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SPORTS Saturday 5 auguSt 2017

Stars and starters sit out,

Cowboys beat Cardinals 20-18

By BARRY WILNER, I’m happy for every one of tem. Final say on calls is be-
AP Pro Football Writer those guys.” ing made by the officiating
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — The And with Dak Prescott, Eze- staff in New York, in consul-
NFL is back, sort of. kiel Elliott, Jason Witten, tation with the referee.
With no stars and few start- Sean Lee and their strong Dallas challenged a down-
ers on the field Thursday offensive line pretty much by-contact call in the third
night, the Dallas Cowboys inactive, the Cowboys quarter that negated a
edged the Arizona Car- could point to veteran RB Cardinals fumble. The ver-
dinals 20-18 in the Hall of Alfred Morris and receivers dict came quickly and the
Fame game. Brice Butler and Rico Gath- call was confirmed.
At least the turf held up — ers. Morris showed off a spin GO FOR 2: Arizona kicked
unlike a year ago, when move worthy of Elliott on a the extra point after its sec-
the game was canceled 25-yard run, Butler had 78 ond touchdown, but Dal-
for safety reasons. The new yards on two catches in las lined up illegally. So the
field passed NFL operations the first half , and Gathers, half-the-distance penalty
directors’ approval, and a hoops starter at Baylor, brought the ball inside the
the footing was steady. made a 26-yard touch- 2-yard line.
Rookie Sam Irwin-Hill, un- down catch. Gabbert threw incom-
likely to beat out Dallas Gathers also made a div- plete, but another flag was
veteran Dan Bailey for the ing reception and slipped thrown for interference.
placekicking job, made a pair of tackles on a 17- Then Gabbert sneaked in
field goals of 23 and 43 yard play early in the third from about the 1 to make
yards, the latter providing period . That led to Uzoma it 15-0.
the winning points in the Nwachukwu’s 14-yard TD UP NEXT: Dallas hosts India- Dallas Cowboys tight end Rico Gathers (80) celebrates with wide
fourth quarter. catch from fourth-string napolis in the first full week receiver Andy Jones (81) and running back Darren McFadden
The opening half featured rookie Cooper Rush. The of preseason games on (20) after scoring a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals
a handful of big plays, with former rebounding stand- Aug. 19. Arizona hosts Chi- during the first half of the Pro Football Hall of Fame NFL preseason
game in Canton, Ohio, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017.
Arizona’s third-string quar- out had three catches for cago that night.q Associated Press
terback, Blaine Gabbert, 59 yards.
consistently finding open PREGAME INTROS: Owner
receivers down the middle. Jerry Jones drew the loud- Tony Granato to coach U.S.
“There were a couple spe- est cheers — no surprise
cific plays by the defense considering the over-
on those first couple of whelmingly pro-Cowboys men’s hockey at Olympics
drives,” Cowboys coach crowd of 21,126 at the ren-
Jason Garrett said. “Blown ovated Hall of Fame Sta-
assignments on a big third- dium — in pregame intro- By LARRY LAGE
down conversion, and it ductions of the seven men AP Hockey Writer
wasn’t physical enough. who will be inducted into PLYMOUTH, Mich. (AP) —
It wasn’t aggressive the shrine Saturday night. Tony Granato was honored
enough.” Jones, Terrell Davis, Kurt to get a call, offering him
With the likes of Carson Warner, Kenny Easley, La- a chance to coach the
Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, Dainian Tomlinson, Jason U.S. men’s hockey team at
David Johnson, Patrick Pe- Taylor and Morten Ander- the 2018 Olympics, the first
terson and Tyrann Mathieu sen walked along midfield without NHL players since
sitting it out, Arizona could between the competing 1994. When the Wiscon-
be pleased with the work teams, often shaking hands sin coach heard and read
of backup running backs with current players. some of the players he may
Kerwynn Williams and An- Hall of Famer Jackie Smith, lead in South Korea, he got
dre Ellington, who both who played tight end for even more fired up.
scored on short runs. both the Cowboys and “There are a lot of attrac-
“It was great to see the of- Cardinals, performed a tive players,” Granato Tony Granato speaks during a news conference in Plymouth,
fense move the ball and rousing national anthem. said Friday. “Unless you Mich., Friday, Aug. 4, 2017. Associated Press
get touchdowns on those TAKE A TABLET: Referee Je- analyzed the pool, you
first two drives,” Fitzger- rome Boger was the first wouldn’t know the caliber named Jim Johannson, be general manager of the
ald said. “O-line, running to use a Microsoft Surface of guys that are out there who has been a player team that will be without
game, passing the ball, tablet to handle replay re- that can help us contend and in management the many well-known names
that was impressive and views under a new NFL sys- for a medal.” USA Hockey previous six Olympics, will outside of hockey circles.q