EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants opened the preseason by giving a game away and taking it back — all in the final minute capped by one strange play.

Defensive end Tommie Hill scored on a bizarre 18-yard fumble return as time ran out and the Giants scored a 24-17 victory over the Carolina Panthers last night.

"I've never seen a game end like that, not that way," Hill said.

Fourth-string quarterback Hunter Cantwell had tied the game with 57 seconds to play, taking Carolina on an 88-yard drive. He ran for 21 yards and passed for 67 on the five-play drive that ended with a 31-yard scoring pass to Jason Chery and a 2-point conversion pass to Andrew Davie.

The Giants had a three-and-out series and Jeff Feagles punted 56 yards to the Carolina 18 with 10 seconds to play.

Instead of taking a knee, Cantwell went back to pass on the next play and his arm was hit by Leger Douzable. The ball went in the air and Hill grabbed it and scurried into the left corner of the end zone for a shocking ending.

"I got to run with the ball a couple of times but I haven't scored since high school," said Hill, a free agent rookie from Colorado State who kept the ball.

"I'm just a rookie trying to make the team," he added. "Anything like that that helps the team win in turn helps me. It was just a fortunate situation and I made the most of it."

The same holds true for Douzable, a second-year pro trying to earn a spot on a very talented line.

"Everybody figured on defense they would take a knee," Douzable said. "When they snapped it, I put a move on the guard. I saw the quarterback with the ball in his hand and I got it."

DOLPHINS 12, JAGUARS 9

MIAMI — Ernest Wilford caught a 33-yard touchdown pass against his former team for the game's lone touchdown, and Miami beat Jacksonville.

It was only a preseason game, and Wilford's big play came against reserves, but it suggested his recent move to tight end might work. He made only three catches for 25 yards as a wide receiver last season after signing a four-year contract for $6 million guaranteed.

Wilford juked past a defender and ran the final 15 yards after catching Chad Henne's pass. Henne played about half the game and looked sharp, going 7 for 11 for 94 yards with one interception.

Quarterbacks Chad Pennington and David Garrard came out after one quarter. Miami's Pennington went 4 for 7 for 38 yards and led a 35-yard drive that ended with a field goal.

Garrard went 4 for 7 for 22 yards in three series. He encountered heavy pressure and led the Jaguars to only one first down.

Miami's Davone Bess, a University of Hawai'i alum, had two catches for 12 yards.

ELSEWHERE

Raiders: Oakland head coach Tom Cable isn't talking about reports he punched defensive assistant Randy Hanson in the jaw and caused injuries that required treatment at a hospital earlier this month.

According to AOL Fanhouse, Cable hit Hanson on Aug. 5 for unknown reasons. A report filed with the Napa Police Department describes an unnamed 41-year-old assistant coach being treated at the Queen of the Valley Hospital for a jaw injury, which the victim alleges was caused by an unidentified member of the Raiders coaching staff.

Jets: New York defensive end Shaun Ellis has been suspended without pay for the team's regular-season opener Sept. 13 and fined $100,000 by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Ellis was arrested in November and charged with possession of marijuana, speeding and driving without insurance after being pulled over by police in Hanover, N.J.

Rams: St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger has fractured the pinkie finger of his throwing hand and could be out for at least two weeks.

Bulger, 32, jammed the finger taking a snap during yesterday's practice and an X-ray revealed a small fracture.

Bengals: Cincinnati signed free-agent tight end Kolo Kapanui, who was released by the New Orleans Saints after an arrest.

Kapanui, of Palolo, and receiver Biren Ealy were released in May after they were accused of exposing themselves to two women in the parking lot of an apartment complex where they lived.

Trade: The Denver Broncos needed more muscle and hustle in their defensive line, and they knew right where to go to get it, acquiring versatile end Le Kevin Smith from well-stocked New England for a fifth-round draft pick yesterday.