SPORTS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2017
1B
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College Football
Clemson dethrones
top-ranked Crimson Tide
Watson fi nds
Renfrow in fi nal
second to win
championship
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — College
football’s fi rst national cham-
pionship rematch was even
better than the original, with
NCAA Championship
#2
Clemson
35
#1 Alabama
31
an incredible twist at the end.
Deshaun Watson and
Clemson
dethroned
the
champs and became the fi rst
team to beat Nick Saban’s
Alabama dynasty in a national
title game, taking down the
top-ranked Crimson Tide
35-31 Monday night in the
College Football Playoff.
Watson found Hunter
Renfrow for a 2-yard touch-
down pass with a second
remaining to give the Tigers
their fi rst national champion-
ship since 1981. A year after
Alabama won its fourth title
under Saban with a 45-40
classic in Arizona, Clemson
closed the deal and denied the
Tide an unprecedented fi fth
championship in eight seasons.
The lead changed hands
three times in the fourth
See CHAMPIONSHIP/2B
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Clemson’s Ben Boulware kisses the championship trophy after the NCAA col-
lege football playoff championship game against Alabama Tuesday, Jan. 10,
2017, in Tampa, Fla. Clemson won 35-31.
HERMISTON
Prep Wrestling
Bulldogs eying a move up
Hermiston
likely moving to
OSAA’s highest
classifi cation in 2018
Heppner’s
Flynn wins
Jo-Hi title
Antonucci second
for Mustangs
East Oregonian
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
According to a 2016 report by
the Oregon Department of Educa-
tion, Hermiston School District is
the second-fastest growing school
district in the state, ranking 29th
overall out of the 212 total districts.
And because of that increase, the
Hermiston High School athletics
programs will likely be moving
to the highest classifi cation in the
OSAA beginning in 2018.
The OSAA began its reclassi-
fi cation meetings and evaluations
for the 2018-22 classifi cation block
in October, 2016, and with three
meetings adjourned and numerous
proposals submitted, Hermiston
has been slated to move to the
highest level each time. Hermiston
athletic director Larry Usher said
the likely move comes with mixed
emotions within the school district.
See BULLDOGS/2B
EO fi le photo
A 400-pound bronze bulldog statue stands guard just inside the gates of the Kennison Field Com-
plex at Hermiston High School. The most recent plans for the 2018-22 OSAA classifi cation block
has Hermiston competing in Class 6A in the Mt. Hood Conference. Final recommendations won’t be
made until later this year, but Hermiston Athletic Director Larry Usher is moving forward under the
assumption the Bulldogs will be playing a lot more games in the Portland area in the near future.
JOSEPH — Despite road
closures around the region,
the Heppner/Ione and Echo/
Stanfi eld wrestling teams were
able to make their way across
the mountain for the two-day
Jo-Hi Tournament which began
on Friday.
Heppner’s Cord Flynn
pinned his way to the 195-pound
championship for his third
tournament win in a row, and
Mustangs 113-pounder Trevor
Antonucci placed second to lead
Heppner to an 11th place fi nish
out of 17 teams.
Echo also had two placers as
Kyle Ranger took fourth at 120
and Mason Smith was sixth at
170.
Flynn’s title bout came
against a familiar opponent as
he would meet Culver’s Jaiden
Jones, who had pinned him to
See WRESTLING/2B
NFL
Just in time, Seahawks fi nd their running game to start playoffs
Rawls sets
franchise playoff
record for yards
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — It was the most
obvious question in the aftermath
of Thomas Rawls and the Seattle
Seahawks running their way to
another playoff victory.
Where has that kind of a run
game been hiding for most of the
season?
“I really had a sense it was
AP Photo/Stephen Brashear
Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls, left, is greeted by
wide receiver Paul Richardson, right, after Rawls scored a touchdown
against the Detroit Lions in the second half of an NFL football NFC
wild card playoff game, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, in Seattle.
going to happen,” Seattle coach
Pete Carroll said wryly after the
Seahawks 26-6 win over Detroit
on Saturday night. “No, I didn’t.
