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12A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com SPORTS IN BRIEF CLASS 2A FOOTBALL SEMIFINAL LOGJAM Florida meets with Chip Kelly about coaching job Florida has seemingly zeroed in on Chip Kelly to be the pro- gram’s next football coach. The Gators met with Kelly about the vacant job Sunday, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person said athletic director Scott Strick- lin and five key staffers met with Kelly in New Hampshire. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of ano- nymity because the Gators are not publicly discussing the coaching search. Stricklin and his assistants flew in and out of Ocala, Florida, about a half hour from Florida’s campus. “We continue to have very pro- ductive conversations related to our football team,” Stricklin told reporters at the airport late Sun- day. “We’ve got a process we’re going through. There will proba- bly be some more productive con- versations in the days ahead. Lot of interest in the job.” Stricklin vowed to make Flor- ida fun again when he parted ways with coach Jim McElwain last month. Kelly’s high-octane, spread scheme would do it. The 53-year-old Kelly went 46-7 in four years (2009-12) at Oregon, which averaged 44.7 points a game during that span. The Gators would welcome anything close to that after slog- ging through the post-Tim Tebow era. Martin Truex Jr. caps career season with 1st NASCAR title HOMESTEAD, Fla. — NASCAR’s newest champion wouldn’t take his helmet off. He couldn’t. If he did, then everyone would see Martin Truex Jr. cry. Truex capped the most suc- cessful season of his journeyman career as NASCAR’s champion Sunday, then struggled to start the celebration. He was mobbed on the frontstretch by his Furni- ture Row Racing team, and after his girlfriend pushed through the crowd to get to him, he finally pulled the helmet and black visor off to show his face. Truex was sobbing. “I was a mess. I couldn’t even talk,” Truex said. “I was a wreck thinking about all the tough days, the bad days, the times where I thought my career was over with, the times when I didn’t think any- one believed in me, but the guys, the people who mattered did, my fans, my family. Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna dies at 49 PRAGUE — Jana Novotna, who won the hearts of the ten- nis world when she sobbed on the shoulder of a member of the Brit- ish royal family after a heartbreak- ing loss in the Wimbledon final, has died at the age of 49. The WTA announced Novot- na’s death today, saying she died Sunday in her native Czech Republic follow- ing a long battle with cancer. Novotna died “peacefully, sur- rounded by her Jana family,” the Novotna women’s tennis body said. Her family confirmed her death to the Czech Republic’s CTK news agency. No details were given. Novotna won her only Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1998, eventually triumphing after two losses in the final at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in 1993 and 1997. She also lost in the 1991 Australian Open final. — Associated Press DRAGONS’ RALLY ENDS KNAPPA SEASON Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Kaleb Miller breaks a tackle for the Knappa Loggers on Saturday against Monroe. By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian I NDEPENDENCE — Forty-two points, 458 yards in total offense, a 28-7 lead in the second quarter … normally all that would be good enough for a Knappa Logger win. But … not so, in a Class 2A football semi- final against Monroe, played at Central High School Saturday afternoon in Independence. In a football game that doubled as a track meet, the No. 2-ranked Dragons rallied from a 21-point deficit to score a 47-42 win over the No. 3 seed Loggers, ending Knappa’s season one game short of the championship. The title game will feature Monroe vs. Santiam, which defeated No. 1-ranked St. Paul, 23-22. Knappa was also plus-two in turnovers, but the Dragons countered the Loggers with 26 first downs, 495 yards in total offense, and a cou- ple of big plays on special teams that made a difference. Still, Knappa coach Aaron Barendse wasn’t going to let his team’s only loss of the year spoil a near-perfect season, which ends at 10-1 overall. “I couldn’t be prouder of these kids,” Bar- endse said. “They gave their heart and soul for this program. To go 10-1 … I don’t know what the history of this school is at the 2A level, but there’s not a lot of 10-win seasons. These kids earned every bit of it.” Likewise, Monroe coach Bill Crowson said, “Knappa’s very talented, a very good football team and well-coached. We knew it was going to be a track meet, but I didn’t know it was going to be that kind of a track meet — we were hoping for something a little lower-scoring.” Monroe will make its first state champion- ship game appearance since 1962. The Dragons moved the ball well on their opening drive, but fumbled it away inside the Knappa 10-yard line, the first of three Monroe turnovers. It took the Loggers just six plays to travel 83 yards for the game’s first score, a 7-yard run by quarterback Kaleb Miller. Monroe’s second drive also ended with a turnover, as