SPORTS
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016
7A
N F L W IL D CA R D G A M E S
The Fight for
After a handful of preseason matchups and a grueling, 16-game
regular season, 12 teams still have a shot at reaching Super Bowl 50.
The wild-card round features three recent Super Bowl champions
in the Seahawks, Packers and Steelers. All three struggled at times
this season, but found their way to the postseason (with Seattle
looking as dangerous as ever). The Chiefs, Texans, Bengals, Vikings
and Redskins round out this year’s wild bunch.
Journey to
milestone
Super Bowl
begins with
wild card
AFC: KANSAS CITY (11-5) at HOUSTON (9-7),
AFC: PITTSBURGH (10-6) at CINCINNATI (12-4)
Saturday, 4:35 p.m. EST, ABC/ESPN
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. EST, CBS
OVERVIEW: The Chiefs might be the NFL’s version of a family sedan. Practical. Efficient.
Responsible. Occasionally boring. Still, Kansas City enters the playoffs as the NFL’s
hottest team, ripping off 10 straight following a 1-5 start, and the one win in that stretch
was a season-opening 27-20 victory at Houston. The Chiefs take care of the ball (they are
plus-16 in turnover ratio during their current run) and keep opponents out of the end
zone. It’s a formula as basic as coach Andy Reid’s game-day demeanor, yet a style that
has arguably made Kansas City the least-flawed team in an AFC where weaknesses
abound. The Texans have plenty of them. They captured the AFC South crown by being
the best of a, to put it politely, mediocre bunch. J.J. Watt did J.J. Watt thing, finishing with
a league-high 17 ½ sacks while turning each celebration into an interpretive and not
always fluid dance-off. Coach Bill O’Brien made an offense that couldn’t seem to keep a
quarterback healthy work anyway. The merry-go-round has come full circle, with Brian
Hoyer back in control of the huddle as Houston seeks to improve to 3-0 in the wild-card
round in the franchise’s brief history.
OVERVIEW: A decade later, the AFC North champion Bengals finally have their shot at
postseason payback. The resilient Steelers, meanwhile, are eyeing a familiar path to a
frequent destination. The Bengals were on the rise in 2005 when they hosted the Steelers
in the wild-card round. Then Pittsburgh defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen went crash-
ing into quarterback Carson Palmer’s left leg in the first quarter, shredding Palmer’s
knee. Cincinnati struggled behind backup Jon Kitna and the Steelers rolled to a 31-17
victory, the first of three road triumphs on the way to the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl
title. The circumstances now are oddly similar. Cincinnati won the division with backup
A.J. McCarron after Andy Dalton broke his right thumb in a home loss to Pittsburgh last
month. McCarron is a respectable 2-1 in Dalton’s absence, but he was three months old
the last time the Bengals won a playoff game, a drought that turns 25 this month and
includes six straight postseason losses. The Steelers, meanwhile, haven’t gone more than
five years between playoff wins since Richard Nixon was president. Pittsburgh has injury
problems of its own with running back DeAngelo Williams nursing a sprained right ankle.
NFC: SEATTLE (10-6) at MINNESOTA (11-5)
NFC: GREEN BAY (10-6) at WASHINGTON (9-7)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, NBC
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. EST, FOX
OVERVIEW: The Vikings are the No. 3 seed in the NFC thanks to an inspired victory at rival
Green Bay in the final game of the regular season that ended a four-year grip on the NFC North
by the Packers, but a game against the Seahawks is hardly a reward for their first division title
since Brett Favre’s 2009 renaissance. The Seahawks, of course, are the two-time defending
NFC champions who were one play away last February from back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
They finished strong, with six wins in their last seven games despite the loss of stalwart
running back Marshawn Lynch and then his rookie lookalike Thomas Rawls.
OVERVIEW: On the surface, the Packers got a decent consolation prize for losing to the Vikings
with a game against Washington, the champions of what was a diluted NFC East. The Packers
had the same record on the road (5-3) as they did at Lambeau Field, so the site in and of itself
should not be issue for Green Bay. The Packers will take a lot of baggage with them to Wash-
ington (or, to be more accurate: Landover, Maryland), though, starting with their
uncharacteristically punchless offense. The Redskins, on the other hand, averaged nearly 33
points over a four-game winning streak to finish the regular season.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
Takalo scores 37 points in Knappa victory
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
ROCKAWAY
BEACH
— Knappa tuned up for a
key Northwest League show-
down Friday with a 70-61
win at Neah-Kah-Nie Tues-
day night.
The Loggers led by just
two at halftime, but opened
the third period on a 12-0 run,
and maintained the lead for
the remainder of the game.
“It was a big win on the
road,” said Knappa coach
Chris Spencer. “Neah-Kah-
Nie is not a bad team — their
record (1-8 overall, 0-4 in
league) is not an indication
of what kind of team they
have.”
Like everyone else, how-
ever, the Pirates could not
stop Knappa’s Dale Takalo.
The sophomore had 23 of
his game-high 37 points in
the ¿ rst half, and was 1-of-
21 at the free -throw line.
