Jamal Haynes scampers 68 yards in final minute, lifting Georgia Tech over North Carolina 41-34

Sport

Jamal Haynes scampers 68 yards in final minute, lifting Georgia Tech over North Carolina 41-34

2024-10-13 05:31 Last Updated At：05:41

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Jamal Haynes ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns, including a go-ahead 68-yard touchdown in the final minute, as Georgia Tech stunned North Carolina 41-34 on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

Haynes’ second score came with 16 seconds left, just two plays after North Carolina had tied it on a Noah Burnette 26-yard field goal.

“I had a couple coaches telling me, ‘Bust one, bust one, it’s coming,’” Haynes said. “They had been harping on it all game. ‘Calm down, one’s going to come.’ … I just saw daylight and hit it.”

The Yellow Jackets’ read-option offense mustered 505 total yards, including 371 rushing. In addition to Haynes, quarterback Haynes King also had a big day with a season-high 107 yards and two scores on the ground.

North Carolina pulled within 34-31 with 3:27 left on a 1-yard run by Jacolby Criswell, his second touchdown of the day, and Burnette’s field goal tied it with 44 seconds remaining. However, as it was all for naught as the Tar Heels — who trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half — saw their defense break down one final time.

“We tried our best to fight ourselves today,” Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said. “We took some good punches at ourselves, but the better half of us ended up winning in the end.”

Omarion Hampton, coming off a 106-yard day against Pittsburgh, paced North Carolina with 137 yards rushing on 18 carries. A majority of that came on a career-long 71-yard dash, which helped set up J.J. Jones’ 4-yard touchdown moments before half.

Still, it wasn’t enough to prevent the Tar Heels (3-4) from dropping their fourth straight game. Coach Mack Brown hopes better days are ahead.

“There’s a thin line between winning and losing,” Brown said. “There’s so many things we can fix that give us a chance to be a better team and win the last five games. And that’s what we’ll do.”

Syeed Gibbs sacked Criswell (17-of-31 for 209 yards, 1 TD) on North Carolina’s first possession, forcing a fumble that Georgia Tech (5-2) recovered at the Tar Heels’ 38. Six plays later, the Yellow Jackets cashed in on a 2-yard touchdown run by Chad Alexander.

The Tar Heels answered later in the quarter, traveling 78 yards in just three plays with help from a 53-yard catch by Jones. Criswell’s 1-yard scoring run tied it at 7.

North Carolina announced that wide receiver Tylee Craft, 23, died after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

“Tylee meant so much to so many and affected us in ways we’ll always be thankful for. He was 1-of-1 and, while he won’t be with us in body, he’ll be watching over us with his endearing smile and endless positivity,” North Carolina Football posted on X.

Georgia Tech: Haynes wasn’t the only Yellow Jacket to give North Carolina fits. King (11-of-22, 127 yards) kept the Tar Heels’ defense off-balance for most of the afternoon, surpassing 100 yards rushing for the second time in his career. He ran for 150 yards in a loss to Boston College last season.

North Carolina: Criswell’s first-quarter fumble was the precursor to another difficult day for the Tar Heels, who have now dropped four straight since a 3-0 start. With three of their next four games on the road, they face a difficult path to get back on the plus-side of .500.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets host No. 11 Notre Dame next Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels visit Virginia on Oct. 26 following a bye.

—-

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.coHaynem/cfbtop25

Floridians cleaning up from Hurricane Milton are hampered by a widespread fuel shortage

2024-10-13 05:32 Last Updated At：05:41

CORTEZ, Fla. (AP) — Floridians recovering from Hurricane Milton, many of whom were journeying home after fleeing hundreds of miles to escape the storm, spent much of Saturday searching for gas as a fuel shortage gripped the state.

In St. Petersburg, scores of people lined up at a station that had no gas, hoping it would arrive soon. Among them was Daniel Thornton and his 9-year-old daughter Magnolia, who arrived at the station at 7 a.m. and were still waiting four hours later.

“They told me they have gas coming but they don’t know when it’s going to be here,” he said. “I have no choice. I have to sit here all day with her until I get gas.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Saturday morning that the state opened three fuel distribution sites and planned to open several more. Residents can get 10 gallons (37.85 liters) each, free of charge, he said.

