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Tuesday, January 8, 2019
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL | NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
CLEMSON ROUTS ‘BAMA
AP Photo/Ben Margot
Clemson’s Justyn Ross makes a one-handed catch in front of Alabama’s Josh Jobe during the second half of the NCAA college football playoff
championship game on Monday in Santa Clara, Calif.
Trevor Lawrence passes for 347 yards, three touchdowns as No. 2 Tigers roll
By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
S
ANTA CLARA, Calif. — With
stunning ease — and a freshman
quarterback — Clemson toppled
college football’s greatest dynasty
again to become the first perfect playoff
champion.
Trevor Lawrence passed for 347
yards and three touchdowns and the sec-
ond-ranked Tigers beat No. 1 Alabama
44-16 on Monday night in the College
Football Playoff national championship
game.
In the fourth consecutive playoff meet-
ing between the Tigers and Tide, Clemson
evened the series and beat ‘Bama for the
national championship for the second time
in three seasons. Clemson is the first team
in the AP poll era, dating back to 1936, to
finish 15-0.
Coach Nick Saban and the Tide (14-1)
were looking for a sixth national cham-
pionship in 10 years, trying to add to an
already unprecedented run in the sport.
Instead, Clemson crushed Alabama,
becoming the first opponent to beat the
Tide by more than 14 points since Saban
became coach in 2007.
Coach Dabo Swinney’s Tigers sealed
their status as a superpower, no longer just
1A to Alabama’s 1.
Two seasons ago it was Deshaun Wat-
son dethroning the Tide with a last-second
touchdown pass. Clemson’s new star quar-
terback didn’t need the late-game heroics.
The long-haired Lawrence cut though Ala-
bama’s defense with the help of another
fabulous freshman. Justyn Ross made a
juggling grab, a one-handed snare and
broke a 74-yard touchdown about mid-
way through the third quarter that made
it 37-16 and had Swinney high-stepping
down the sidelines.
Ross, who scored two touchdowns in
the semifinal rout of Notre Dame, had six
catches for 153 yards against his home-
state team.
Swinney takes a different approach than
saban, running a more fun-loving pro-
gram than Alabama’s all-business organi-
zation. But the results have been every bit
as good. And on Monday night at Levi’s
Stadium, in a championship game played
more than 2,000 miles away from Clem-
son’s South Carolina campus, the Tigers
were way too much for an alabama team
that had spent the season mauling its oppo-
sition by an average of 31 points per game.
Only one team would emerge
3-0 in the Blue Mountain Con-
ference after saturday. The other
would leave with their first league
loss.
In the end, the Heppner boys
pulled away in the second quar-
ter to down host Weston-McEwen
48-33.
“We knew it was going to be
extremely tough,” said Mustangs
coach Jeremy Rosenbalm. “They
(Weston-McEwen) were going to
come out with fire after their Stan-
field win on Friday (the TigerScots
beat Stanfield 62-47 on the road). It
was going to be a dog fight.”
The TigerScots held the lead for
Sharp-shooting
Kamiakin takes
down Dawgs
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
After a hot start to the sea-
son, the Hermiston Bulldogs have
cooled off.
Winners of seven on a row
to open their first season in the
Mid-Columbia Conference, the
Bulldogs have dropped three con-
ference games in a row, the latest
being a 67-51 road loss Saturday to
Kamiakin.
“I don’t think we were ready
to play,” Hermiston coach Casey
Arstein said. “I thought they didn’t
play with any energy. I was disap-
pointed in our attitude. It was an
ugly game to coach and an ugly
game to watch.”
Steven Westermeyer had 19
points, and Messiah Jones added 17
to lead the Braves, who improved
to 4-3 in MCC play.
“We had good flow, shared the
ball and played to our strengths,”
Kamiakin coach Brian Meneely
said. “We were able to make some
outside shots and have balance
in our offense. Trey (Arland) and
Steve made some jumps shots that
opened things up for us.”
The Bulldogs (8-3 overall, 4-3
MCC) were a bit undersized com-
pared to the Braves, who averaged
6-foot-4 among their starting five,
but they were able to match Kami-
akin point for point in the first
quarter.
Ryne Andreason scored seven
of his team-high 19 points in the
first as the teams were tied at 13.
Andreason poured in nine points
in the second quarter, but the Bull-
dogs would trail 32-30 at the half
as Jones and Westermeyer each
had six points to pace the Braves.
“I thought (Andreason) was
really good in the first half,”
Meneely said. “We moved Messiah
to him, and tweaked some things
to make it harder on him. They are
a really good team. Casey does a
See Boys, Page B2
Hazel, Toure
lead Kamiakin
past Hermiston
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
the opening four minutes before
Heppner hit eight unanswered
points to close the first quarter
10-6. The Mustangs then went on
a 10-point run in the second quar-
ter to leave the TigerScots behind
for good.
“I challenged my team on
defense, and they accepted it,”
Rosenbalm said. “We really ramped
it up. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Senior Trent Smith sparked
Heppner’s second quarter rally.
The 5-foot-8 shooting guard hit
six straight points to put the Mus-
tangs out of reach. Heppner would
go on to score 10 more points and
allow only eight for a 28-14 half-
time advantage.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Alexa Hazel and Oumou Toure
have been the face of the Kamiakin
girls basketball team since they
were freshmen.
In their final season, the
dynamic duo still is turning heads
and scoring baskets. The two com-
bined for 44 points Saturday, as the
Braves ran past Hermiston 62-26
in a Mid-Columbia Conference
game in Kennewick.
“Holy smokes,” Hermiston
coach Juan Rodriguez said. “A
team like that exposes you in so
many areas. They are very athletic
and they get in the passing lanes. I
am disappointed that they got easy
baskets off of turnovers, and layup
after layup.”
Hazel had a game-high 23
points — 16 combined in the mid-
dle quarters — while Toure, who
has signed to play basketball at
Butler University, had 21.
“They work well together,”
Kamiakin coach Lane Schumacher
said of his top players. “Oumou has
been special for us for four years.
She is really talented, and they
work well together. Alexa is a four-
year starter, and when her shots are
falling she is hard to stop.”
See Mustangs, Page B2
Two TigerScots, Theo White and Andrew Gambill, battle for the ball with
Logan Burright, of Heppner, during Saturday’s league game in Athena.
See Girls, Page B2
Mustangs take off for two
wins over Weston-McEwen
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
B1