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SPORTS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 9, 2018 3B
RACING
NASCAR cheating
brought to light
The credo in NASCAR has
always been “If you ain’t
cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’,”
and that has never changed
despite series effort to keep
things on the up-and-up.
Now that culture has
resurfaced again and at a
most inopportune time for
the beleaguered series.
There is one race to go to
set the championship field,
Sunday in Phoenix, and
star driver Kevin Harvick
has been snared in the lat
est scandal. NASCAR found
Harvick had an illegal
race-winning car — his sec
ond of the season — after
his victory at Texas Motor
Speedway earned him an
automatic berth in the Nov.
18 title race in Florida.
The issue was with a
spoiler that had been modi
fied to give Harvick an aero
dynamic advantage as he
dominated and won for a
Cup Series-high eighth time
this season. Just how much
of an advantage Harvick
had is irrelevant: The levels
of deceit NASCAR believes
Stewart-Haas Racing went
to were so devious the intent
can’t be questioned.
Once NASCAR had the
car back from Texas and in
its Research and Develop
ment Center, the spoiler was
removed and determined
not to be the part supplied
by the vendor. Instead, NAS
CAR believes SHR made its
own spoiler, passed it off
as one from the mandatory
vendor and used it to help
Harvick win. The details
were unveiled late Wednes
day, 10 hours after Har-
vick’s spot in the finale was
revoked. NASCAR has for
several years refused to give
specifics about infractions
— keeping secret ideas on
how to game the system —
but reversed course on the
Harvick penalty because of
mounting criticism about the
severity of his punishment.
Associated Press
BRANCH
■ Continued from 1B
The Falcons face a Ridge-
land offense that has pro
gressed significantly after a
season-opening loss to Class
3A’s top-ranked Calhoun,
according to Hall. Since a
switch to the spread attack
in the offseason, the Pan
thers (37 points per game)
are ranked seventh in scor
ing for the Class 4A.
The Panthers are piloted
by three-year starter Tan
ner Hill (922 yards, 12 touch
downs) at quarterback and
have weapons at other skill
positions as well. Wideout
and Division I prospect Ste-
phon Walker (6-foot, 180
pounds), Azavier Black-
well in the slot and running
back Jordan Blackwell (963
yards, 13 touchdowns) add
extra gears to this attack.
They’ll still have to go
through a Flowery Branch
defense that currently ranks
sixth in the classification for
points allowed (12.6) and
has only surrendered 20 or
more points once this sea
son — a 21-20 overtime loss
to Blessed Trinity on Oct. 12.
The always-balanced
pro set of the Falcons is
also seemingly back to full-
strength at quarterback
with junior Elijah Gainey
(1,770 passing yards, 18
touchdowns), and has
received quite the boost
from the offensive line since
the Blessed Trinity game,
according to Porter.
With gametime tem
peratures dipping as low
as 35 degrees Friday, Hall
stressed the importance of
limiting mistakes on special
teams, while not giving up
the big play on defense as
crucial.
Porter, who has played
every down like its his last
this season, doesn’t plan
to change his mentality as
he and the Falcons hope to
keep the momentum going
in the playoffs.
Hall said he plans to keep
things as routine as pos
sible leading up to kickoff.
Lackey and Porter said
there should be a little cine
matic entertainment too for
the three-hour charter bus
ride to Rossville.
“Finding Nemo” may
be on the list, joked Porter.
“Remember the Titans” was
certainly talked about too,
said Lackey.
NFL
Linebackers have a hand in all
P h ases to stop modern offenses
DAVID ZALUB0WSKII Associated Press
Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) throws over Denver Broncos
linebacker Brandon Marshall (54) during the first half of an NFL football game,
Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018, in Denver.
Associated Press
With the NFL’s volcanic offenses,
can’t-hit-them-too-hard rules and
bewildered officials, linebackers
today aren’t the snarling 250-pound
thumpers who used to just give run
ning backs fits.
