N.C. State’s players hadn’t won in so long that they forgot how to react when they did.

Russell Wilson threw for three touchdowns and ran for another Saturday afternoon as the Wolfpack broke a four-game losing streak with a 38-31 defeat of Maryland at Carter-Finley Stadium.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Canes lead 1-0 after the first period on an Erik Cole goal but have lost goaltender Cam Ward to an apparent leg injury.

Ward was injured with 12:25 left in the first period and had to be helped off the ice. Ward was bleeding and appeared to have been hit on his left leg by Rick Nash's skate after Nash was knocked down in front of the Canes goal.

Ward was taken to a hospital for further examination and treatment. 

Michael Leighton is in the game for the Canes.

Cole scored his first goal of the season at 9:05 of the first on a Matt Cullen assist. ...

The Canes in pregame have no line changes from the Leafs game, and the defensive pairs remain the same. Cam Ward in goal.

Here are some numbers to ponder: since the start of last season, the Jackets are 15-3-3 against Eastern teams and have outscored them 62-39. Goaltender Steve Mason is 13-1-2 against East teams with a 1.41 goals-against average and .950 save percentage.

South Johnston (10-1) is seeded No. 1 in the NCHSAA 3-AA football playoff bracket, which was released this afternoon. The Trojans will face former Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference rival Western Harnett next Friday.

The winner gets either Rocky Mount or South Central Pitt in the second round.

The preliminary listing of the state 4-AA and 4-A playoffs leave Smithfield-Selma on the outside looking in. The brackets should become official sometime tonight.

The Spartans finished the season 4-7 and were sixth, by virtue of tiebreakers in the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference.

Southeast Raleigh is seeded seventh in the NCHSAA 4-A football playoff bracket and will host Greenville Rose, the 11th seed. The winner of that game meets Harnett Central or Fayetteville 71st in the second round.

Garner, which finished 6-5 this season and third in the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference, will host Wakefield in the opening round of the NCHSAA 4-AA football playoffs. The Trojans are seeded eighth and Wakefield is seeded ninth.

The winner meets the winner of Wake Forest-Rolesville and Clayton in the second round on Nov. 20.

Clayton earned the final spot in the NCHSAA 4-AA eastern regional brackets. The Comets (4-7) are seeded 16th and will take on top-seeded and 11-0 Wake Forest-Rolesville in the first round. The Cougars beat Clayton 16-14 earlier this season, winning on a touchdown pass on the last play of the game.

Princeton is seeded fourth in the NCHSAA 1-A football playoffs. The Bulldogs (8-3) will host Hayesville, seeded 13th, a first round western regional game next Friday night.

CHAPEL HILL -- It's good day to be Ryan Houston, and Casey Barth, but not Duke.

Houston's career-best 164 yards, and Barth's four field goals, gave North Carolina a 19-6 win over the Blue Devils on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

The loss ends Duke's three-game ACC winning streak and leaves them 1-19 in the Victory Bell series since 1989. The loss also derails Duke's pursuit of a bowl bidand bolster's UNC's, which has won two straight in the ACC after an 0-3 conference start.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Maybe Ken Hitchcock was being nice. Or coy. Or, perhaps, truthful.

The Columbus Blue Jackets coach said today he had watched tape of some of the Canes' recent games and has been surprised by what he saw.

"I can't figure it out," he said after the Jackets' morning skate at Nationwide Arena. "I just don't see the poor play that usually comes with losing."