Sophomore Colton Weir-
up added 18 points.
Knappa had just ¿ ve play-
ers in the scoring column,
while the Pirates had points
from nine different players.
Max Halverson led with 20.
The Loggers were 27-
of-38 at the free -throw line,
as Knappa improves to 7-
overall. Knappa hosts Ver-
nonia Friday, in a showdown
between the two teams ex-
pected to battle for the NWL
title.
OES 46, Warrenton 37
WARRENTON — The
Warrenton Warriors returned
to Lewis & Clark League ac-
tion Tuesday night, as they
put their three-game win
streak on the line against Or-
egon Episcopal.
And the Aardvarks over-
came an early de¿ cit to hand
the Warriors their ¿ rst loss of
the new year, 46-37.
A 3-pointer and a little
À oater in the lane by Warren-
ton’s Christian Holt gave the
Warriors a 7-4 lead after one
quarter, and Warrenton still
led midway through the sec-
ond period, 11-10.
Moments later, OES
guard Ian Holzman drilled
a 3-pointer for a 13-11 lead,
and the Aardvarks never
trailed again.
Oregon Episcopal be-
gan the second half with an
11-2 run, as sophomore Alex
Olander scored eight points
‘It was a big
win on the
road. Neah-
Kah-Nie is
not a bad
team — their
record is not
an indication
of what kind
of team they
have.’
Chris Spencer
Knappa coach
in the third period to help
build an eventual 40-27 lead.
Holt and freshman Dal-
ton Knight both hit a pair of
3-pointers in the second half
for Warrenton, which had just
seven players available.
Holt ¿ nished with 13
points for the Warriors.
Lions 59, Blue Jays 36
JEWELL — Livingstone
Adventist held Jewell to
just 17 points through three
quarters Tuesday night, as
the Lions posted a -36 win
over the Blue Jays in a Cas-
co League boys basketball
game.
Livingstone’s Pierce Kro-
schel led all scorers with 22
points, while Sean Hinson
had 14 points and 10 re-
bounds for Jewell.
Ben Stahly added seven
rebound and three assists,
and Thomas Meehan had six
boards and three assists.
Girls Basketball
OES 43, Warrenton 31
WARRENTON — The
Oregon Episcopal Lady
Aardvarks had luck on their
side Tuesday night at War-
renton.
The Aardvarks connected
on just 3-of-1 ¿ eld goals in
the second period, but still
held a 12-point halftime lead
on their way to a 43-31 win,
in the Lewis & Clark League
girls basketball game.
Back-to-back scores by
Warrenton’s Landree Miethe
had the Lady Warriors within
16-11 late in the ¿ rst half, but
OES senior Jane Schlendorf
made two free throws, Emilie
Dellit scored on a layup, and
Rachael Haugh hit a 3-point-
er from 30 feet at the buzzer
for a 23-11 halftime lead.
Miethe’s 3-pointer to start
the game gave Warrenton
its only lead, as she ¿ nished
with seven points, along with
Sophia Thomas.
Pirates 48, Loggers 14
ROCKAWAY
BEACH
— The points continue to
be hard to come by for the
Knappa Lady Loggers, who
were held under 20 points
for the fourth time in the last
six games, in a 48-14 loss
at Neah-Kah-Nie Tuesday
night.
The Pirates led 1- after
one quarter, then outscored
Knappa 17- over the second
and third periods.
Neah-Kah-Nie had three
players in double ¿ gures, led
by Alaina Holm with 14.
Paris Vanderburg had
eight points for Knappa,
which was missing Kaitlyn
Landwehr and Ashly Silva
(out with a concussion ), and
Kaitlyn Truax suffered a
sprained ankle in the second
quarter.
Lions 39, Lady Jays 27
JEWELL — Emillie Ha-
thaway poured in 20 points
to lead Livingstone Adventist
to a 3-27 win over Jewell, in
a Casco League girls basket-
ball game Tuesday.
Gabi Morales had a big
all-around game for the Jays,
scoring 11 points to go with
¿ ve rebounds and four steals.
Emma Guillen added 10
points and ¿ ve boards.
Astoria sweeps
Estacada
ESTACADA — The As-
toria boys basketball team
jumped back on the winning
track Tuesday night, with
a 8-0 nonleague win at
Estacada, completing a bas-
ketball doubleheader sweep
over the Rangers.
The victory snapped a
two-game losing skid for the
Astoria boys, who were com-
ing off a 61-8 loss at Cas-
cade.
Astoria improves to 7-3
overall, with upcoming non-
league games. vs. North Mar-
ion, Stayton, Molalla and
Yamhill-Carlton.
In the girls’ game, Astoria
avenged a 0-40 loss to Es-
tacada last season with a 46-
31 win over the Rangers.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls Wrestling — Astoria at Ilwa-
co, 5:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
Boys Basketball —Ilwaco at Ray-
mond, 7 p.m.
Swimming — Astoria at Tilla-
mook, 4 p.m.