Saturday State Sports Briefs: Pack down five starters against Cardinals

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GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Packers will face Arizona tomorrow in a rematch of the 2009 NFC playoff game without five starters.

Injury problems have become the norm for the Pack this season. Wide receiver Greg Jennings is out after having surgery last Thursday. Also missing will be safety Charles Woodson, linebacker Nick Perry, corner back Sam Shields and fullback John Kihn. Rookies Jerel Worthy and Jerron McMillian are hurt. Worthy will miss the Cardinal game, while McMillian is listed as questionable with a bad back. It is possible defensive end Mike Neal will play after practicing the last two days.

For the second week in a row, Green Bay Packers’ receiver Jordy Nelson is listed as questionable for Sunday’s home contest against Arizona. Nelson missed last Sunday’s win over Jacksonville with a bad hamstring suffered at practice nine days ago. Today, coach Mike McCarthy said Nelson would be a game-time decision – but his evaluation went well, and the staff put him through more activity than he’s had since his injury.

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Much has been said about how deep the Green Bay Packers’ receiving corps is. But quarterback Aaron Rodgers says the absence of Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings has had its impact – especially on the Packers’ no-huddle offense. He says the offense does not always have the same continuity with the amount of plays in the no-huddle – and the signal variations within the formations. Second-year pro Randall Cobb started in Nelson’s place in last Sunday’s home win over Jacksonville. Veteran James Jones is getting more playing time – and so are Donald Driver and rookie Jarrett Boykin. Rodgers says he believes that Boykin is ready to be a key fill-in. The quarterback says he believes that Boykin will be a “big time player” at some point.

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Two punt returners who’ve seen better days will face each other on Sunday at Lambeau Field. Opposing punters have caught onto both Green Bay’s Randall Cobb and Arizona’s Patrick Peterson. And both have seen their numbers fall dramatically from a year ago, because they’re not getting many opportunities for big runbacks. Peterson is the only NFL player to have four punt returns of 80 yards or more for touchdowns in a single season. But this year, Peterson averages about eight yards per return – and his longest is only 26. Cobb has hit a similar wall in just his second year in the league. In the opener, Cobb had a 75-yard touchdown return which should have brought back because a replacement official never saw a block-in-the-back by a Packers’ teammate. Since then, he’s only had three returns of 10 yards or more. And Cobb’s been averaging just six-and-a-half yards per punt return. He says he’s had some opportunities to convert big-time – but he didn’t get the job done. Packers’ special teams coach Shaun Slocum says punters are doing a better job this year of keeping the ball away from the best return men. They either try to pin the ball to one side, away from the return man – or else they go for hang-time which often results in a fair catch.

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University of Wisconsin men’s senior center Jared Berggren is one of 30 candidates for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award. The honor is given to a player who shows excellent character, community involvement, classroom work, and competition. Berggren was an all-Big Ten honorable mention last season, after he led the Big Ten in blocked shots with 60. That was the third-highest total in Badgers’ history. Berggren also averaged 10-and-a-half points and five rebounds. His overall grade point average is three-point-three-three, and he expects to graduate next spring in personal finance. Former Wisconsin forward Alando Tucker was given the Lowe’s Senior Class Award in 2007.

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University of Wisconsin’s football recruiting class for next year has picked up its first running back. Corey Clement of Glassboro New Jersey withdrew an earlier commitment to Pittsburgh, and gave his verbal commitment to the Badgers today – his 18th birthday. Clement has run for 1,669 yards and 23 touchdowns this season. He had 2,510 yards as a junior, and 1,205 yards as a sophomore. The 5-11 Clement reportedly had scholarship offers from over a dozen schools. He changed his mind about going to Pittsburgh after visiting UW-Madison last month. Clement is the Badgers’ 15th known recruit for 2013 – and their first tailback. The current Badgers are on their bye week, but they’ve been practicing. Their next game is at Indiana a week from tomorrow.

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Two Milwaukee Brewers’ prospects will play in the Arizona Fall League’s “Rising Stars Game” tonight. Double-“A” first baseman Hunter Morris will take part, along with right-hander Johnny Hellweg – whom the Brewers acquired in the trade that sent Zack Greinke to the Angels of Anaheim. Both will represent the league’s West Division.

