TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015
Sports shorts
Bills hire Rex Ryan
as head coach
SPORTS
1B
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20 - 42
Broadway to Buffalo.
The Bills announced in
a news release Monday that
Ryan has been hired to take
over as coach.
news came
FACES The
a day after the
former New
York Jets coach
tentatively
accepted the
Bills’ contract
offer. Ryan
Ryan
replaces Doug
Marrone, who stepped down
abruptly on Dec. 31.
Ryan will be formally
introduced during a press
conference scheduled for
Wednesday.
The 52-year-old is a
defensive specialist, and
noted for a brash personality
and having a deep loyalty to
his players. Ryan had a 50-
52 record, including 4-2 in
the playoffs, in six seasons
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
with general manager John
Oregon’s Marcus Mariota walks off the fi eld during the second half of the NCAA college football
playoff championship game against Ohio State Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, in Arlington, Texas.
Grounded
last season.
Fox out after latest
playoff nosedive
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.
and the Denver Broncos
are parting ways following
the team’s latest playoff
meltdown.
FACES
Fox
Indianapolis.
all four of
his years in
Denver, but
each of those
seasons ended
in ugly fashion
in the playoffs,
culminating
with Sunday’s
24-13 loss to
something in the works with
nor John Elway would say
what was discussed Monday
when they met other than it
was time to split up.
“It became clear that it
was best for both the Denver
to move on and make this
change,” Elway said in a
statement.
“Let’s face it,
just a little while
back, people
were saying that
the Spurs were
past their prime,
not just old but
kind of boring,”
Obama said.
Now they’re fresh
and exciting,
which is basically
the exact opposite
of what happens
to presidents.“
— President
Barack Obama
Congratulating 2014 NBA
champion San Antonio
during its visit to the
White House Monday.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1962 — Wilt Chamber-
lain scores an NBA regula-
tion-game record 73 points
riors to a 135-117 triumph
1971 — Lenny Wilkens
of the Seattle SuperSonics,
at 33, becomes the oldest
points to give the West a 108-
107 victory over the East.
1987 — Lewis Lloyd
and Mitchell Wiggins of the
Houston Rockets become the
third and fourth NBA players
to be banned from the league
for using cocaine.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
O
S
O
Mariota decision
to come soon
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Texas — Ohio
State can add the newest version of
the national championship trophy to
a case that already has a bunch of
the old ones.
The Buckeyes’ third-stringer
matched Oregon’s Heisman winner
as Cardale Jones led Ohio State past
Marcus Mariota and the Ducks 42-
off national championship game
Monday night at the $1.2 billion
home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Behind their bullish backup quar-
terback and the relentless running of
Ezekiel Elliott, the Buckeyes (14-1)
completed a remarkable in-season
turnaround with a dominating per-
formance against the Ducks (13-2).
“The chase is complete,” Ohio
State coach Urban Meyer said. “It’s
done. It’s over. They accepted their
did it. That was our whole mantra
this last couple of weeks. A job well
done, and we’re very grateful.”
jor college football playoff as the
that faced questions about whether
it belonged at all. It was a team that
never would have had a chance to
win a title under the old postseason
system.
Associated Press
AP Photo/Brandon Wade
Oregon’s Evan Baylis is tackled by Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore
(2) during the second half of the NCAA college football playoff
championship game Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, in Arlington, Texas.
No question about it now: Ohio
State is the truest champion big-
time football has ever crowned,
showered by golden confetti as its
band played “Hang on Sloopy”
when the clock hit 0:00.
Meyer’s Buckeyes overcame
two injured Heisman contenders
and one awful early season loss at
home to Virginia Tech to win their
then, the Bowl Championship Se-
ries decided the top team at the end
of the season — usually.
Before that, it was up to The As-
sort out which team was best, with
a little help from the bowls. The
Buckeyes have three of those cham-
pionships, too.
And Meyer now has three, add-
ing this one for his home state team
taken just three seasons in Colum-
bus for Meyer to put the Buckeyes
— and the Big Ten — back on top,
with a team that looks built to last.
Elliott, a sophomore, ran for
246 yards and four touchdowns on
36 carries. In the last three games
against Wisconsin, Alabama and
Oregon, Elliott had 696 yards rush-
ing.
See CHAMPIONSHIP/2B
ARLINGTON, Texas) — Mar-
cus Mariota’s season ended with-
out the honor that mattered to him
most. Now Oregon waits to see if
he will be back for another try.
