The Karns City and Grove City High football teams will be playing for district championships Friday night.

• Karns City (9-2) will battle Brockway (8-3) in the District 9 Class AA title game at 7 p.m. Friday at Clarion University.

The winner will meet the Bedford-Westinghouse winner in the first round of the PIAA playoffs next week.

• Grove City (8-3) will take on Erie Cathedral Prep (9-2) at 7 p.m. Friday at Erie Veterans Stadium.

• Also, Mars will serve as the site of a WPIAL Class A semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. Friday, when Rochester (11-0) will face North Catholic (9-2).

BUTLER TWP— The Butler High School Athletic Hall of Fame is seeking nominations for its inaugural class next school year.Nomination forms are available in the high school athletic office or at goldentornadosports.net.The deadline is Dec. 31.

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Game Commission announced that 44 of the 60 licensed elk hunters were successful during the 2009 elk season.Among them was Ronald Van Dyke of Harrisville, who bagged a 403-pound antlerless elk Nov. 2 in Cameron County.There were 20 antlered and 24 anterless elk harvested in the state.

KARNS CITY — Karns City soccer players Eric McCue and Millie McKain were named boys and girls Upper Allegheny Valley Soccer League MVPs.McCue scored 49 goals while McKain netted 19 to lead the Gremlins.Ethan McGarvey and Nick LoPresti (boys), and Emily Potchak (girls) were other Gremlins earning league all-star honors.

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State backup tailback Brandon Beachum will miss the rest of the year because of a right knee injury.The team doctor said Monday the sophomore will have surgery in the next two weeks and faces nine months of rehab after tearing his ACL during a kickoff return last week against Indiana.Beachum played in all 11 games this season, running for 113 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. He was carrying the ball more in recent weeks because of a right ankle injury to second-stringer Stephfon Green.Also hurt Saturday were receiver Chaz Powell (right shoulder) and cornerback A.J. Wallace, who suffered an apparent head injury. It is unclear if they will be ready to play when No. 13 Penn State visits Michigan State this weekend.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Backyard Brawl is going to be a nighttime edition this year.The 102nd meeting between No. 8 Pittsburgh (9-1, 5-0 Big East) and West Virginia (7-3, 3-2) will start at 7 p.m. Nov. 27. WVU announced Monday that the game at Mountaineer Field will be televised by ESPN2.Both teams are off this week.

CINCINNATI — Larry Johnson might get to revive his troubled career with a team known for giving second chances.Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said Monday that Johnson would be in Cincinnati to discuss a limited role — fourth-string running back, essentially an insurance policy in case Cedric Benson's hip injury gets worse or another running back gets hurt.Lewis said the interest in Johnson is unrelated to Benson's injury. Benson, who is one of the NFL's top running backs, strained a hip muscle and couldn't finish an 18-12 win in Pittsburgh on Sunday that left the Bengals (7-2) in control of the AFC North.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The NFL fined Titans owner Bud Adams $250,000 Monday for making an obscene gesture at Buffalo fans while celebrating Tennessee's victory over the Bills.Commissioner Roger Goodell notified Adams of the fine and league spokesman Greg Aiello said it is for conduct detrimental to the NFL. Adams was seen making the gesture while in his luxury suite and again on the field after Sunday's 41-17 victory.The 86-year-old Adams issued an apology a couple of hours later, saying he got caught up in the excitement of the moment.Goodell was at the game, after having breakfast with Adams.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Grizzlies announced they have ended their one-year contract with 10-time All-Star and former NBA MVP Allen Iverson in what it called a mutual agreement. Iverson began an indefinite leave of absence on Nov. 7 to deal with a personal issue after playing only three games with the Grizzlies, all in California.The Grizzlies plan to waive Iverson, who announced he was headed to Memphis on his Twitter account but hasn't posted any updates there since Nov. 2 when he played his first game with the team.