10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Knappa boys
dominate
City Christian
PORTLAND — The Knappa
Loggers tuned up for Thursday’s
showdown against No. 1-ranked
Columbia Christian with a 94-43
win over 39th-ranked City Chris-
tian in a Northwest League boys
basketball game Monday in
Portland.
Colton Weirup hit five of his
seven 3-pointers in the first quar-
ter, and teammate Dale Takalo
scored 19 of his 31 points in the
third, when the Loggers outscored
the Lions 29-9.
Weirup finished with 23 points
and Timber Engblom added 15 for
Knappa.
Knappa girls fall
to City Christian
PORTLAND — City Chris-
tian’s Shasta Faria and Emilee
Owen combined to score 31 points
Monday night to lead the Lions
past Knappa 49-22 in a Northwest
League girls basketball game.
Faria led all scorers with 17,
as City Christian built a 26-8 half-
time lead.
Madelynn Weaver scored eight
points for the Loggers, to go with
11 rebounds. Paris Vanderburg
had six boards, three assists and
three steals.
— The Daily Astorian
Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alabama wide receiver Devonta Smith runs into the end zone for a touchdown after catching a pass past Georgia defensive back
Malkom Parrish during overtime of the national championship game in Atlanta on Monday. Alabama won, 26-23.
Alabama beats Georgia
in OT for national title
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Giovanni Savarese
Savarese formally
introduced as new
Timbers coach
PORTLAND
—
When
Giovanni Savarese was interview-
ing to be the Portland Timbers’
new head coach, he brought along
a scouting report as if he was
going to face that team.
Team owner Merritt Paulson
appreciated that and on Monday,
Savarese was formally introduced
as the team’s coach. The 46-year-
old former player had been coach
of the North American Soccer
League’s New York Cosmos since
2012. He led the team to three
Soccer Bowl championships in
five seasons.
“With Gio it was — I hate to
use the proverbial cliche, ‘check
the boxes’ — but the off-the-field,
on-the-field philosophy, the way
he thinks about the game, it was
pretty seamless,” Paulson said.
— Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
ATLANTA — To add another champion-
ship to the greatest dynasty college football has
ever seen, Alabama turned to its quarterback of
the future, and Tua Tagovailoa proved that his
time is now.
The freshman quarterback, who had played
mostly mop-up duty this season, came off the
bench to spark a comeback and threw a 41-yard
touchdown to DeVonta Smith that gave No. 4
Alabama a 26-23 overtime victory against No.
3 Georgia on Monday night for the College
Football Playoff national championship.
Tagovailoa entered the game at halftime,
replacing a struggling Jalen Hurts, and threw
three touchdown passes to give the Crimson
Tide its fifth national championship since 2009
under coach Nick Saban.
“He just stepped in and did his thing,” Hurts
said. “He’s built for stuff like this. I’m so happy
for him.” The Tide might have a quarterback
controversy ahead, but first Alabama will cele-
brate another title.
For the third straight season, Alabama
played a classic CFP final. The Tide split two
with Clemson, losing last season on a touch-
down with a second left.
What was Saban thinking as the winning
pass soared this time?
“I could not believe it,” he said. “There’s
lots of highs and lows. Last year we lost on
the last play of the game and this year we won
on the last play of the game. These kids really
responded the right way. We said last year,
‘Don’t waste the feeling.’ They sure didn’t, the
way they played tonight.”
Smith streaked into the end zone and
moments later confetti rained and even Saban
seemed almost giddy after watching maybe
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Alabama head coach Nick Saban holds up the championship trophy after overtime of
the national championship game against Georgia, Monday.
the most improbable victory of his unmatched
career. A few hours later, Alabama was voted
No. 1 in the final AP college football poll for the
11th time, three more than any other program.
After Alabama kicker Andy Pappanastos
missed a 36-yard field goal that would have
won it for the Tide (13-1) in the final seconds
of regulation , Georgia (13-2) took the lead
with a 51-yard field goal from Rodrigo Blan-
kenship in overtime.
Tagovailoa took a terrible sack on Ala-
bama’s first play, losing 16 yards. On the next
he found Smith, another freshman, and hit him
in stride for the national championship.
Tagovailoa was brilliant at times, though
he had a few freshman moments. He threw an
interception when he tried to pass on a running
play and all his receivers were blocking. He
also darted away from pass rushers and made
some impeccable throws, showing poise of a
veteran. Facing fourth-and-goal from the 7,
down seven, the left-hander moved to his left
and zipped a pass through traffic that hit Calvin
Ridley in the numbers for the tying score with
3:49 left in the fourth quarter.
He finished 14 for 24 for 166 yards. The
winning play was, basically, four receivers
going deep.
