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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Athletes of the Week
JORDAN
POYER
Buffalo Bills
TYLA
LITTLE
Warrenton
Buffalobills.com
The Daily Astorian
he Astoria High graduate has had a great month in general for the Bills.
T
On Dec. 13, he was named Buffalo’s winner of the Ed Block Courage
Award (voted by teammates as a role model of inspiration and courage, fol-
he senior guard averaged 24 points per game in Warrenton’s appearance
T
in the Kiwanis Holiday Tournament in Lincoln City, Dec. 28-30. She had 31
in a first round win over Taft, in which she tied a Warrenton school record with
lowing Poyer’s near career-ending injury last season). In a Dec. 24 loss at
New England, he had six combined tackles and intercepted a Tom Brady pass
and returned it for a touchdown. He began the new year with a game-sav-
ing interception vs. Miami last Sunday, helping clinch a playoff spot for the
Bills, their first since 1999. Poyer is the only player in the NFL with five or more
interceptions and more than 90 combined tackles (95). Thursday morning,
Poyer was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for December.
seven 3-pointers. She scored 15 vs. Waldport on Day 2. She finished with 26
points in the championship win over Harrisburg. She was named tournament
Most Valuable Player. Little is currently ninth on Warrenton’s all-time scoring
list with 804 points, behind Ellen Snell (eighth, with 821 points) and Allison
Mattila (seventh, 855).
In copycat NFL, Seattle’s defensive scheme keeps spreading
By MARK LONG
Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Seat-
tle didn’t make the playoffs, but its
defense essentially did.
The scheme that carried the Sea-
hawks to consecutive Super Bowls
(2013-14) has become increasingly
popular around the league. It helped
Atlanta get to the big game last year
and was the catalyst for Jacksonville’s
stunning turnaround this season. It
also got rave reviews down the stretch
in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In a copycat league, this is the one
being emulated right now.
And for good reason. The Sea-
hawks rode the scheme to six straight
playoff berths between 2012 and 2016,
and as more of Pete Carroll’s defen-
sive assistants moved on to become
coordinators and head coaches else-
where, they brought it with them.
Now, it spans coast to coast.
“It really takes on the flavor of the
coaches that are doing it, so they have
their uniqueness,” Carroll said. “But
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, left, and Jacksonville Jag-
uars head coach Gus Bradley talk in the rain before a September 2013
game in Seattle.
there are a lot of similarities.”
Similar results, too.
The Jaguars ranked second in
the NFL in yards and points allowed
this season, relying on their defense
to mask offensive deficiencies. The
Chargers ranked third in scoring
defense, allowing just two opponents
to top 21 points in their final 11 games.
The Falcons (eighth) and the inju-
ry-riddled Seahawks (13th) weren’t
far behind. The 49ers finished 25th at
23.9 points a game, but were consid-
erably better over the final five weeks
of the regular season. They allowed
19.9 points during a five-game win-
ning streak that included victories
against three playoff teams.
Los Angeles Chargers defensive
coordinator Gus Bradley, Atlanta
defensive coordinator Marquand
Manuel, San Francisco defensive
coordinator Robert Saleh, Atlanta
head coach Dan Quinn and Jack-
sonville defensive coordinator Todd
Wash all spent time in Seattle under
Carroll.
Bradley, Manuel, Saleh and Wash
were on the same staff in 2012. For-
mer Oakland defensive coordina-
tor Ken Norton also was there and
had the Raiders playing the Seat-
tle scheme until he was fired in late
November.
“It’s good. It’s nice,” Carroll said.
“I love that the guys are getting the
opportunities and they are doing
stuff.”
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls basketball — Knappa at Neah-
Kah-Nie, 6 p.m.; Ilwaco at NW Christian,
5:45 p.m.
Boys basketball — Knappa at Neah-
Kah-Nie, 7:45 p.m.; Ilwaco at NW Chris-
tian, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY
Swimming — Astoria at Seaside, 4
p.m.
Girls basketball — Columbia Adven-
tist at Naselle, 5:30 p.m.
Boys basketball — Columbia Adven-
tist at Naselle, 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Jewell 27, Falls City 15
Falls City
8 3 2 2—15
Jewell
8 0 7 12—27
FC (15): Emma Burgess 4,
Houghtaling 3, Simmons 2, Potts 2,
Lofte 2, Mack 2.
JWL (27): Gabi Morales 14, Guillen
6, Norman 5, A.Wammack 2, N.Mo-
rales, Olvera, Meier, Park, Kaczenski.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Catlin Gabel 60, Warrenton 43
Catlin Gabel 17 6 23 14—60
Warrenton
10 5 15 13—43
CG (60): Jett Sheng 14, Ubedei Mc-
Gautha 14, Agapiev 12, Hoffman 9,
Langlois 6, Girard 3, Zeller 2.
WAR (43): Dalton Knight 18, Jack-
son 8, Morrow 8, Little 5, Stephens 4,
Fowler, Fischer.
Falls City 51, Jewell 21
Falls City
18 11 15 7—51
Jewell
0 4 6 11—21
FC (21): Jason Lafayette 20, Bur-
gess 7, J.R.Lafayette 7, Je.Labrado 6,
Scheet 4, Curry 3, Simmons 2, Sick-
les 2.
