The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, December 01, 2018, Image 12

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The times., December 01, 2018, Image 12

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Newspaper Page Text2B Saturday, December 1,2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS Atlanta United defender Michael Parkhurst, center, kisses the Eastern Conference trophy after the team won the MLS soccer Eastern Conference championship against the New York Red Bulls on Thursday in Harrison, New Jersey. ATLANTA UNITED Blank can’t wait to see what fans do for championship Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank’s message was simple to his team’s support ers ahead of the MLS Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 8: “Welcome to Atlanta and welcome to the MLS Cup.” The message was deliv ered on Twitter after the team dispatched the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in a two- game series that ended in the cold of Harrison, N.J. The victory assured that Atlanta United, in just its second season, will play for its first title. Confetti fell from the sky as Atlanta United players danced around the field. Captain Michael Parkhurst grabbed the trophy, looked over his shoulder at his teammates behind him, and then lifted the silver cup over his head as the call-and-response echoes of “Atlanta,” “United” could be still be felt from the team’s travelling supporters. Multiply those few hun dred fans, who held their own against the Red Bulls’ supporters on the end of the pitch, by a few thousand to imagine what Mercedes- Benz Stadium will sound and feel like when the players for Atlanta United and Port land march out of the tunnel and onto the turf in eight days. “I can’t even imagine because I feel like I have said it after a lot of games that is just keeps on get ting louder and louder in our stadium, and the last game against the Red Bulls was the loudest by far that I have ever seen Atlanta, and I expect it to be even louder for the MLS Cup game,” Atlanta United cap tain Michael Parkhurst said. “They just keep outdoing themselves. Our support is amazing. I know that there was a lot of fans back home in Atlanta getting together for that game, so thank you for your support, we can’t wait to play in front of you next weekend.” Support that has broken numerous single-game, play off game, U.S. Open Cup and average league attendance records has helped carry Atlanta United to a 22-5-7 record at its two home ven ues -- Bobby Dodd Stadium and Mercedes-Benz Stadium - in the past two years. In the playoffs, the sup porters created two of the more interesting tifos in league history. The first was a tribute to outgoing manager Gerardo Martino before beating NYCFC 3-1 in the second leg of the semifinals. The sec ond was a stadium-wide dis play of red, gold and black shiny pieces of paper help up people in the stands. The coordination and choreog raphy rivaled tifos of long standing clubs in Europe. Atlanta United went on to defeat Red Bulls 3-0 in that game to set up Thursday’s JULIO CORTEZ I Associated Press game and the foregone con clusion that was the team advancing to the MLS Cup, despite the 1-0 loss. That support will be amplified by the hundreds to thousands of Portland fans that are expected to make the cross-country trek to root on their team. Portland also is expected to bring The Big Log, which gets a piece chopped off after every Tim bers goal. “Postgame interview I said to one of my friends in Texas, California, wherever you are, the house is going be open,” Atlanta United fullback Greg Garza said. “Just can’t wait for what the city will have to bring. The last game against Red Bulls at home was unbelievable, everyone involved, so I think we’re hoping for something like that again.” Manager Gerardo Mar tino smiled