10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Kaepernick
named GQ
magazine’s
citizen of year
NEW YORK — Free agent
quarterback Colin Kaepernick
has been named GQ’s maga-
zine’s “Citizen of the Year” for his
activism.
Kaepernick began kneeling
instead of standing during the
national anthem last season to pro-
test racial inequality and police bru-
tality. The demonstration sparked
a wave of NFL protests by players
during the anthem that repeatedly
have been denounced by President
Donald Trump. Kaepernick parted
ways with the San Francisco 49ers
in March and hasn’t been signed
by another team.
Kaepernick says on Twitter
he’s “honored” by the recognition.
The magazine ‘s story includes
comments from several of Kaeper-
nick’s supporters and confidants.
Rapper J. Cole says Kaepernick
“sacrificed his dream” to stand for
something. Ninety-year-old singer
and activist Harry Belafonte says
seeing people like Kaepernick tak-
ing action is “the greatest reward”
he could ask for.
Ex-tennis star
Jelena Dokic:
Father beat
and spit at her
SYDNEY — Former ten-
nis star Jelena Dokic says from
a young age her father regularly
beat and kicked her. He would pull
her hair, spit in her face and belit-
tle her with vile insults.
Dokic, once ranked No. 4 in
the world and a Wimbledon semi-
finalist, writes of her ordeal with
Damir Dokic, also her coach, in an
autobiography to be released this
week.
“He beat me really badly,”
Dokic, now 34, told Sydney’s
Sunday Telegraph. “It basically
started Day One of me playing
tennis. It continued on from there.
It spiraled out of control.”
After losing to Lindsay Daven-
port in the Wimbledon semifinals
in 2000 at age 17, Dokic said her
father refused to acknowledge her
following the match.
— Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
FOOTBALL
Knappa 48, Oakland 34
Oakland
0 14 8 12—34
Knappa
14 20 6 8—48
First Quarter
Kna: Reuben Cruz 76 pass from Kaleb
Miller (Cruz run) 10:44
Kna: K.Miller 2 run (run failed) 3:27
Second Quarter
Kna: K.Miller 8 run (Braedon Elt-
agonde from K.Miller) 9:29
Oak: Dylan Baimbridge 34 int. return
(run failed) 7:49
Kna: Cruz 72 pass from K.Miller (pass
failed) 7:25
Kna: Mason Hoover 5 run (pass failed)
2:18
Oak: Andrew Harrington 6 run (Wil
Powell run) :18
Third Quarter
Oak: Harrington 8 run (Harrington run)
8:06
Kna: K.Miller 85 run (pass failed) 6:06
Fourth Quarter
Oak: Harrington 6 run (run failed)
10:26
Oak: Harrington 13 run (pass failed)
7:53
Kna: Cruz 19 pass from K.Miller (Kanai
Phillip from K.Miller) 1:05
Oakland Statistics
Rushing: Harrington 37-222, No. 8
14-74, Carson 2-6, Miller 1-1. Passing:
Baimbridge 3-5-40-1, Harrington 2-10-
17-2. Receiving: Freeman 3-46, Carson
1-10, Miller 1-1.
Knappa Statistics
Rushing: K.Miller 10-105, M.Hoover
16-68, Cruz 2-9. Passing: K.Miller 16-
26-414-1. Receiving: Cruz 9-251, Phil-
lip 4-83, Green 2-53, Miethe 1-14, Elt-
agonde 1-13.
State Playoff Scores
Class 4A Quarterfinals
Cottage Grove 27, Gladstone 10
Mazama 50, Henley 0
Marshfield 24, La Grande 21
Ontario 53, Scappoose 39
Class 3A Quarterfinals
Scio 30, Coquille/Pacific 13
Cascade Chr. 46, Harrisburg 8
Rainier 40, Nyssa 6
Santiam Christian 50, Vale 6
Class 2A Quarterfinals
St. Paul 56, Heppner 0
Santiam 50, Grant Union 14
Knappa 48, Oakland 34
Monroe 41, Kennedy 35
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Reuben Acosta-Cruz is wrapped up after a run for the Knappa Loggers during Saturday’s playoff victory against Oakland.
Loggers survive Oakers’ comeback
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
T
he Knappa Loggers are undefeated,
their offense averages over 46 points
per contest, they have the state’s top-
ranked defense, and 21 of their 22 starting
positions are filled by all-league players —
can anyone stop the Blue & Gold?
There are four teams still in the hunt for a
Class 2A state football title, and that’s a fair
question that three of those teams may be
asking.
Obviously, the answer is no at this point,
since the Loggers are 10-0.
Knappa won another state playoff game
Saturday at CMH Field, 48-34 over Oakland in
a 2A quarterfinal.
And now it’s on to the semifinals for the
Loggers, for the fifth time in 10 years.
Knappa will face Monroe at 2 p.m. Satur-
day, at Central High School in Independence.
One way to beat the Loggers in the state
playoffs — score something over 55 points,
because that’s what the No. 3-ranked Loggers
are averaging in the post-season. Not a realistic
goal, as Oakland found out Saturday.
The Oakers came close, rallying from a
34-6 deficit to within 40-34.
But Knappa’s offensive machine was
impossible to stop. Against the toughest com-
petition they’ve seen, the Loggers still rolled up
nearly 600 yards in total offense.
Quarterback Kaleb Miller threw for 414
yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for
105 yards and three scores. He has accounted
for 840 yards offense and 11 touchdowns in the
last two games.
The Loggers have scored 110 points in two
weeks.
And Knappa receiver Reuben Cruz was
like Mini-Mart in Saturday’s game — open
all night — as the Logger senior caught nine
passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns.
