Terence Crawford faces mandatory challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas on Saturday in New York.
Terence Crawford is in New York for some mandatory business Saturday, favored to beat Lithuanian welterweight challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas at Madison Square Garden and still ranked first or second in the pound-pound debate, yet uncertain about what awaits him in 2020.
Crawford hears rumors and smiles. Depending on the day or perhaps the hour, Floyd Mayweather is coming back. Or maybe not. It’s still not clear what Errol Spence Jr. will do two months after he was thrown from his Ferrari in a scary wreck on Oct. 10 in Dallas.
Crawford was asked about both this week in a media tour that included Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on ESPN, which will televise his title defense after college football crowns its pound-for-pound best with the Heisman.
Question: Who does he have a better chance at fighting next year, Mayweather or Spence?
Even if Mayweather does come back for more than an exhibition, the feared Crawford doesn’t expect to be anywhere on his list of potential opponents.
“That fight will never happen, I believe,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, there’s been no word on what Spence plans to do.
“Me and Spence fight, I don’t really know,’’ Crawford said. “I don’t know his health reasons right now. I know when he comes back to the fight game, he’s not itching to get back in the ring against me right off the injuries.’’
There had been a groundswell of talk from fans and media, all urging Crawford-vs.-Spence, in the immediate aftermath of Spence’s split-decision over Shawn Porter for two welterweight belts on Sept. 28 in Los Angeles. But there’s only been silence since Spence’s single-car crash.
As rivalry games unfolded on Thanksgiving Day across the country, we rounded up the results and highlights. See what happened in the State Line game, Maryland’s Holy War, New London-NFA, Winchester-Woburn and Xavier Prep-Fordham Prep.
As Thanksgiving Day football unfolds across the country, we’ll round up the results from the biggest games right here, starting with the one that determines pride across two Northeastern states.
STATE LINE GAME: Easton (Penn.) 16, Phillipsburg (N.J.) 13
Make it three straight for Easton, which scraped out another narrow victory in the annual Turkey Day grudge match to end all Turkey Day grudge matches. This one may end up being best known for the brawl that erupted in the final minute, with the game decided after a final Easton defensive stand. With Easton taking kneel downs Phillipsburg defensive players rushed the line and a melee ensued, with the referees running off the final minute once order was restored.
After taking a 9-6 lead into halftime, Easton scored on a one-yard touchdown run from running back Nahjee Adams with 10 minutes remaining to stretch the lead to 16-6. Phillipsburg answered, cutting the lead back to a field goal on a touchdown pass from Ben Ries to Robert Martin, but that was as close as the Stateliners could get.
The win pushes Easton’s final 2019 mark to 8-5 while Phillipsburg’s loss leaves the Stateliners at 8-3.
MARYLAND’S HOLY WAR: Calvert Hall 33, Loyola Blakefield 10
The 100th edition of Maryland’s Holy War ended just as the previous five did … with Calvert Hall celebrating a decisive victory in the game played at Towson University.
Cole Herbert led Calvert Hall with three rushing touchdowns and a fumble recovery on defense as the Cardinals built up a 27-3 lead and never looked back. The victory marked the sixth straight for Calvert Hall in the historic series and narrowed Loyola’s overall advantage to 49-43-8.
YE OLDE BALL GAME (CONN.): Norwich Free Academy 49, New London 12
NFA dominated the 158th meeting between the two schools from neighboring Connecticut seaport towns, cruising to a 37-point victory against the Whalers that clinched a Connecticut Class LL state playoff berth in the process.
Wide receiver Damien Bleau led NFA with three touchdown catches in a game that was moved to NFA’s turf field on Wednesday. NFA’s victory pushes the Wildcats to 7-3 entering the playoffs while New London dropped to 5-7.
OLD FIRM FRIENDS (MASS.): Winchester 14, Woburn 7
Winchester proved too tough for their archrivals in a game that was tight and then devolved into a mess as the rain picked up in the fourth quarter.
Perhaps driven by the weather, much of the game was contested on the ground, with players from stars from both teams breaking through landmark moments during the contest: Winchester quarterback Tommy Degnan crossed the 1,000-yard rushing threshold on a 58-yard carry, pushing him above 1,000 yards passing and rushing on the season; Sachems running back Symon Sathler countered by crossing the 1,000-yard rushing mark himself in the third quarter.
The win improved Winchester to 9-2 on the season, the program’s first nine-win season since 2009 per the Daily Times Chronicle. Woburn wrapped up the campaign at 5-6.
TURKEY WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE (N.Y.): Xavier Prep 40, Fordham Prep 14
After a tight first half, the 97th Turkey Bowl in New York City was one-way traffic in the third quarter, with the Knights racing out to a 34-7 lead and then playing out the string.
Running back Andrew Scariano led Xavier with three touchdown runs, including two shortly after the Knights recovered Rams fumbles as Xavier made the most of Fordham’s mistakes.
The game played at Aviator Field in Brooklyn wrapped up a 4-5 campaign for Xavier and 3-7 season for Fordham.
West Virginia finally added a bit of 4-star quality to its class of 2020 with the commitment of Lamy Constant, a star running back from Brooklyn.
It hasn’t been a positive or smooth football season at West Virginia.Yet the Mountaineers finally caught a positive break on Tuesday with the commitment of four-star running back Lamy Constant.
A 6-foot, 186-pound star for Canarsie High School in Brooklyn, Constant picked the Mountaineers ahead of Michigan, LSU, Baylor and numerous other power 5 programs. He told 247Sports that he actually made the decision after visiting West Virginia and spending time with the coaching staff. He told the West Virginia staff about his decision then, but only came public with it on Tuesday.
“I was really comfortable the time I was there,” Constant told 247Sports. “I am not going to say I fell for the car salesman pitch. None of that. I really felt like it was genuine and it honestly was, from coach (Neal) Brown to (running backs) coach (Chad) Scott, with how they spoke.
“I like just how genuine (Brown) seemed to be from beyond the aspect of being an athlete and being a football player,” Constant said. “He wanted me to know that me coming here and being a part of this program, I was going to become a better person.”
Constant is the latest member if of West Virginia’s Class of 2020. Of the Mountaineers’ 13 recruits, Constant is the top rated prospect, and the lone four-star player in the forthcoming class.
That’s ok for Constant, who said that early playing time in Morgantown was a critical factor in his decision.
“They have a lot of young guys on offense who are thriving,” he said. “That is definitely appealing to me since I want to come in and contribute as soon as possible.”