“Now we have to cover well, too,”
Denver’s Brandon Marshall said. “We
still have to tackle well. So, you can’t
be real light and only playing pass
or too heavy and only playing run.
You’ve got to be able to do all of it,
man.”
Which means finding a sweet spot
on the scale so they can run like a
gazelle and still hit like a truck.
Today’s inside linebackers not only
need to have the stamina to go sideline
to sideline, but they also require:
■ sufficient strength to shed 320-
pound linemen;
■ enough vigor to cover towering
tight ends;
■ ample speed to keep up with
receivers no longer timid about going
over the middle;
■ enough recognition and quick
ness to keep up with shifty run
ning backs and ever-more-mobile
quarterbacks.
It’s also handy to have a thick skin,
knowing linebackers will bear the
brunt of fans’ frustrations as offenses
pick apart apparently defenseless
units at a record-setting pace.
Sounds impossible.
“It almost is,” Broncos coach Vance
Joseph said. “It almost is.”
“It’s definitely very difficult,”
Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr
said. “You have tight ends that pro
vide mismatches, you’ve got running
backs that are great receivers. You’re
asked to be in a lot of positions. But
that’s what we get paid to do. So, we’ve
got figure out a way to do it and do it
well.”
As do the officials, whom Joseph
said are allowing illegal blocks with
the run-pass option rage that has
seeped from the college game and is
prominently featured in places such
as Kansas City, Philadelphia and
Seattle.
Take the Broncos’ loss to the Chiefs
in Week 8. Linemen aren’t allowed to
block more than a yard from the line
of scrimmage on a pass play. But the
Chiefs’ guards and center got a few
yards downfield several times, caus
ing Denver’s linebackers to instinc
tively commit to the run — only to
see quarterback Patrick Mahomes
pull the ball back from running back
Kareem Hunt’s belly and zip it to wide-
open tight end Travis Kelce.
“It’s the league we’re in,” Joseph
said. “Those guys blocking up front
don’t know the ball is being thrown.
They’re blocking zone, so absolutely
it’s an issue. We have to fix this issue
in this league, unless it’s going to be
college football.
“It’s tough for the linebackers to
play both, and you see it on tape. Todd
Davis is having hell trying to fit his gap
and chase the guy in the flat. When
you see Kelce in the flat over there
with no one around him, (Davis is)
playing his run gap because the guard
and center are four and five yards
down the field.”
Joseph added, “That’s an issue. It’s
a leaguewide issue and it’s a Chiefs
issue. Everyone is running these
plays, so we have to figure out a way to
officiate this better to help the game.”
Marshall isn’t so sure the league’s
competition committee will do any
thing about it, though, saying more
points equals more eyeballs.
“They’re not going to change it,” he
said.
So it’s the linebackers who are
changing.
Davis, the Broncos’ leading tack
ier, said he’s dropped his weight to
233 and “I do a lot more training with
DBs and corners. I add that on to what
I already did in the weight room and
running and conditioning. But now I
have to be ready for everything in the
pass game, as well.”
The linebackers who are modifying
their bodies and games are embracing
the challenge.
“It’s the NFL,”
Titans linebacker
Wesley Woodyard
said. “There’s great
players at every
position.”
Including
linebacker.
“I love it,” Davis
said. “It’s on us to
play well and it’s on
us to set the tempo and be great for
our team. I wouldn’t have it any other
way.”
Marshall said linebackers ulti
mately benefit from the ever-increas
ing challenges brought on by the RPO
trend, faster rushers, bigger tight ends
and plucky receivers.
“It’s made me a better player,”
Marshall said. “It’s also made me
more valuable.”
“I think that’s why teams put a pre
mium on athletic ‘backers,” Marshall
said. “Because we have to be out there
to cover the Kelces and the Gronks
and the Dion Lewises and the James
Whites of the world. And then we’ve
got to be able to tackle (Todd) Gurley.
That’s just how it is. ”
Woodyard
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