28—Cleveland Daily Banner—Sunday, January 3, 2016
www.clevelandbanner.com
Stanford rockets past Iowa
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — The
first time Christian McCaffrey
touched the ball in the 102nd
Rose Bowl, he took it 75 yards for
a spectacular touchdown. A few
hundred yards later, Stanford's
sophomore star had smashed the
oldest bowl game's record for allpurpose yards while leading the
Cardinal to a blowout win over
Iowa.
Sure, McCaffrey didn't win the
Heisman Trophy, and Stanford
barely missed out on the College
Football Playoff.
McCaffrey and the mighty
Cardinal are still headed into the
new year with the Pac-12 champions' most coveted postseason
trophy — and the brightest of
futures.
McCaffrey caught a touchdown
pass on the opening snap and
returned a punt 66 yards for
another score while racking up
368 all-purpose yards, propelling
No. 5 Stanford to a 45-16 victory
over the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes
on Friday.
Three-time Rose Bowl starter
Kevin Hogan passed for 223
yards and three TDs in his final
game for the Cardinal (12-2) as
this unlikely Bay Area football
powerhouse
won
the
Granddaddy of Them All for the
second time in three trips over
the past four years.
"It's so fun when a team can
come together," McCaffrey said.
"We've got a bunch of fighters on
this team that will never give up.
Just love playing with these
guys."
McCaffrey was sublime in his
Rose Bowl debut, breaking the
all-purpose yards record set by
Wisconsin's Jared Abbrederis in
2012. McCaffrey finished second
behind Alabama's Derrick Henry
in the Heisman voting, but the
speedy running back turned in
one of the most dynamic performances in the Rose Bowl's
lengthy history.
"I think he was the best player
in America before this game, so I
think it's just the icing on the
cake," Stanford coach David
Shaw said. "I do think it's a
shame that a lot of people didn't
get to see him during the course
of the year. Apparently the games
were too late."
The world was wide awake to
see McCaffrey in Pasadena —
and he scored 11 seconds in.
Hogan's throw to McCaffrey was
the second-longest TD pass in
Rose Bowl history and the
longest play given up all season
by the stingy Iowa defense.
"I wouldn't say I was in shock,
(but) it was like, 'Dang, already?'"
Stanford left tackle Kyle Murphy
said. "I knew they haven't seen a
player of his caliber all year,
someone with speed like that.
With all the Heisman stuff, he felt
really snubbed. He's not going to
say anything about it, but all of
us, we know. He's the best player
in the country. It lit a fire under
him, although he's already the
hardest-working man and most
motivated man."
McCaffrey finished with 172
yards rushing, 105 yards receiving and 91 on kick returns, putting an appropriate cap on the
season in which he set the NCAA
record for all-purpose yards. He
also became the first player ever
to rack up more than 100 yards
rushing and 100 yards receiving
in a Rose Bowl — and he even
became the single-season rushing leader in Stanford history
with 2,109 yards on the ground.
Stanford and Iowa finished in
the final two spots outside the
College Football Playoff field, but
the Cardinal showed they belong
among the best with their 12th
win in their final 13 games.
With a powerful offensive line
and a sturdy defense, they also
ruined the first Rose Bowl in 25
years for the Hawkeyes (12-2),
who followed up their remarkable
12-0 regular season with two
postseason losses.
C.J. Beathard passed for 239
yards and two fourth-quarter
touchdowns for the Hawkeyes,
whose thousands of fans proudly
filled the venerable stadium with
old gold and black. The faithful
had painfully little to cheer after
Iowa fell behind on the first snap,
putting a daylong damper on
Kirk Ferentz's first Rose Bowl
Flames
after 17 years as a head coach.
"Just like this game won't
define this team, one play doesn't
define a game," Ferentz said. "We
had ample opportunity after that
to play, but they played a
tremendous game in all phases."
The Cardinal had the highestscoring first quarter and first half
in the Rose Bowl's lengthy history. After McCaffrey's opening TD,
Hogan rushed for an 8-yard
score and Quenton Meeks
returned an interception 66
yards for another TD in the first
11 minutes.
Iowa had never trailed by more
than seven points at any point in
its magical season, which included the first 12-0 start in school
history before a narrow loss to
Michigan State in the Big Ten
title game. But the rout was really on after McCaffrey made his
63-yard TD return in the opening
minute of the second, juking
Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell on
the way.
"He's a guy that can move
around you, make quick cuts,"
Jewell said. "He has the breakaway speed, and he's a great running back overall."
Stanford even got creative — or
cruel, depending on your perspective. Hogan appeared to fake
a fumbled handoff to McCaffrey
in the second quarter before popping up and throwing to an
untouched Michael Rector for a
31-yard score, making it 35-0 at
halftime.
The play has a name:
Hawkeye.
Iowa avoided a shutout on
Marshall Koehn's 39-yard field
goal in the third quarter, prompting huge cheers and a confetti
shower from the Hawkeyes'
AP photo
band. Matt VandeBerg and
StAnford
SAfety
Ben
Edwards,
right,
tackles
Iowa
wide
receiver
Tevaun
Smith
during
the
first
half
Akrum
Wadley
caught
of
the
Rose
Bowl
Friday
in
Pasadena,
Calif.
Beathard's late scoring passes.
IMAGINE IT.
From Page 17
points and added nine rebounds.
Carrie Cheeks played around
foul trouble and added eight
points and eight boards.
