e green clay to win the 2012 World Team Ten

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Seattle, WA (SportsNetwork.com) - Kam Chancellor bobbed his head in celebration as he crossed the goal line on his game-clinching 90-yard interception return. The Seattle Seahawks resurgent defense has them thinking repeat. Another dominating second half performance has them one step closer. Russell Wilson tossed three touchdown passes and the Seahawks punched their ticket into the NFC Championship Game with a 31-17 NFC Divisional Playoff victory over the Carolina Panthers on Saturday night. Seattle will play the winner of Sundays NFC Divisional Playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys in next Sundays conference title game at CenturyLink Field. Chancellors pick-six came with the Panthers marching down the field looking to cut a 24-10 deficit to a one-possession game. Faced with a 2nd-and-4 at the Seattle 13 with a little over six minutes left, Cam Newton was looking to hit Ed Dickson on the right side of the field near the numbers. The ball-hawking Chancellor read Newtons eyes and cut in front of Dickson before strolling down the left sideline for the easy score. Chancellor had 10 tackles to go with that interception and showcased his athleticism by hurdling over the Carolina offensive line twice on a pair of Graham Gano field goal attempts at the end of the first half. I dont know if a strong safety can have a stronger game than Kam Chancellor did tonight, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. Kelvin Benjamins 15-yard touchdown catch with 2:34 left was the first fourth- quarter points allowed by the Seahawks in the last seven games. Their top- ranked defense has given up just 56 points during that stretch, including just 20 in the second half. Wilson, who was 8-of-8 on third down for 199 yards, finished 15-of-22 for 268 yards and added 22 yards on the ground. Jermaine Kearse caught three passes for 129 yards and a touchdown and Luke Willson had four receptions for 68 yards and a score for the Seahawks, who have won eight straight postseason games in Seattle. We really clicked on all cylinders, Wilson said. Its exciting, but the jobs not done. Marshawn Lynch carried the ball 14 times for 59 yards. Newton completed 23-of-36 passes for 246 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 37 yards for Carolina, which won its final four games of the regular season to win the NFC South and qualify for the postseason. The Panthers beat the Cardinals last Saturday in the NFC Wild Card round. Benjamin hauled in seven passes for 75 yards and two scores, while Greg Olsen caught four balls for 58 yards in defeat. The Panthers have lost five consecutive meetings against Seattle. We made some mistakes, we missed some opportunities, Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. Steven Hauschkas 37-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth staked Seattle to a 17-10 advantage, and its defense forced a three-and-out on Carolinas ensuing possession. Wilson hit Willson, who broke free from two defenders to pick up 29 yards on a 3rd-and-6, then found him again on the next third down. Willson hauled in a 25-yard score along the right seam on a 3rd-and-10 to extend Seattles advantage to 24-10 with 10:26 remaining. Both defenses came out strong in the early going as neither offense recorded a first down on their opening five series combined. The Panthers were faced with a 3rd-and-5 on their third touch. Newton lofted a pass along the right sideline intended for Philly Brown, but Richard Sherman leapt up and made an interception. Wilson rolled right and hit Kearse for a 33-yard completion on a 3rd-and-12, but a Ricardo Lockette taunting penalty on an ensuing 3rd-and-12 took Seattle out of field-goal range. Seattles defense, however, forced another Carolina giveaway when Tony McDaniel pounced on a loose ball at the Carolina 28 following a fumbled exchange between Newton and Jonathan Stewart. The miscue led to a 16-yard Doug Baldwin TD reception for the games first points with 56 seconds to play in the first. Carolina answered on its next sequence when Newton fired a 7-yard TD pass to Benjamin in between two Seattle defenders on a quick slant. The Seahawks counter punched, though, as Wilson floated a perfectly-thrown pass for Kearse along the left seam on a 3rd-and-7. Kearse made a one-handed catch in stride, dove near the goal line and was able to touch the top of the left pylon with the ball for a 63-yard score and a 14-7 cushion late in the second. Gano nailed a 35-yard field goal on the final play of the half to trim the margin to 14-10 entering the break. Game Notes The Seahawks are the first reigning Super Bowl champion to win a playoff game since the 2005 New England Patriots ... Seattle has outscored opponents 62-7 in the fourth quarter during its last seven games ... Seattle was 7-of-13 on third down, while Carolina finished 9-of-16. . It certainly isnt a coincidence that Dwight