“Obviously as power gets restored ... and the Port of Tampa is open, you’re going to see the fuel flowing. But in the meantime, we want to give people another option,” DeSantis said.

Officials were replenishing area gas stations with the state's fuel stockpiles and provided generators to stations that remained without power.

Those who reached home were assessing the damage and beginning the arduous cleaning process. Some, like Bill O’Connell, a board member at Bahia Vista Gulf in Venice, had thought they were done after the condo association hired companies to gut, treat and dry the units following Hurricane Helene. Milton undid that work and caused additional damage, O’Connell said.

“It reflooded everything that was already flooded, brought all the sand back on our property that we removed,” O’Connell said. “And also did some catastrophic wind damage, ripped off many roofs and blew out a lot of windows that caused more damage inside the units.”

The two hurricanes left a ruinous mess in the fishing village of Cortez, a community of 4,100 along the northern edge of Sarasota Bay. Residents of its modest, single-story wood and stucco-fronted cottages were working to remove broken furniture and tree limbs, stacking the debris in the street much like they did after Hurricane Helene.

“Everything is shot,” said Mark Praught, a retired street sweeper for Manatee County, who saw 4-foot (1.2-meter) storm surges during Helene. “We’ll replace the electrical and the plumbing and go from there.”

Praught and his wife, Catherine, have lived for 36 years in a low-lying home that now looks like an empty shell. All the furniture had to be discarded, the walls and the brick and tile floors had be scrubbed clean of muck, and drywall had to be ripped out.

Catherine Praught said they felt “pure panic” when Hurricane Milton menaced Cortez so soon after Helene, forcing them to pause their cleanup and evacuate. Fortunately, their home wasn’t damaged by the second storm.

“This is where we live,” Catherine Praught said. “We’re just hopeful we get the insurance company to help us.”

In Bradenton Beach, Jen Hilliard scooped up wet sand mixed with rocks and tree roots and dumped the mixture into a wheelbarrow.

“This was all grass,” Hilliard said of the sandy mess beneath her feet. “They’re going to have to make 500 trips of this.”

Hilliard, who moved to Florida six months ago and lives further inland, said she was happy to pitch in and help clean up her friend’s home a block from the shore in Bradenton Beach

Furniture and household appliances sat outside alongside debris from interior drywall that was removed after Helene sent several feet of storm surge into the house. Inside, walls were gutted up to 4 feet (1.2 meters), exposing the beams underneath.

“You roll with the punches,” she said. “Community is the best part, though. Everybody helping each other.”

Milton killed at least 10 people after it made landfall as a Category 3 storm, tearing across central Florida, flooding barrier islands and spawning deadly tornadoes. Officials say the toll could have been worse if not for the widespread evacuations.

Overall, more than a thousand people had been rescued in the wake of the storm as of Saturday, DeSantis said.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden will survey the devastation inflicted on Florida’s Gulf Coast by the hurricane. He said he hopes to connect with DeSantis during the visit.

The trip offers Biden another opportunity to press Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to call lawmakers back to Washington to approve more funding during their preelection recess. It’s something Johnson says he won’t do.

Biden is making the case that Congress needs to act now to ensure the Small Business Administration and FEMA have the money they need to get through hurricane season, which stretches through November in the Atlantic.

DeSantis welcomed the federal government's approval of a disaster declaration announced Saturday and said he had gotten strong support from Biden.

“He basically said, you know, you guys are doing a great job. We’re here for you,” he said when asked about his conversations with Biden. “We sent a big request and we got approved for what we wanted.”

Moody’s Analytics on Saturday estimated economic costs from the storm will range from $50 billion to $85 billion, including upwards of $70 billion in property damage and an economic output loss of up to $15 billion.

As the recovery continues, DeSantis has warned people to be cautious, citing ongoing safety threats including downed power lines and standing water. Some 1.3 million Floridians were still without power by Saturday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Paul Close said rivers will “keep rising" for the next four or five days resulting in river flooding, mostly around Tampa Bay and northward. Those areas were hit by the most rain, which comes on top of a wet summer that included several earlier hurricanes.

“You can't do much but wait,” Close said of the rivers cresting. “At least there is no rain in the forecast, no substantial rain. So we have a break here from all our wet weather.”

A previous version of this story misspelled the surname of a couple at a rest stop off Interstate 75 north of Tampa. Their names are Lee and Pamela Essenburm, not Essenbaum.