Knappa’s Reuben Cruz intercepted a pass in Logger territory and returned it to the Dragon 23-yard line. Four plays later, Mason Hoover powered in from four yards out for a 12-0 lead. The Dragons answered quickly with their first big play on special teams, an 80-yard kick- off return by Zach Young. And the track meet was on. In the second quarter alone, Miller scored on runs of 35 and nine yards for the Loggers. Parker Wynn answered for the Dragons on TD runs of 30 and five yards, cutting Knappa’s lead to 28-21 at halftime. After a Logger three-and-out to open the second half, Young scored the tying touchdown with a 48-yard sprint. The sophomore running back had a monster game for the Dragons, rushing for 268 yards on 35 carries, with three touchdowns. He was also 5-for-5 on point-af- LOGGERS 2017 SEASON (10-1) Knappa 41, Warrenton 0 Knappa 52, Toledo 0 Knappa 40, Regis 13 Knappa 52, Nestucca 7 Knappa 36, Neah-Kah-Nie 20 Knappa 40, Vernonia 7 Knappa 46, Central Linn 6 Knappa 50, Gaston 0 Knappa 62, Bandon 32 (round 1 of 2A playoffs) Knappa 48, Oakland 34 (2A quarterfinal game) Knappa 42, Monroe 47 (2A semifinal game) SCOREBOARD FOOTBALL Monroe 47, Knappa 42 12 16 8 6—42 7 14 13 13—47 First Quarter Kna: Kaleb Miller 7 run (run failed) 5:30 Kna: Mason Hoover 4 run (run failed) 2:35 Mon: Zach Young 80 kick return (Zach Young kick) 2:22 Second Quarter Kna: K.Miller 35 run (M.Hoover run) 10:19 Kna: K.Miller 9 run Braedon Eltagonde from K.Miller) 6:14 Mon: Parker Wynn 30 run (Young kick) 5:40 Mon: Wynn 5 run (Young kick) :23 Third Quarter Mon: Young 48 run (Young kick) 10:22 Kna: Reuben Cruz 76 pass from K.Miller (K. Miller run) 9:30 Mon: Young 10 run (kick failed) Fourth Quarter Mon: Brodey Lynn 16 pass from Kairen Gar- ber (pass failed) 6:41 Mon: Garber 1 run (Young kick) 1:35 Kna: Eltagonde 19 pass from K.Miller (pass failed) :54 Team Statistics Knappa Monroe First downs 17 26 Rushes-yards 30-238 65-394 Comp-Att-Int 12-22-0 4-12-2 Passing yards 220 101 Total offense 458 495 Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1 Penalties-yards 7-40 5-50 Third downs 2-9 5-13 Fourth downs 1-4 3-6 Possession time 17:09 30:51 Knappa Statistics Rushing: M.Hoover 14-128, K.Miller 14-104, Cruz 2-6. Passing: K.Miller 12-22-220-0. Re- ceiving: Cruz 6-153, Phillip 3-29, Eltagonde 2-22, Green 1-16. Monroe Statistics Rushing: Young 35-268, Wynn 14-84, Esplin 7-53, Sutton 2-15, Garber 5-10, Team 2-(-4). Passing: Garber 3-8-83-2, Wynn 1-3-18-0. Re- ceiving: Warden 2-67, Young 1-18, Lynn 1-16. Knappa Monroe ter kicks. As a team, Monroe rushed for 394 yards on 65 carries. Meanwhile, Knappa’s triplets were also racking up the yards and points. Miller was 12-for-22 passing for 220 yards and two touchdowns, and gained 104 yards rushing (on just 14 carries), with three scores. His three-game totals in the state play- offs should be worthy of some all-state votes — 1,164 yards in total offense, with 14 touchdowns. Cameron Miethe tries to break up a touchdown pass for the Knappa Loggers against Monroe. Cruz caught six passes for 153 yards and a score; and Hoover rushed for 128 yards on 14 attempts (9.1 yards per carry). Cruz had 208 all-purpose yards (rushing/ receiving/returns), while Young finished with 351 yards for the Dragons. Trailing 36-34 after three quarters, Monroe scored the go-ahead touchdown with 6:41 left, Brodey Lynn catching a 16-yard touchdown pass from Kairen Garber on a fourth-down play. “We don’t throw a whole lot (the Dragons were just 4-of-12 for the game), but it was a great throw and a great catch,” Crowson said. The drive was sparked by a roughing-the- punter penalty on the Loggers, extending the Monroe drive. “That was a huge way to keep that drive going at that point,” Crowson said. “And the fourth-and-11 play in the end zone was huge.” The Dragons stopped Knappa on a fourth- down play on the next series, and Monroe cashed in for more points, with Garber sneak- ing in from a yard out for a 47-36 lead with just 1:35 left. The never-say-die Loggers answered, driv- ing 73 yards in just four plays, with Miller hit- ting a wide open Braedon Eltagonde for a 19-yard score with 54 seconds left. But Knappa was unable to recover the ensu- ing onside kick, and the Dragons were able to run out the clock. “We were having a tough time stopping ‘em, and we knew we would,” Barendse said of the Dragons. “We were quite a bit undersized, but our kids came out and battled. “Of course you can second-guess all day long, but one thing I’ll never second-guess is these kids’ attitude and effort.” The Dragons “held on to the ball a little more in the second half, and that’s probably the difference in the game,” he said. “We knew we’d be in a dogfight, and that’s the way a No. 2 and a No. 3 seed should be in a semifinal.” The game marked the end of football for a successful Knappa senior class. “It’s devastating to lose them,” Barendse said. “They’re a huge part of this program, and like I told them after the game, they left this program in better shape than when they came in. Great leaders … I’m going to miss every single one of them.” Crowson said of the Loggers, “That’s a really good football team on that sideline, and we feel fortunate to walk away with a win.”