12A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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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.”