Going into Monday night’s
game against Ohio State, the
standout junior quarterback said
he would trade the Heisman Tro-
phy he won this season for a na-
tional title. Instead, the Buckeyes
bottled up Mariota and overpow-
nal game at Oregon. He has until
Thursday to decide if he will skip
his senior season and declare for
already completed his degree, is
expected to be a top pick.
Did the devastating loss change
his mind about coming back?
“I’m sure it will weigh in a
little bit, but there’s a lot of other
things that have to play into that
decision,” he said. “There’s start-
ing grad school, coming back for
another year to improve, there’s
a lot of other things that could
bring me back. It’s just not spe-
Preps
Bucks rebound for blowout victory in battle of Top 10s
boys basketball
tops No. 9 Lebanon
East Oregonian
enth-ranked Buckaroos put their
two-game losing streak behind
them to hand ninth-ranked Lebanon
a 75-52 defeat, its worst loss of the
season, Saturday at Warberg Court.
lead early and grew it steadily be-
fore icing the game with deft accu-
racy from the free throw line. The
Buckaroos made all 11 attempts in a
“The kids had really good
poise,” coach Brian Broaddus said.
season.”
The hot shooting wasn’t unique
to the charity stripe. The Buckaroos
a team in the win, with Caden Smith
and Sonny Green leading the way
with 25 and 19 points respectively.
nal period of play.
didn’t miss any action after suffering
an elbow injury in Tuesday’s loss at
Century. The 6-foot-6 post battled
in the key with the tall Lebanon (7-
3) frontcourt, more than holding his
own with 14 points Saturday.
points.
———
PENDLETON 75, LEBANON 52
LHS (7-3) 19 8 17
8 — 52
PHS (7-4) 22 10 20 23 — 75
LEBANON — I. Smith 11, I. Garber, 4, T. Romeo 2,
J. Bates 2, Ty Hargis 21, C. Graham 5, T. Funk 2, Elliott
0, Nissen 0.
PENDLETON — S. Green 19, Q. Cockburn 3, K.
Quinn 12, W. Persinger 14, C. Smith 25, J. Bradt 2,
Winterton 0, Rowe 0, Morris 0, George 0, Hancock
0, Foreman 0.
3-point fi eld goals — LHS 3, PHS 6. Free throws
— LHS 17-30, PHS 17-20. Fouls — LHS 16, PHS 26.
Fouled out — T. Romeo (LHS), Q. Cockburn (PHS).
SUMMIT 63, HERMISTON
55 — At Bend, an ice cold start
spoiled the Bulldogs trip south to
meet the state’s second-ranked team.
Hermiston (3-9) was out-manned
on the glass, slow to close out on
shooters and botched the clean
looks at the basket they did receive
to fall behind Summit (11-1) 21-9
after one period.
“We looked sluggish at the start,”
Hermiston coach Jake McElligott
said.
Their second half rally — albe-
it valiant — proved too little, too
late. Hermiston was able to cut the
lead to four points in the third quar-
ter, but was unable to get over the
hump.
“Anytime you dig yourself a hole
to 12 points its hard to dig yourself
said.
was pleased with the team’s play in
quarters two, three and four — they
outscored Summit 46-42 — but
disappointed that it was consistency
that once again was a pitfall.
with 14 points, nine rebounds, four
netted 13 and Dillon Zimmerly add-
ed 10.
———
SUMMIT 63, HERMISTON 55
HHS (3-9)
9 17 13 16 — 55
SHS (11-1) 21 18 12
9 — 63
HERMISTON — T. Neal 1, Keegan Crafton 14,
Nailon 6, D. Zimmerly 10, C. Knutz 13, Lloyd 5, Smith
6.
SUMMIT — Garcia 6, Kent 3, Mason 4, Cornett
18, Hurley 15, Michalski 6, Mason 3, McCormick 2,
Baker 6.
3-point fi eld goals — HHS 6, SHS 5. Free throws
— HHS 9-16, SHS 16-19. Fouls — HHS 24, SHS 16.
NIXYAAWII 62, ECHO 33 —
At Mission, the Cougars (6-7, 2-2
Old Oregon League) trailed 40-15
at halftime to the defensive-minded
Golden Eagles (8-6, 3-0 OOL) Sat-
urday.
The clamp down effort included
limiting Echo guard Carlos Chavez
to just one made basket a night after
See PREPS/2B