Howard has scored at least 20 points in each game of the winning streak. . LOUIS -- The St. http://www.soccerportugalproshop.com/c- ... ersey.aspx. -- Fantasy football owners and Denver Broncos fans can rest easy: Peyton Manning is back. . -- Floridas smothering defence returned to form just in time for the third-ranked Gators to keep their winning streak going. .com) - They didnt meet in the regular season, so Sam Houston State might be saying it won the de facto title game between the two Southland Conference co-champions Saturday. CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Venus Williams couldnt dig herself out of a hole this time and lost to Montreals Eugenie Bouchard 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 at the Family Circle Cup on Thursday. The 33-year-old Williams had fought back in each of her first two matches to advance. She seemed to follow the same game-plan in this one, rallying from a set down to win the second set and lead 2-1 in the third. Thats when the 20-year-old Canadian, took over, breaking Williams serve twice down the stretch including the final game. "I think Ive shown to myself how mentally strong I can be," said Bouchard, seeded sixth at the Family Circle. "Today was really a mental battle. It was a bit ugly at times and tough on the court, but I fought through it." Bouchard finished things off by reaching Williams drop shot and pushing it into the open court for her first victory over the seven-time Grand Slam champion. "She played a lot more consistently than I did," Williams said. "I think my errors really hurt me a lot today. Just a lot of up and down, a lot of errors." Especially in two key stretches when it looked as if the 33-year-old Williams was ready to take control. Bouchard was ahead 5-3 in the opening set when Williams rallied and held two set points in the tiebreaker. But Bouchard won the next four points, including a crisp backhand for a winner to secure the set. When Williams moved on top in the third set, Bouchard did not panic but dug in to move on to her third quarter-final round this year. "Ive just kind of raised my game a little bit and was extra solid on those important points," Bouchard said. Bouchard will next face second-seed Jelena Jankovic, the 2007 Family Circle champion who at No. 8 in world is the highest-ranked player remaining in the tournament. Jankovic defeated Croatias Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5, 6-1. Jankovic has reached the Family Circle quarter-finals in six of the past seven seasons. Shes been beaten by a Williams sister each of the last two years, falling to Venus in 2012 and to Serena in last years championship finals. Jankovic struggled early as the 20-year-old Tomljanovic fought ooff a set point to tie the opening set at 5-all.dddddddddddd Jankovic then won eight of the next nine games to move forward. "I missed that overhead on my set point, which was kind of frustrating, and we levelled it at 5 5," Jankovic said. "But I was able to stay calm and regroup and finish that set. So that was very important." Williams defeat was part of a difficult day for past champions of the clay-court event. Along with 2004 winner Williams, two other previous Family Circle champs in Sabine Lisicki (2009) and Samantha Stosur (2010) lost third-round matches. Lisicki, the fourth seed, fell to German countrywoman Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-0. Stosur, seeded seventh, was beaten by No. 9 seed Lucie Safarova 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The loss ends a run of success for the Williams family on the courts here. Sister Serena was the two-time defending tournament champion before losing Tuesday night. Venus played with the Washington Kastles on the green clay to win the 2012 World Team Tennis title. Venus Williams had been bothered by an illness that she said limited her endurance this week. She had to come from behind in her first two matches here to face Bouchard and did not have enough stamina to wait out her opponents solid, flat ground strokes. "That kind of made it more challenging. I mean I think normally I would probably be able to challenge the points a little bit longer and just make her play more shots and just be more willing to play longer points," Williams said. Williams was the 2004 Family Circle champion. She reached the semifinals here last year where she lost to sister Serena, the eventual champion. Others advancing to the round of eight included third-seed Sara Errani, who outlasted Peng Shuai, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5); unseeded Jana Cepelova, who defeated 13th-seed Elena Visnina 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3; and 12th-seed Daniela Hantuchova, who beat Teliana Pereira 6-2, 6-3. Errani rallied in each of her sets to eliminate Peng, the worlds top-ranked doubles player. For Cepelova, it was her second big victory of this event after knocking off world No. 1 Serena Williams in a stunner Tuesday night. ' ' '