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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2015)
Saturday, January 10, 2015 SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2015 Sports shorts WR Carrington did not travel with the Ducks DALLAS (AP) — Or- egon wide receiver Darren Carrington did not travel with the Ducks to the na- tional championship game, according to a person with knowledge of his absence. The per- son, who is traveling with the team, spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the individual was not autho- rized to speak on the record. A spokesman for the team did not immediately respond to email inquiries seeking comment. Carrington’s absence was com. The Ducks play Ohio State for the national cham- pionship on Monday. The 6-foot-2, 191-pound redshirt freshman made victory over Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game, for 126 yards and a touch- down. He also had seven catches for 166 yards and two touch- downs in Oregon’s Rose Bowl victory over Florida State on Jan. 1. SPORTS NFL Seattle title defense begins at home Seahawks look to avoid Super Bowl champ jinx By TIM BOOTH Associated Press SEATTLE — Here’s what has set the de- fending champion Seattle Seahawks apart: They seem to have perfected not overhyping an indi- vidual game. While others are willing to acknowledge the enormity of the moment, the Seahawks thrive by keeping everything even. “I’m just thinking to myself, ‘It’s the same for us. It’s not going to be different. It’s going to be another football game. It’s going to be us ver- sus y’all,”’ Seattle linebacker Bruce Irvin said. “That’s the biggest thing. Our mindset is differ- ent. Pete (Carroll) has us at a whole different lev- el than other people think.” That approach will be tested on Saturday night when the Seahawks (12-4) host the Carolina Pan- thers in an NFC divisional playoff game. Aside from facing an opponent with similar qualities, the Seahawks will be trying to overcome recent history. — Mark Presley Canadian Museum of History, on purchasing for $300,000 the world’s oldest known hockey stick THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1972 — The longest win- ning streak in major profes- sional sports ends when the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 120- 104. The Lakers had won 33 straight, but Kareem Ab- dul-Jabbar’s 39 points sends Los Angeles to defeat. 1982 — Joe Montana’s third touchdown pass of the game, a 6-yarder to Dwight Clark, with 51 seconds re- maining, lifts the San Fran- cisco 49ers to 28-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC title game. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com No defending Super Bowl champion has won a playoff game the following year since New En- gland in January 2006. Three defending champs have earned a playoff bye since then only to get upset at home in the divisional round. The most recent was Green Bay, which went 15-1 in 2011 and was knocked off by the New York Giants at home. That is the history the Seahawks are attempt- ing to ignore and the trend the Panthers (8-8-1) are hoping to continue. “I think we have the experience of it being the same game to us and understanding that we play a championship game every week and this is no different,” Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said. “We play it like it’s an elimination game ev- ery week so it doesn’t change that for us.” The Seahawks are riding a six-game winning streak, turning the contentiousness of a 6-4 re- cord into a second straight NFC West title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. They’ve also won three straight regular-season games against the Panthers. See SEAHAWKS/3B STANFIELD Tigers roar past TigerScots Stanfield blows out WMHS in CBC league opener By SAM BARBEE EO Media Group Since Daniel Sharp has been head basketball coach at 30 points. The matchups between the Tigers and TigerScots were always knock-down, drag-out affairs that were settled NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie will be attending this weekend’s Dallas Cowboys game — and paying for it on his own dime. A spokes- for the FACES man potential presidential contender “In terms of historical signifi cance, it’s just scintillating stuff. It’s really exciting.” Page 1B 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Christie will attend Sunday’s Cowboys game governor will attend this weekend’s Christie playoff game between his be- loved Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. Spokesman Michael Drewniak said Christie will pay his own way to keep any “silliness” out