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Hillary Clinton’s health re-emerges as issue in campaign

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Wesley Village in Jenkins Township honors nine centenarians

<p>PITTSBURGH &#8212; The kickoff seemed to float. And even before it landed, it looked like bad news for Penn State.</p><p>As well as things had been going for the Nittany Lions&#8217; special teams, it took just one poorly executed play to sour a Saturday.</p><p>Joey Julius had booted four kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks against Pitt, and with the Lions in the midst of big rally, they trailed just 35-31 early in the fourth after a touchdown.</p><p>But the ensuing kick looked off from the start. Though the distance wasn&#8217;t terrible &#8212; fielded at the 6-yard line &#8212; it wasn&#8217;t directed to the side of the field where Penn State&#8217;s coverage unit was heading.</p><p>On the other end of the kick was Pitt Quadree Henderson, he of the back-to-back games with a kick return touchdown.</p><p>He nearly made it three in a row.</p><p>One sharp cut through a seam on the left side and Henderson was in the clear, speeding past Julius and breaking down the home sideline.</p><p>Though the Lions finally forced him back to the middle of the field, tripping him up inside the 10, the damage was done. An 84-yard return and instant momentum.</p><p>Three plays later, the Panthers were in the end zone for a sixth time, the decisive score in a 42-39 win.</p><p>&#8220;Their kickoff return (after) we had swung momentum back in our direction was a huge play,&#8221; Lions coach James Franklin said. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t have the ball kicked in the area of the field that it was supposed to be kicked. On top of that, we didn&#8217;t do a great job getting off the blocks and tackling.&#8221;</p><p>The play overshadowed some otherwise encouraging progress for the unit, which has been a weakness for the team since the sanctions hit in 2012.</p><p>Most notable is the play of freshman punter Blake Gillikin, the teenager who is averaging 46.8 yards in his first 11 tries over the first two games. Only three of those have been returned thus far for a total of three yards.</p><p>On Saturday, Gillikin showed his ability to go short or go long, dropping a perfect pooch kick on his first attempt, which was downed at the 1. In the fourth quarter, he hammered one over the return man&#8217;s head and the ensuing bounce and roll went 69 yards.</p><p>The Lions would also seem to have found themselves a punt returner.</p><p>Sophomore John Reid had a long runback erased by a penalty last week but this time broke loose for a 59-yarder against Pitt &#8212; the program&#8217;s longest since Derrick Williams went 63 yards for a score in 2008.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s coming natural, but I put a lot of work in at this,&#8221; Reid said. &#8220;I put a <em>lot</em> of work in. I stay after practice a lot and the punters kick balls to me. Those guys are really helping me out.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Numbers game</strong></p><p>Penn State vs. Pitt history was made a number of times over on Saturday. But the points were the most eye-popping.</p><p>Not only was it the highest-scoring contest in 97 games between the rivals, it was also the most points Penn State had scored in a loss in its 130-year history.</p><p>Easy to forget that the last meeting between the Lions and Panthers ended 12-0.</p><p><strong>Up next</strong></p><p>With the loss to Pitt behind them and a trip to Ann Arbor coming up in Week 4, the Lions&#8217; next game takes on added importance.</p><p>That would be another meeting with Temple at noon on Saturday with the Big Ten Network carrying the broadcast.</p><p>Aside from trying to erase the memories of last year&#8217;s lopsided loss to the Owls, Penn State doesn&#8217;t want to head to the Big House staring at a possible 1-3 record.</p><p>If there&#8217;s some good news for the Lions, it&#8217;s that these Owls aren&#8217;t as dangerous as the 2015 outfit. Though they hammered FCS Stony Brook 38-0 on Saturday, their primetime opener fizzled in a surprising 28-13 loss to Army in Philadelphia.</p><p>Temple lost the core of a strong defense from a year ago and has been without tailback Jahad Thomas because of a dislocated thumb the first two weeks.</p><p>Owls coach Matt Rhule said he was hopeful Thomas would be available to face the Lions.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Pitt&#8217;s Quadree Henderson (10) made one of the biggest plays of Saturday&#8217;s game when he took a kick return 84 yards to set up the winning score. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_pitt-toned2016910223338363.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pitt&#8217;s Quadree Henderson (10) made one of the biggest plays of Saturday&#8217;s game when he took a kick return 84 yards to set up the winning score. </caption0><photoCredit0>Gene J. Puskar | AP photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Special teams still stinging Nittany Lions in key moments