JWL (51): Jacob Lilley 9, N.Kane 4,
Berg 3, R.Kane 2, Stahly 2, Meehan
1, Lyon.
Knappa boys
pound Neah-
Kah-Nie, 70-32
ROCKAWAY BEACH —
Knappa had 11 players in the scor-
ing column Wednesday night, as
the Loggers cruised to a 70-32 win
at Neah-Kah-Nie in a Northwest
League boys basketball game.
Dale Takalo topped the No.
3-ranked Loggers with 22 points,
despite limited action in the second
half.
“Ty Vanderburg and Kanai
Phillip did a nice job sparking us
in the second half,” said Knappa
coach Chris Spencer, whose team
improved to 8-2 overall, 3-0 in
league. “We had a lot of players log
time off the bench.”
Knappa’s next two games are
against Faith Bible (0-3) Friday at
Knappa, and at City Christian (0-4)
Monday, before the Loggers travel to
Columbia Christian next Thursday.
Neah-Kah-Nie
free throws beat
Knappa girls
SCOREBOARD
Warrenton 51, Catlin Gabel 18
Catlin Gabel 6 2 7 3—18
Warrenton
11 20 10 10—51
CG (18): Sophia Spry 10, Sneed 3,
McGautha 3, Alluri 2.
WAR (51): Fernanda Alvarez 13, Lit-
tle 12, Heyen 11, M.Blodgett 10, Dyer
3, Ramsey 2.
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen
AP Photo/Ralph Freso
Southern California quarterback Sam Darnold
LA QBs Rosen, Darnold announce
NFL draft entry just moments apart
Associated Press
Within 30 minutes of one another,
UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen and
Southern California quarterback Sam
Darnold announced they will enter
the NFL draft.
The Los Angeles rivals have a
chance to be the first two quarter-
backs taken and possibly among
the first few players off the board in
April.
Joining Rosen and Darnold in
announcing NFL intentions Wednes-
day was Oklahoma offensive tackle
Orlando Brown, another possible top-
10 pick.
Rosen’s decision was no surprise.
He has started for UCLA since his
freshman season, though injuries cost
him most of his sophomore year and
this season he did not play in the Bru-
ins’ Cactus Bowl loss against Kansas
State because he was being treated
for a concussion.
He passed for 9,301 yards with 59
touchdown passes and 26 intercep-
tions in his college career, but UCLA
never even so much as won a bowl
game during his time there. He was
close to fired UCLA coach Jim Mora.
but Rosen said he discussed his deci-
sion with new Bruins coach Chip
Kelly. After playing for three offen-
sive coordinators in three seasons at
UCLA he decided to move one. In
his statement, Rosen said attending
UCLA was “the best decision of my
life.” He also promises his mother
that he’ll return to Westwood to fin-
ish his degree.
There was more uncertainty about
Darnold . He was a third-year sopho-
more this past season after sitting out
as a redshirt as a freshman.
Darnold took over as the Tro-
jans’ starting quarterback four games
into last season as a redshirt fresh-
man. He won the Rose Bowl in his
first season with a record 453-yard,
five-touchdown performance against
Penn State, and he led the Trojans to
their first Pac-12 championship since
2008 this season. He passed for 7,229
yards with 57 touchdown passes and
22 interceptions in 27 games behind
center for the Trojans.
Brown is the son of the late for-
mer NFL player Orlando Brown, who
was nicknamed Zeus and played for
the Baltimore Ravens. The younger
Brown is 6-foot-8 and 345 pounds,
and an All-American this season.
Auburn cornerback Carlton Davis,
linebacker Jeff Holland and tailback
Kamryn Pettway announced they are
skipping their senior seasons to enter
the NFL draft. That comes a day after
Tigers star tailback Kerryon Johnson
declared his plans to turn pro.
Also, Washington State defensive
tackle Hercules Mata’afa, and Florida
State tight end Ryan Izzo said they
are passing up their final college sea-
sons to enter the draft.
ROCKAWAY BEACH — A
late rally had Knappa within nine
points in the third quarter, but
Neah-Kah-Nie put the game away
at the free throw line in the fourth
period for a 56-37 win Wednesday
over the Loggers in a Northwest
League girls basketball game.
The Pirates shot 37 free throws
on the night, making 7-of-16 in the
final quarter.
Paris Vanderburg scored 16
points for Knappa, but Maddie
Lambert countered with 22 points
to lead the Pirates, who led 32-16
at halftime.
Aiko Miller added six points
and five steals for the Loggers, and
Sophia Carlson finished with six
points, six rebounds and four steals.
Knappa hosts Faith Bible on Friday.
— The Daily Astorian
Seahawks sign
former Jags K
Myers to contract
RENTON, Wash. — The
search for a kicker in Seattle now
includes former Jacksonville
kicker Jason Myers after he signed
a reserve/future contract with the
Seahawks.
The deal with Myers was com-
pleted Wednesday. Seattle was
able to sign Myers now because he
was cut by Jacksonville earlier this
year and was not with any other
team at the conclusion of the reg-
ular season.
— Associated Press