Miller admitted he was a little tired after
Saturday’s shootout.
“Oh yeah. They’re a very physical team,”
The Knappa Loggers defense makes
a tackle during Saturday’s playoff win
against Oakland.
he said of the Oakers. “They’re not an 11-seed
football team. They’re a top 10 team. They ran
the ball pretty well — Andrew Harrington (37
carries, 222 yards) is pretty good.”
For Miller, “it was all offensive line and
receivers. I just got lucky.”
Knappa coach Aaron Barendse said, “we
came out and stuck to the game plan. The guys
really bought in. We had to take (Harrington)
out of the game, and we did a great job of it in
the first half. We gave up a couple things in the
second quarter to give them some cheap scores
at the end.”
Two back-to-back plays midway through
the second quarter typified the entire night.
Trailing 22-0, Oakland’s Dylan Baimbridge
intercepted a pass and returned 34 yards for a
touchdown, giving the Oakers a glimmer of
hope.
But on the very next play from scrimmage,
Miller found Cruz for a 72-yard score, pushing
the lead back to 28-6.
And that would be the theme for the night
— for every step the Oakers took, the Loggers
took two. The game wasn’t as close as the final
score, as Knappa failed on four two-point con-
versions, a potential eight points.
The bottom line — Knappa’s first half was
better than Oakland’s second half.
On just the third play of the game, Cruz
caught a 76-yard touchdown from Miller.
Cruz’s final TD reception covered 19 yards,
on a wing and a prayer.
Facing a third-and-long with 1:05 left in the
game, Miller avoided a sack, got spun around
and threw the ball all in one motion, and Cruz
came down with the rainbow pass at the goal
line to give Knappa a 14-point lead.
“I just threw up a prayer, and he answered
it,” Miller said.
Knappa held a seemingly safe 34-14 lead at
the break.
But after Harrington scored on the Oak-
ers’ opening drive of the second half, the Log-
ger lead was trimmed to 34-22, and they found
themselves in another tight spot, backed up to
their own 2-yard line with a second-and-19.
But Miller hit Kanai Phillip for a 28-yard
gain and a first down, and after a holding pen-
alty, Miller scrambled and ran 85 yards for a
touchdown.
The previous play, “I was actually running
to call a timeout because the clock was running
down, then Kaleb got the snap, and it worked
out,” Barendse said. “He had a great game,
and showed a lot of guts. These kids showed
a lot of heart and never gave up, even though
it wasn’t going our way in the second half. We
just had some young kids make key plays at
key moments.”
Freshman Devin Hoover had an intercep-
tion, as did Mason Hoover and Phillip. Knappa
recovered a fumble for a fourth takeaway.
The Logger offense racked up 596 yards in
total offense — just a taste of what Monroe will
have to stop in Saturday’s semifinal.
“I feel pretty confident,” Miller said. “We
can score just as much as any team, so they’ll
have to stop us to have a chance.”
Barendse added, “Reuben had some big
runs, Mason was running the ball hard and
our line was executing, so (the Oakers) really
didn’t have an answer for our offense right out
of the gate, and our defense was doing a great
job. I couldn’t be prouder of our kids.”
Three top-10 blowouts reshape playoff race
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
On a Saturday that reshaped the
College Football Playoff race, three
top-10 matchups produced three lop-
sided games that left Auburn, Miami
and Oklahoma with well-defined
paths to the final four.
Out: speculation about two SEC
teams making the playoff. In: specu-
lation about a two-loss team making
the playoff.
Thoughts, takedowns and take-
aways from Week 11 of the college
football season.
1. The only thing missing from
this Miami beat down of No. 3 Notre
Dame was Jimmy Johnson on the
Hurricanes’ sideline calling for a
blocked punt in the fourth quarter.
2. The seventh-ranked Hurri-
canes won some games early this sea-
son they probably should have lost,
started believing they were good
and now they actually are that good.
Funny how teams evolve.
3. Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield
passed for 333 yards against one of
the best defenses in the country in
TCU and now has four weeks to work
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
Auburn defensive lineman Andrew Williams (79) celebrates with the
team after a 40-17 win over Georgia in Saturday’s game.
on that Heisman Trophy acceptance
speech and avoid throwing away an
award that’s pretty much his to lose.
4. Can we take Auburn coach Gus
Malzahn off the hot seat now or nah?
5. The question was: Can Geor-
gia win if a defense forces freshman
Jake Fromm and the passing game
to do the heavy lifting? Auburn was
the first team to force the Bulldogs
into that position and the answer was:
absolutely not.
6. So forget about all that two
SEC teams in the playoff stuff,
right? Not so fast. Georgia is locked
into the conference championship
game. If the Bulldogs were to beat an
unbeaten Alabama in Atlanta, leaving
both 12-1, that whole two-SEC-teams
thing is still on the table. But Auburn
didn’t help.
7. The top-ranked Crimson Tide
will take over that spot when the new
playoff selection committee rank-
ings come out Tuesday after escaping
Mississippi State in Starkville to set
up a winner-takes-the-SEC-West Iron
Bowl in two weeks.
8. The next three? Miami, Clem-
son and Oklahoma in some order.
Auburn, with two losses, is in the
on-deck circle with Wisconsin.
9. The Badgers are 10-0 for the
first time in school history, doing what
Ohio State could not last week: shut-
ting down Iowa, despite an offense
that turned the ball over four times
and handed the Hawkeyes 14 points.
10. Losses by Georgia and Notre
Dame helped the Badgers, too. So a
good day overall for Wisconsin, if
you want to ignore that quarterback
Alex Hornibrook has now thrown
12 interceptions, 11 in seven Big Ten
games.