“After the sack, we just got up and took it
to the next play,” Tagovailoa said. “I looked
back out, and he was wide open. Smitty was
wide open.” Freshmen were everywhere for
the Alabama offense in the second half: Najee
Harris at running back; Henry Ruggs III at
receiver; Alex Leatherwood at left tackle after
All-American Jonah Williams was hurt. It’s a
testament to the relentless machine Saban has
built.
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria at Estaca-
da, 4:30 p.m.; Cascade at Seaside, 6
p.m.; Portland Christian at Warrenton,
6 p.m.; Jewell at Livingstone Adventist,
5:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Astoria at Estaca-
da, 6 p.m.; Cascade at Seaside, 7:45;
Portland Christian at Warrenton, 7:45
p.m.; Ocosta at Ilwaco, 7 p.m.; Naselle
at Firm Foundation, 7 p.m.
Swimming — Astoria at Tillamook, 4
p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Wrestling — Seaside/Tillamook at As-
toria, 5:30 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Knappa 94, City Christian 43
Knappa
30 15 29 20—94
City C.
12 15 9 7—43
KNA (94): Dale Takalo 31, Weirup 23,
Engblom 15, E.Takalo 6, Goodman 5,
Ramvick 4, Phillip 4, Green 2, Vander-
burg 2, Hunt 2, Hoover.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
City Christian 49, Knappa 22
Knappa
4 4 6 8—22
City C.
14 12 13 10—49
KNA (22): Madelynn Weaver 8, Carl-
son 5, Vanderburg 3, Ramvick 2, Tischer
2, Strain 2, Miller, Hendrickson, Inman.
CC (49): Shasta Faria 17, Owen 14,
Castillo 8, Ishibashi 5, Cruz 4.
On to 2018: College football story lines for next season
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
Congratulations to 2017 national
champion Alabama. While the Crim-
son Tide celebrates, it’s on to 2018 for
the rest of college football. Here are
some of the numerous story lines to
follow next season:
Quarterback competitions
This is as much a story of the off-
season as the season, but no doubt the
ramifications will be felt all the way
through 2018.
Three playoff teams, including the
two that played for the national title,
will have returning starting quar-
terbacks. None of those players are
locks to start next season.
Jalen Hurts has led Alabama to
two straight championship games in
his first two college seasons, but it
was Tua Tagovailoa who came off the
bench Monday night to beat Georgia
for the national championship.
Jake Fromm led Georgia to the
national title game as a freshman,
but five-star recruit Justin Fields will
be practicing with the Bulldogs this
spring. And where does that leave
Jacob Eason, the former five-star who
was relegated to backup-up behind
Fromm?
At Clemson, Kelly Bryant will
have to fend off both sophomore
Hunter Johnson and five-star incom-
ing freshman Trevor Lawrence.
Miami’s Malik Rosier is also likely to
face a challenge from N’Kosi Perry,
who will be a redshirt freshman and
Notre Dame’s Brandon Wimbush
will have to reclaim his job after Ian
Book led the Fighting Irish to a bowl
victory.
Elsewhere, Ohio State will
likely turn the team over to Dwayne
Haskins. Can incoming freshman Tate
Martell be a factor. Texas A&M trans-
fer Kyler Murray is the heir apparent
to Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma.
Can the Pac-12 rebound?
The West Coast’s conference was
a dud in 2017, missing out on the
playoff for the second time and then
crashing in the postseason with a 1-8
bowl record. Bowl records can be
deceiving, but it is compounded by
the fact that the conference is hav-
ing a hard time keeping pace with the
other Power Five conferences in rev-
enue and exposure.
Washington should still be a
national contender and Stanford can
be relied upon for consistent top-20
performance. But coaching changes
at UCLA, Oregon and the Arizona
schools, in addition to USC trying to
replace Darnold, means the Pac-12
could again have a hard time putting
a team in the playoff.
Who for Heisman?
Baker Mayfield is gone. So is
Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley
and Rashaad Penny. That’s four
of the top five Heisman Trophy
vote-getters.
Also, flashy quarterbacks such as
San Darnold and Josh Rosen, who
were trendy picks going in this past
season, are on their way to the NFL.
So who is the favorite going into
2018? Runner-up Bryce Love of
Stanford would be good pick, though
the junior could go pro. Wisconsin’s
Jonathan Taylor, who ran for nearly
2,000 yards as a freshman, could
easily surpass that in 2018. Still, it’s
become a quarterbacks’ award, with
15 of the last 18 going to QBs.
The top quarterbacks? Keep
an eye out for some of those new-
comers and possible first-year start-
ers. Of the established players, Penn
State’s Trace McSorley steps out of
Barkley’s shadow and Oregon’s Jus-
tin Herbert could be the guy with the
NFL draft buzz.