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Two more Milwaukee Brewers officially became free agents yesterday. Right-handed reliever Kameron Loe joined outfielder Nyjer Morgan in refusing to accept out-right assignments to Triple-“A” Nashville – and they opted to shop around for new teams. The 31-year-old Loe slipped this year, going 6-and-5 with a four-point-six-one ERA in 70 relief outings. And in September, Loe gave up 12 runs in 10-and-a-third innings. The Brewers also out-righted first baseman Travis Ishikawa to Nashville. He batted .257 in 94 games this season, with four homers and 30 RBI’s. Also today, the Brewers claimed minor league reliever Arcenio Leon off waivers from Houston. The 26-year-old Leon played in Double-“A” this season, going 3-and-2 at Corpus Christi with a four-point-three eight ERA in 44 games. He also had a pair of saves.

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Former UW-Eau Claire football coach Todd Hoffner told a Minnesota judge that cell-phone videos of his naked children were not inappropriate. At a court hearing Wednesday, the 46-year-old Hoffner pushed to have his criminal child pornography charges dismissed – and he explained why during a half-hour of testimony. It was Hoffner’s first public comments since he was charged just over two months ago. He’s been on leave as the football coach at Minnesota State-Mankato, where he’s been for five seasons. The judge gave lawyers two weeks to file written briefs in the case. Hoffner was Eau Claire’s football coach from 1999-2005. His Blugold teams went 29-20.

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Three new members will be inducted into the UW-Platteville Athletic Hall-of-Fame on Dec. 1. They are John Schmidt, Tammie Corley Fick, and Michael Viney. Schmidt was a two-time All-American in track in the 1990’s, and he still holds the Platteville school record in the high jump at six-feet nine-and-three-quarter inches. Fick made the national All-Academic team in 1995, and she broke 26 school track records over a period of two years. Viney oversaw Platteville athletics as a vice chancellor of student affairs. And he served two stints as interim athletic director.

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UW-Oshkosh can win the WIAC football title outright, with a home victory over Stevens Point tomorrow. The Titans are 5-0 in conference play, with a two-game lead over Platteville, Whitewater, and Eau Claire with two contests left. Last week, Oshkosh – which is ranked sixth in Division-Three – clinched at least a share of its first conference title since 1976, replacing three-time national champion Whitewater. The unranked Warhawks will host Eau Claire tomorrow. 15th-ranked Platteville is at home against Stout. UW-La Crosse plays at River Falls.

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Saint Norbert and Illinois College can stay in the running for a share of the Midwest Conference football title with victories today. They’re both 6-1, and a victory would put each team within one game of idle Lake Forest with one more week to go. Lake Forest is 8-0, and already clinched at least a share of the Midwest crown. Saint Norbert plays at Grinnell tomorrow, while Illinois College is at home against Cornell. Beloit plays at Carroll. Lawrence is at Knox College. And Ripon is at home against Monmouth. Concordia-Chicago can win the Northern Athletics Conference title with a home victory over Lakeland tomorrow. Concordia-Chicago is 5-0, and Wisconsin Lutheran and Concordia-Mequon are still both one game back with two contests left. Mequon is at Aurora, while Wisconsin Lutheran hosts Rockford. Maranatha Baptist is at Benedictine. In the CCIW, 1-4 Carthage will host Elmhurst tomorrow.

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UW-Stevens Point will host the NCAA Division III women’s basketball Final Four in 2014. It was announced yesterday that the national semi-finals and championship game will be played at UWSP’s Quandt Fieldhouse. Pointers’ coach Shirley Egner used to chair the Final Four event – and Stevens Point athletic director Daron Montgomery managed the 2009 Division-One men’s Final Four in Detroit. Montgomery says it will give the Stevens Point campus and community a chance to shine for hundreds of students, fans, and visitors. It’s the third time that Wisconsin has hosted a women’s Division III Final Four. Oshkosh hosted it in 1996, and Eau Claire in ’94.