of it. Christie’s Cowboys fandom has sparked outrage from Eagles, Jets and Giants fans in New Jersey as well as ethical question because Cowboys owner Jerry Jones paid for Christie’s recent tickets and travel. The Cowboys co-own a company that has a contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Christie and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have been trading barbs on social media about the game. East Oregonian Not Friday. Scots 73-43 in their Columbia Basin Conference openers Fri- Boys Hoops Braithewaite said after the game. “To start off league like that … We expect to carry it the rest of the way through.” mark press, and Weston-McEwen (5-7, 0-1) had a hard time handling it. The Ti- Stanfi eld 73 Weston-McEwen 43 TigerScots head coach Brian Pickard said if his team wants to win games, it has to take care of the ball. “You’re not gonna be in any kind of game if you’re turning the ball over 35- plus times,” he said. “I’m sure we had that plus. The kids played hard. We’ve been got some good open looks that didn’t fall. We’re just strug- gling right now.” jumped to a quick 10-0 lead, but Weston chipped it down to In the second, back-to-back baskets — a 3-pointer from Cedric Hall and a layup by Lane Rosencrans — got Weston within four, but it would be the TigerScots would get to Stan- Staff photo by E.J. Harris Stanfi eld’s Hunter Braithewaite shoots the ball in front of Weston-McE- wen Grayson Zerba in the Tigers’ 73-43 win against the TigerScots on Friday in Stanfi eld. The Tigers pulled away and led by 12 at the break, by 19 after three quarters, and they blew it wide open in the fourth. “We stuck with things,” Sharp said. “I looked up at the board with about a minute and a half left in the third quarter, and we basically played even. Then it just popped ,and it popped quick. I think that was a big part of it.” College Football Oregon’s Dargan goes from sideline to spotlight Senior safety making impact in final season By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press DALLAS — The last and only time that Oregon previously played for a national cham- pionship was to cap the 2010 season, when the Ducks faced Auburn. Safety Erick Dargan redshirted that year, one of about a dozen current Oregon players who made the trip to Glendale, Arizona, for that game. He watched from the sideline as the Ducks fell to the Tigers and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton 22-19. Today, Dargan marvels at the evolution of the Ducks from their debut on the national stage against Auburn to this season’s college football playoff, which culminates on Monday night when Oregon (13-1) faces Ohio State (13-1) for the title. this week in Eugene as the Ducks prepared for the title game. “A few of us on this team were redshirting that year and saw what it took to get there. This year we’ve been able to repeat and play in the national championship game.” But, to be frank, he didn’t think it would take the Ducks this long to get back. “No. We fell short a couple of times. But we’re back now. That’s all that matters,” he said. Ducks in tackles (90) and interceptions (seven) this season. He had a notable game in Oregon’s 59-20 Rose Bowl victory over Florida State on New Year’s Day, with a forced fumble and a third-quarter interception of Heisman winner Jameis Winston. Dargan has also evolved. While he doesn’t normally grab headlines, following the Rose Bowl victory he found himself in the spotlight as part of a defense that overwhelmed the Sem- inoles. “The longer you go, the stronger you get,” Prep Boys Basketball Mustangs, Knights each open with routs East Oregonian PILOT ROCK — The top-ranked Mus- tangs blitzed Pilots for a 73-44 victory in each school’s Columbia Basin Conferecne league debut Friday night. Heppner (10-1, 1-0 CBC) put to rest their went longer and we stayed stronger. Everyone kept demanding more out of each other.” The performance helped dispel the per- ception that Oregon’s defense was soft. The to Toledo its last time out — behind Weston Putman’s 21 points and eight rebounds. It took only a few minutes of play for the Mustangs to assert their will. They burst out to a 16-5 lead after one quarter and then extended it to 36-16 intermission edge. Heppner scored 27 points in the fourth quarter. Stellar post play from Patrick Collins and Ross Cutsforth rounded out the Mustangs romp. Patrick Collins totaled 10 points and eight rebounds, while Cutsforth added 13. The win sets up a matchup of 2A’s top two teams next Friday in Heppner. The one-loss Mustangs will host the defending state cham- See DUCKS/2B See PREPS/2B