But I’m telling you, that’s the
game we’ve been looking for.”
Nothing has been more
inconsistent for Seattle than its
run game. Hampered by injuries,
blocking issues and plain inef-
fectiveness, the belief was if the
Seahawks were going to make
a run in the playoffs it would be
because of Russell Wilson’s arm
and the passing game.
There was no evidence the
kind of performance Saturday
night was about to happen. In the
fi nal three games of the regular
season, Seattle averaged 79 yards
per game rushing, 2.9 yards per
carry. That included a lackluster
87 yards in the regular-season
fi nale against San Francisco, the
worst rush defense in the NFL.
So what changed against the
Lions to where Rawls got 27
carries and set a franchise playoff
record with 161 yards rushing?
“Nothing magic,” Seattle right
tackle Garry Gilliam said. “It was
the same scheme that we’ve run
all year. It was the same people
running the same plays. It was a
matter of locking in.”
See SEAHAWKS/2B
“It was the same scheme that we’ve run all year. It was the same
people running the same plays. It was a matter of locking in.”
— Garry Gilliam,
Seattle Seahawks right tackle
Sports shorts
Beard’s double-double helps
OIT to double-overtime win
KLAMATH FALLS — Former Pendleton
Buckaroo Bryan Beard came up big for his
current team on Saturday with a double-double
to help Oregon Tech to a 93-84 double-overtime
win over Walla Walla on Saturday.
Beard, a 6-foot-10 senior
forward, scored 14 points and
added 10 rebounds. He was 8-of-9
at the free throw line, and added a
block as well for the third straight
game.
Beard is averaging 8.4 points
Beard
and 8.1 rebounds a game for the
Hustlin’ Owls (13-5, 6-2 CCC), and has 13
blocks.
Oregon Tech is scheduled to play games in
the region twice in the next month — at Walla
Walla University on Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. and at
Eastern Oregon on Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
“I know that you know
that I know there’s
defi nitely some of that.
… The fun part about
it is come kickoff time
the guys between the
white lines are the ones
playing it.“
— Dan Quinn
Atlanta Falcons head coach and
former Seattle Seahawks coordi-
nator on the behind-the-scenes
strategy and gamesmanship
that goes into playing his former
bosses. The Falcons host the
Seahawks in the NFL Divisional
Playoffs on Saturday.
Baylor receives historic ranking
(AP) — Baylor is No. 1 in The Associated
Press men’s basketball poll for the fi rst time.
The Bears (15-0) have made a meteoric
rise in the poll, going from a team that didn’t
receive a vote in the preseason
poll to one that received 55 fi rst-
place votes from the 65-member
national media panel on Monday.
Villanova, which received one
fi rst-place vote, had been No. 1
for the last fi ve weeks, but the
Wildcats (15-1) dropped to third after losing at
Butler last week.
Kansas (14-1), which was No. 1 on eight
ballots, moved up from third to second, giving
the Big 12 the top two teams in the poll.
UCLA (16-1), which got the other fi rst-place
vote, stayed fourth.
Gonzaga (15-0), the only other unbeaten
Division I school, and Kentucky remained fi fth
and sixth, respectively.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1972 — The longest
winning streak in major
professional sports 33 games
ends when the Bucks beat the
Los Angeles Lakers 120-104
behind 39 points by Milwau-
kee’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
1982 — Joe Montana’s
third touchdown pass of the
game, a 6-yarder to Dwight
Clark, with 51 seconds
remaining, lifts the San Fran-
cisco 49ers to 28-27 victory
over the Dallas Cowboys in
the NFC title game.
2006 — Bruce Sutter is
elected to the Baseball Hall
of Fame, the fourth reliever
and fi rst pitcher elected with
no career starts.
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