress' comments.

Childress said he should know his entire driver lineup by mid-October. He plans to field three Sprint Cup teams with drivers Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard and Jeff Burton, as well as three Nationwide teams. Childress' grandson Austin Dillon will drive one of the full-time Nationwide cars with grandson Ty Dillon driving 8-10 Nationwide races while running a full-time Truck Series schedule.

“He and I would get along, and he would listen to me,” Childress said of Busch. “One thing he needs is somebody, when he does do wrong, to discuss how to handle it.”

Busch has spent this season driving for under funded and primarily unsponsored No. 51 Phoenix Racing. Phoenix Racing general manager Steve Barkdoll told ESPN.com recently that owner James Finch would welcome Busch back in 2013 if sponsorship was found.

Weekend Racing: The Cup and Nationwide teams are at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, while the trucks will be at the seven-eighths mile Newton, Iowa track.

Sat., Sept. 15, Nationwide Dollar General 300, race 26 of 33; Starting time: 3 pm ET; TV: ESPN2.

Sat., Sept. 15, Camping World Trucks Iowa 200, race 15 of 22; Starting time: 8 pm ET; TV: SPEED.

Sun., Sept. 16, Sprint Cup Geico 400, race 27 of 36; Starting time: 1 pm ET; TV: ESPN.

Racing Trivia Question: Where is the last Cup race of the season held?

Last Week's Question: Who won the first Cup race held at Chicagoland Speedway? Answer. Kevin Harvick.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.

The City scored six touchdowns in its 41-20 victory over the County in the Aug. 1 Dream Game.

None were more timely than the one produced by Susquehanna graduate Austin Cowperthwait.

Cowperthwait pulled in a 61-yard touchdown pass from Dunmore quarterback Jordan Dempsey 15 seconds before halftime.

The touchdown and his other efforts in the all-star game for graduated high school football players earned Cowperthwait the Susquehanna County Transcript’s Athlete of the Month award for August.

Austin Cowperthwait

“I’ll never forget it,” Cowperthwait said of the experience of playing in the 78th annual game before a paid crowd of 6,746 at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

Cowperthwait started at wide receiver and also spent some time at cornerback where he made one tackle.

The City had seen its 14-0 lead cut to 20-17 with 32.2 seconds left in the half.

Dempsey and Cowperthwait turned the momentum back on the next play.

“Coach (Keith) Olsommer told me if they were in a Cover-3 to run straight down the field and if they were in a Cover-2 to hook to the middle and wait for the football,” Cowperthwait said. “I saw two deep safeties and knew it was coming.”

Cowperthwait, who had lined up in the left slot, caught the pass in the middle. He cut to his right, worked his way through the defense and finally made it to the right flag to complete the 61-yard touchdown for a 27-17 lead.

The County never got any closer.

“Coming back from having the County score, it was a big momentum changer,” Cowperthwait said. “The County would have been able to go into the half off a score and could have gotten a big lift from that.”

Cowperthwait was one of three former Sabers to help the City to the win. He got help from Gage Piechocki and Jesse Pruitt, a pair of Blue Ridge graduates, who also represented Susquehanna in the win.

“We had a lot to prove, coming from a Division 3 school and playing with players other schools like Abington Heights and Scranton,” Cowperthwait said.

Cowperthwait is back to trying to prove himself again. He is a freshman wide receiver, trying to work his way into the lineup at King’s College where he is studying business management.

Austin, the son of Christopher Carver and Daphne Cowperthwait of Susquehanna, also started on the basketball and baseball teams while at Susquehanna.