Lee held a 33-24 advantage on
the glass while doubling up the
Wolves in the post by a 20-10
margin. The Lady Flames forced
14 turnovers and were guilty of
17.
“I was really proud of how we
took a punch and handled their
run with a run of our own in the
fourth period,” noted Rowe. “All
the teams in our league are talented and well coached and
come tournament time you won’t
see many blow outs so I like how
we handled the adversity today.”
Terriana Cave led the way for
the Wolves with 21 points.
Katrina Littlepage added 13
points and five assists while
A’Kia Harris pulled down 10
rebounds.
Lee shot 41.8 percen t (23 of
55) from the field and hit 11
triples in the contest. West
Georgia was held to just 25.4
percent (15 of 59) from the field
and went 7 of 28 (25 percent)
from the 3-point line.
The win improves the Lady
Flames to 9-4 overall and 6-1 in
the Gulf South Conference
(GSC). Rowe’s club remains tied
for first with No. 22 Delta State.
West Georgia falls to 2-11 on
the year and 2-5 in league play.
Rowe was quick to point out that
the Wolves’ record might be misleading, “I don’t think this is a
team that very many people will
want to play down the road. They
are very athletic and really well
coached and give them credit
they made some shots and
fought back into the game.”
Lee will head to West Alabama
on Monday night at 6:30 p.m.
before hosting 9 of the next 11 in
the friendly confines of Walker
Arena beginning on Saturday,
Jan. 9 with Delta State.
WOLVES 80, FLAMES 79
CARROLLTON, Ga. — A lategame comeback attempt by Lee
University came up short as the
Flames dropped a Gulf South
Conference (GSC) matchup to
University of West Georgia, 8079, at The Coliseum. Lee (3-9, 16 GSC) remains on the road to
face University of West Alabama
in Livingston on Monday at 8:30
p.m. EST.
The Flames led by as much as
10 points in the first half and
held a 43-40 edge at the halftime
break. West Georgia (8-4, 5-2
GSC) gained the lead for good
with 15 minutes left in the game.
The Wolves built a nine-point
lead at 80-71 with 3:29 remaining. The Flames pulled to within
one point with 48 ticks left on
the clock, but neither side was
able to add to their point total.
“My heart goes out to our
guys,” said Lee head coach
Tommy Brown. “They really battled and had a great effort, perhaps against the most talented
team in our conference. They
responded well to adversity and
have had a good attitude.”
Rico Overall led four Flames
into double-digit scoring. The
junior made 7-of-14 shots on his
way to 16 points. Keevin Tyus
recorded his third double-double
of the season with 13 points and
10 rebounds.
Bryce Copeland was 4-for-4
from behind the arc to finish
with 12 points and four
rebounds. CJ Reese added 10
points to go with four rebounds,
five assists and three steals.
Jervon Johnson supplied nine
points, while Chase Cullen
added seven markers, two
boards and two assists.
Rantavious Gilbert recorded
seven rebounds and blocked five
shots in the loss.
“We broke out the 2-3 zone
and it worked,” added Brown. “I
think it helped us a lot. We have
one of the nation’s top shotblockers and you’d like to keep
somebody like that around the
rim.”
The Flames made 28-of-49
(.571) shots from the field and
were 8-for-10 (.800) from beyond
the arc. West Georgia was 30-for67 (.448) overall and 6-of-19
(.316) from distance. Neither
team excelled at the free throw
line. The Flames made 55.6 percent (15-for-27) and the hosts
converted just 14-of-34 (.412)
attempts.
The Flames tallied 18 points
off 22 West Georgia turnovers,
while the Wolves turned 28 Lee
floor mistakes into 26 points.
UWG cashed 16 offensive
rebounds in for 20 second
chance points. Lee registered one
point for each of its six offensive
boards.
Iakeem Alston was the pointsleader for West Georgia with 19.
Alston also had five assists and
four rebounds. Shannon Fowler
added 15 points and Keron
Briggs had 13 to give UWG three
double-digit scorers.
Deontre Brown dished out five
assists to go with seven points.
Steph Branch was the team’s
rebounding leader with eight.
Branch also contributed nine
points.
GET GOING!
SHB HOME EQUITY LOANS
AND LINES OF CREDIT.
Dreaming of a new kitchen?
Call 423-473-7980 and Ask for a
SHB Home Equity Lender to Get
Started And … You’ll Receive a
$100 Visa® Gift Card!*
At Southern Heritage Bank we want to help make your
dreams reality, with an SHB Home Equity Loan or Line
of Credit. See your home’s potential, enjoy the upgrade
and get going with the equity in your house!
SouthernHeritageBank.com
CLEVELAND 423-473-7980
MAIN OFFICE – 3020 Keith Street NW
WATERVILLE SPRINGS OFFICE – 2530 Dalton Pike
GEORGETOWN ROAD OFFICE – 3795 Georgetown Road
*Offer does not constitute an automatic extension of credit. Application and approval are required. Offer must be presented or referenced when applying for a new Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit, or mentioned for
existing Home Equity Line of Credit customers to receive gift. $100 Visa® Gift Card will be mailed to you when you maintain at least a $10,000 loan or draw for a Line of Credit for sixty (60) days. Limit one gift card per
customer. Not valid with other offers, discounts or rates. Property must be owner occupied. Property insurance required. Annual Percentage Rate (APR) may vary. Some restrictions may apply. Limited time offer.