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Saint Norbert of De Pere is the pre-season favorite to win the Midwest Conference men’s basketball crown. The Green Knights made it to the title game of the league tournament a year ago, after losing its entire starting lineup from the previous campaign. Carroll is picked to finish second. Three other Wisconsin schools are expected to finish further down. Lawrence is tied for fifth in the pre-season poll. Ripon is seventh, and Beloit tied for eighth. On the women’s side, Saint Norbert is picked to win fifth Midwest regular season championship in the last six years – and its fourth in a row. The Green Knights went 17-and-1 in league play last season. Lake Forest is projected to finish second. Ripon is picked for fourth, Carroll sixth, Beloit 10th, and Lawrence 11th-and-last.

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Former Milwaukee Brewers’ outfielder Davey May has died at age 68. The Wilmington News-Journal in Delaware said May suffered from cancer and complications of diabetes, and he died on October 20th. He played in the Brewers’ inaugural season in 1970, and was with the team through 1974 before returning for a final year in ’78. May played 12 seasons in the Majors – and his best year was with Milwaukee in 1973 when he batted .303 with 25 homers and 93 RBI’s. He was an American League All-Star that year. May still has the Brewers’ second-longest hitting streak at 24 games. He also played for Pittsburgh, Texas, and Baltimore. May also played for Atlanta, when the Brewers traded him there to bring Hank Aaron back to Milwaukee to finish his Hall-of-Fame career.

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SCORES

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

--Men

(22) Notre Dame 70, Cardinal-Stritch 56 (exhb.)

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COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

--Division I Women

No. 15 Ohio State 3, Wisconsin 1

--Division III Women

(WIAC Semi-finals)

UW-Stevens Point 3, UW-Oshkosh 2

UW-Eau Claire 3, UW-Whitewater 1

(Midwest Conference Semi-finals)

St. Norbert 3, Lake Forest 0

Cornell 3, Monmouth 1

(CCIW Semi-finals)

Wheaton 3, Carthage 2

Elmhurst 3, Millikin 0

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COLLEGE SOCCER

--Division I Women

(Horizon League Semi-finals)

UW-Milwaukee 1, Loyola 0 (2OT)

Wright State 1, Detroit 0

--Division III Men

(Midwest Conference Semi-finals)

Carroll 2, Beloit 1

Lake Forest 1, Grinnell 0

--Division III Women

(Midwest Conference Semi-finals)

St. Norbert 3, Monmouth 1

Lake Forest 3, Grinnell 0

(Northern Athletics Conference Championship)

Aurora 2, Edgewood 0

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AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

Lake Erie 2, Milwaukee 1

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U.S. SINGLE DISTANCE LONG TRACK SPEEDSKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS in West Allis

--Men's 500 meters

1. Mitchell Whitemore, Waukesha

2. Tucker Fredricks, Janesville

--Men's 5,000 meters

1. Brian Hansen, Glenview, Ill.

--Women's 500 meters

1. Heather Richardson, High Point, N.C.

--Women's 5,000 meters

1. Heather Richardson, High Point, N.C.

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WIAA STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS - Divisional Quarter-finals

--Division 1

Hartland Arrowhead 31, Kimberly 7

Lake Geneva Badger 14, Kenosha Bradford 7

--Division 2

Marshfield 41, La Crosse Logan 7

Whitefish Bay 24, Brookfield East 14

--Division 3

Mount Horeb/Barneveld 49, Monona Grove 21

Waukesha Catholic Memorial 24, Wisconsin Lutheran 21

Waupaca 20, Medford 6

West De Pere 25, Plymouth 7

--Division 4

Black River Falls 22, Nekoosa 19

Freedom 36, Little Chute 7

Walworth Big Foot 52, Lakeside Lutheran 17

--Division 6

Eau Claire Regis 25, Boyceville 8

Edgar 43, Rosholt 0

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WIAA STATE GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT - Semi-finals

--Division 1

Milwaukee Divine Savior Holy Angels 3, Merrill 0

Burlington 3, Menomonee Falls 1

--Division 2

Madison Edgewood 3, Berlin 0

Kettle Moraine Lutheran 3, Tomahawk 0

--Division 3

Oconto 3, Cuba City 1

Oostburg 3, Grantsburg 0

--Division 4

Wausau Newman 3, Hillsboro 0

Burlington Catholic Central 3, Luck 1

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