ABOVE & BEYOUND » the Cubs in four games in the NLCS.The Cubs

KENT, Ohio -- Western Michigans perfect season is still afloat.On a rainy night, the team that lives to Row the Boat stayed above water and unbeaten.Jarvion Franklin rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown and Fabian Johnson added a career-high 125 yards as the No. 21 Broncos rallied for a 37-21 win over Kent State on Tuesday night to become the nations first 10-win team.Franklins 19-yard TD with 8:27 helped the Broncos (10-0, 6-0 Mid-American Conference; No. 14 AP) finally put away the upset-minded Golden Flashes (3-7, 2-4), who jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.But Western Michigan, abiding by coach P.J. Flecks Row the Boat mantra, kept plugging away and scored 21 straight points before swinging the game with a safety in the fourth.Thats something we didnt anticipate, Franklin said of the 14-point hole. But we just kept our oars in the water, stayed true to the process and believed we deserve to be here.The Broncos are the highest-ranked MAC school in the AP Top 25 poll since 2008 and have their sights on a major bowl bid. They moved to No. 21 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings just before kickoff and then shook off their biggest deficit this season.Ive never been more proud of a football team in my entire career because they had everything on the line, Fleck said. Were going to get everybodys best shot. Were always now on a national stage. Somebody wants to be the team to knock us off, and we know that.Quarterback Zach Terrell scored on a 1-yard keeper in the third quarter, capping a 20-play drive, to give Western Michigan its first lead at 19-14 before he threw a pass to Johnson for the 2-point conversion.Kent State didnt fold and responded with an 83-yard drive, tying it on freshman Justin Rankins 20-yard run.Western Michigans next drive stalled near mid-field, but the Broncos downed a punt at Kent States 1, and on the next play linebacker Robert Spillane stuffed Rankin in the end zone for two points.The play of the game, Fleck said.The Broncos got the ball back, and Johnson, primarily a blocking back, picked up 35 yards on four carries before Franklin scored his 39th career TD, tying the school record held by Jerome Persell (1976-79).Kent States defense was missing its best player as star safety Nate Holley was suspended indefinitely following his arrest on felony kidnapping charges.Holleys twin brother, Nick, Kent States quarterback, rushed for 141 yards.It was a tough, hard-nosed football game, Kent State head coach Paul Haynes said. Our guys fought like crazy for as long as we could.The Broncos were the last team in the country to commit a turnover, and that didnt come until their seventh game. But Franklins fumble on their first offensive play put them behind.Franklin had the ball jarred loose and it was picked up by Kent State defensive back Najee Murray, who returned it 47 yards to make it 7-0 just 2:07 into the game.That really lit a fire in me, Franklin said.Western Michigan had not trailed by more than seven all season, and showing the kind of poise Fleck preaches daily, the Broncos scored the next 13, pulling within one on Butch Hamptons 23-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.GROUND AND POUNDMost of the game was played in a light rain, which got heavy at times and made it difficult to throw. Western Michigan turned to its running game and picked up 329 yards rushing.We knew we would have to run the ball, Fleck said. Were a two-dimensional team. We can beat you either way. We dont have to rely on one.THE TAKEAWAYWestern Michigan: A national title may be out of the question, but the Broncos, who were 1-11 four years ago, are in a class with Alabama, Michigan, Clemson and Washington as the only unbeaten teams left. They showed their balance as star wide receiver Corey Davis was held to one catch for 18 yards after getting 12 for 272 yards last week.Kent State: Once again, the Golden Flashes played well but couldnt finish. Four of their losses have been by 15 combined points.NEXTWestern Michigan: The Broncos get back on a normal schedule and return home on Nov. 19 to play Buffalo, which is just 2-7.Kent State: The Golden Flashes play again next Tuesday night, when they visit Bowling Green, 0-5 in the conference and 1-8 overall. Adidas Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Jersey . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. 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Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games. CHICAGO -- About the time Travis Wood was dousing Chicago Cubs general manager Theo Epstein with champagne Tuesday night, Epstein was explaining the prevailing theory of roster construction.You build it for 162 (games) and you watch it play out, Epstein said.You build it for the postseason and you pray.So far, so good for the favored Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who advanced to meet in the National League Championship Series after difficult NLDS challenges from San Francisco and Washington, respectively. The first two games of the best-of-seven series are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday night at Wrigley Field.The Cubs beat the Giants in four games with a four-run rally in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday, only the second time in playoff history a team had scored four runs in the ninth inning to win a postseason clincher. The Mets did it to the Boston Red Sox in 1986.When you go through these moments, I think they make you better, and it makes you continue to focus, said Cubs catcher David Ross, who homered and hit a sacrifice fly in Game 4. Weve been through a lot of these with comebacks in the ninth. You just continue to grind. It just says a lot about the character of these guys in the young group. They continue to fight.The Cubs, who won a major league-high 103 games in the regular season and have been favored to win the World Series since the playoffs began, have won 10 games this season when they trailed entering the ninth, including Tuesdays game.Not that the Dodgers are fazed by being labeled underdogs.For us, its just a lot of noise, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. I think it comes down to 25 players against one another. It really doesnt matter to us, to (be) quite honest.The Dodgers advanced to the NLCS just as unconventionally, with a 4-3 victory at Washington in Game 5 on Thursday. Trailing 1-0 entering the seventh inning, the Dodgers scored four runs in that inning to go ahead, then held on by using closer Kenley Jansen to get seeven outs and set up three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw, who got the final two outs with the tying run on base.ddddddddddddJansen threw 51 pitches, but Roberts would not rule them out for use this weekend.Cubs left-hander Jon Lester, a top Cy Young candidate, opposes Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda in Game 1. Lester gave up five hits and no walks in eight shutout innings of a 1-0 victory over the Giants in the first game of the NLDS last Friday.Maeda gave up four runs in three innings of the Dodgers Game 3 loss on Sunday and will be pitching on regular rest.The Cubs and Dodgers were eliminated by the NL champion Mets last season. New York beat the Dodgers in five games in the NLDS and then swept the Cubs in four games in the NLCS.The Cubs may need to improve their hitting in order to advance to their first World Series since 1945, although batting averages are normally down in the playoffs because of the quality of pitching.Kris Bryant and Javier Baez had six hits apiece in the Giants series, and Wilson Contreras was 4-for-6. All were major players in the Game 4 rally -- Bryant singled to open the ninth. Ben Zobrist doubled in one run, Contreras singled in two to tie the game, and Baez drove in the game-winner before Aroldis Chapman recorded his third save of the series.Pitchers have driven in six of the Cubs 17 runs this postseason -- three coming on starter Jake Arrietas three-run homer in Game 3. Dexter Fowler has two hits while Jason Heyward, Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell all have one through four games.Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was 6-for-15 in the NLDS, and his double drove in the final run Thursday. Joc Pederson, whose homer off Max Scherzer began the Dodgers four-run rally, was 5-for-15. Shortstop Corey Seager, the certain NL Rookie of the Year, was 3-for-23, although two of his hits were homers. ' ' '