Thursday as he talked about his memories of his introductory news conference at the World of Coca-Cola in September 2016. He said he understands very little English now. He knew even less then. Atlanta Journal Constitution Football/NFL AMERICAN CONFERENCE East W L T Pet PF PA New England 8 3 0 .727 307 249 Miami 5 6 0 .455 223 283 Buffalo 4 7 0 .364 161 272 N.Y Jets 3 8 0 South .273 221 281 W L T Pet PF PA Houston 8 3 0 .727 273 222 Indianapolis 6 5 0 .545 325 273 Tennessee 5 6 0 .455 195 223 Jacksonville 3 8 0 North .273 197 243 W L T Pet PF PA Pittsburgh 7 3 1 .682 316 249 Baltimore 6 5 0 .545 271 198 Cincinnati 5 6 0 .455 276 347 Cleveland 4 6 1 West .409 253 283 W L T Pet PF PA Kansas City 9 2 0 .818 404 294 L.A. Chargers 8 3 0 .727 307 219 Denver 5 6 0 .455 252 252 Oakland 2 9 0 .182 187 327 NATIONAL CONFERENCE W East L T Pet PF PA Dallas 7 5 0 .583 247 223 Washington 6 5 0 .545 220 229 Philadelphia 5 6 0 .455 230 253 N.Y. Giants 3 8 0 .273 237 288 W South L T Pet PF PA New Orleans 10 2 0 .833 419 269 Carolina 6 5 0 .545 287 282 Atlanta 4 7 0 .364 280 307 Tampa Bay 4 7 0 .364 294 338 W North L T Pet PF PA Chicago 8 3 0 .727 317 211 Minnesota 6 4 1 .591 265 246 Green Bay 4 6 1 .409 264 267 Detroit 4 7 0 .364 238 286 W West L T Pet PF PA L.A. Rams 10 1 0 .909 389 282 Seattle 6 5 0 .545 276 243 Arizona 2 9 0 .182 155 293 San Francisco 2 9 0 .182 239 293 Thursday’s Games Dallas 13, New Orleans 10 Sunday’s Games L.A. Rams at Detroit, 1 p.m. Carolina at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m. Arizona at Green Bay, 1 p.m. Denver at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. Baltimore at Atlanta, 1 p.m. Chicago at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m. Cleveland at Houston, 1 p.m. Indianapolis at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. Buffalo at Miami, 1 p.m. N.Y. Jets at Tennessee, 4:05 p.m. Kansas City at Oakland, 4:05 p.m. San Francisco at Seattle, 4:25 p.m. Minnesota at New England, 4:25 p.m. L.A. Chargers at Pittsburgh, 8:20 p.m. Monday’s Games Washington at Philadelphia, 8:15 p.m. Football/high school All-Region 7-3A Player of the Year Daniel Jackson Sr. North Hall MVP Offense Ahmad Kamara Sr. Dawson Jeffrey Blake Sr. GAC Special Teams Caleb Bonesteel Sr. Dawson Co-Athlete of the Year Ty James Sr. GAC SeVaughan Clark Sr. Dawson Lineman of the year Christopher Hinton Sr. GAC Academic Player of the year Dylan Hughes Sr. North Hall First team Quarterback: Josh Rose, GAC; Connor Boyd, Cherokee Bluff Running Back: JT Fair, North Hall; Luke Smith, Lumpkin County; Treylyn Owensby, Fannin County Fullback: Will Moseley, Fannin County Wide Receiver: Cambren Harrison, East Hall; Jake Floyd, GAC; Jaylon Justice, Cherokee Bluff Tight End: TJ Wilson, Dawson County; Jalen Ingram, Fannin County Offensive Line: Justin Butler, Dawson County; Matthew McCracken, Dawson County; Micah Holman, North Hall; Devan Dye, Lumpkin County; Miles Johnson, Fannin County; Elijah Pryor, GAC Athlete: Kylan Curry, East Hall Kicker: Erin Sanchez, North Hall Specialist: Dakohta Sonnichsen, Dawson County Defensive Line: Zac Baloga, Dawson County; Jason Browning, Dawson County; Aaron Hopkins, Lumpkin County; Austin Sullens, North Hall; Elijah Pryor, GAC Linebacker: David Seavey, North Hall; Choe Bryant-Strother, GAC; Cole Jolly, GAC; Brody Howell, Dawson County; Mason Rhodes, Fannin County Defensive back: Luke Voile, North Hall; Logan Barnes, Dawson County; Tyler Bride, GAC; Noah Brock, Dawson County; Jackson Weeks, Fannin County Transactions BASEBALL American League BOSTON RED SOX — Agreed to terms with RHP Tyler Thornburg on a one-year contract. CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Agreed to terms with OF Leury Garcia on a one-year contract. OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Agreed to terms with RHP Ryan Dull and RHP Liam Hendriks to one- year contracts. SEATTLE MARINERS — Acquired C Omar Narvaez from the Chicago White Sox for RHP Alex Colome. TEXAS RANGERS — Agreed to terms with RHP Jesse Chavez on a two-year contract. National League ATLANTA BRAVES — Agreed to terms with LHP Jonny Venters on a non-guaranteed contract for the 2019 season. NEW YORK METS — Failed to tender a 2019 contract to INF Wilmer Flores. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Reached an agree ment with LHP Chasen Shreve on a one-year contract. WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Agreed to terms with LHP Sammy Solis on a one-year contract. FOOTBALL National Football League ARIZONA CARDINALS — Activated LB Thurston Armbrister to the active roster from the practice squad. CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed 0L Jake Eldrenkamp to the practice squad. DENVER BRONCOS — Promoted LB Jeff Holland from their practice squad. Waived LB Alexander Johnson. DETROIT LIONS — Signed WR Deontez Alexan der to the practice squad. Released DT John Atkins from the practice squad. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Signed DE Anthony Winbush to the practice squad. Released QB Phillip Walker from the practice squad. OAKLAND RAIDERS — Signed CB Montrel Me ander. Placed CB Leon Hall on injured reserve. HOCKEY National Hockey League ANAHEIM DUCKS — Recalled D Josh Mahura from San Diego (AHL). Reassigned D Andrej Sustr and C Kalie Kossila to San Diego. CALGARY FLAMES — Recalled F Andrew Mangiapane from Stockton (AHL). CAROLINA HURRICANES — Announced F Valentin Zykov was claimed off waivers by Edmonton. Announced G Scott Darling cleared waivers and was reassigned to Charlotte (AHL). NEW YORK RANGERS — Recalled F Vinni Let- tieri from Hartford (AHL). ST. LOUIS BLUES—Assigned F Nikita Sosh- nikov to San Antonio (AHL). COLLEGE IOWA — Junior TE Noah Fant announced he will enter the NFL draft. NORTH CAROLINA — Named Dre Bly corner- backs coach, Tim Brewster tight ends coach and Tim Cross defensive line coach. Promoted Tommy Thigpen to co-defensive coordinator and will continue to coach safeties. UAB — Agreed to terms with football coach Bill Clark on a five-year contract extension through the 2023-24 season. Golf Friday’s scores At Albany Golf Club New Providence, Bahamas Purse: $3.5 million Yardage: 7,309; Par: 72 Second Round Jon Rahm 71-63—134 -10 Henrik Stenson 68-66—134 -10 Dustin Johnson 68-67—135 -9 Patrick Cantlay 65-70—135 -9 Tony Finau 72-64—136 -8 Gary Woodland 72-66—138 -6 Alex Noren 69-69—138 -6 Rickie Fowler 72-67—139 -5 Keegan Bradley 71-69—140 -4 TODAY ON TV BASKETBALL FOOTBALL ■ Louisville at Seton Hall, noon, FOX ■ St. John’s vs. Georgia Tech, noon, ESPNU ■ Oakland at Xavier, noon, FS1 ■ North Carolina (Greensboro) at Kentucky, 1 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Gonzaga at Creighton, 2 p.m., FOX ■ Memphis vs. Texas Tech, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU ■ Kansas State at Marquette, 2:30 p.m., FS1 ■ Villanova at La Salle, 3 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Purdue at Michigan, 3:30 p.m., ESPN ■ Nevada at Southern California, 4:30 p.m., FOX ■ Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina State, 5 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Rhode Island at Providence, 5 p.m., FS1 ■ Stanford at Kansas, 5:30 p.m., ESPN ■ Temple at St. Joseph’s, 5:30 p.m., NBCSN ■ Stetson at Duke, 7 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Wake Forest at Richmond, 7:30 p.m., NBCSN ■ Cornell at Syracuse, 8 p.m., ESPNU ■ Oregon at Houston, 9 p.m., ESPN2 ■ California at St. Mary’s (California), 10 p.m., ESPNU ■ Texas vs. Oklahoma, noon, ABC ■ Louisiana (Lafayette) at Appalachian State, noon, ESPN ■ Memphis at UCF, 3:30 p.m., ABC ■ Alabama vs. Georgia, 4 p.m., CBS ■ Southern at Alcorn State, 4:30 p.m., ESPNU ■ Fresno State at Boise State, 7:45 p.m., ESPN ■ ACC Championship: Clemson vs. Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., ABC ■ Northwestern vs. Ohio, 8 p.m., FOX GOLF ■ European Tour: Mauritious Open, 2:30 a.m., GOLF ■ PGA Tour: Hero World Challenge, noon, GOLF ■ PGA Tour: Hero World Challenge, 2:30 p.m., NBC ■ European Tour: Australian PGA Championship, 9:30 p.m., GOLF GOLF Rahm works his way into tie in the Bahamas D0NN CARRER I The Associated Press Jon Rahm shoots towards the 15th hole during the first round of the Hero World Challenge at the Albany Golf Club on Thursday in Nassau, Bahamas. Round of 9-under enough to even Stenson Associated Press In his first trip to the Hero World Challenge, it didn’t take Jon Rahm long to figure out how to score. Being aggressive starts with keeping the ball in play. And with five par 5s and a pair of reachable par 4s at Albany Golf Club, plenty of birdies should be available. That was the case Friday, when Rahm made birdies on half of his holes for a 9-under 63 to share the lead with Henrik Sten son, who had a 66. “I hit it so solid off the tee, I was always in the fairway with a short club in,” Rahm said. “I think the best way to describe it, having five par 5s and two relatively short par 4s, out of those seven holes I got six birdies. So I capitalized on the easier holes today. Didn’t seem like much could go wrong.” Only the end went wrong for tournament host Tiger Woods, and it could have been worse. Woods was 5 under for his round and trying to stay in the thick of his holiday event when he drove into a palm bush on the 18th hole. He dropped to one knee to pop the ball back to the grass, came up just short of the green, chipped weakly and made double bogey for a 69. But questions arose about this shot out of the bush. After extensive video review, it was determined he hit the ball more than once. However, because of an 18-month-old rules deci sion that limits the use of video evidence, Woods was spared the additional pen alty because he didn’t think he made contact twice and it couldn’t be determined by the naked eye, only the use of high resolution TV played in super slow motion. “Looking at in the regular speed on a high definition tele vision, you couldn’t tell that at all,” said Mark Russell, the PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and competition. “But when slowed it down to ultra-slow motion, high defi nition television, you could see where the club did stay on the clubface quite a bit of time, and it looked like he might have hit it twice. But there’s no way he could tell that.” Even so, Woods remained eight shots behind in his first 72-hole event since ending his remarkable comeback year with a victory in the Tour Championship. He was tied for 14th, along with Pat rick Reed, who shot 40 on the front nine on his way to a 77. Patrick Cantlay, who shared the 18-hole lead with Reed, had a 70 and was one shot out of the lead along with Dustin Johnson, who had a 67 in a tropical spot where he loves to vacation but rarely contends. Johnson had a pair of sloppy bogeys early on the nine — one didn’t bother him too much when 3-year- old son Tatum came out to greet him — and recovered nicely on the back nine with four straight birdies to get in the mix. Tony Finau had a 64 and was two shots behind. Stenson nearly rallied from a seven-shot deficit in 2016, only to finish toward the bottom of the pack last year. He has had enough rest for the tendon in his left elbow to quit bothering him on the golf course, and he gets another crack at win ning this weekend. “I’ll try and make it to the finish line,” Stenson said. “I haven’t played a lot of golf, though. Since the Ryder Cup, I had an injury prob lem, I was out for five weeks. So I guess I should be a little bit fresher than some of my colleagues who call me from Hong Kong or somewhere else at this point. I’m feel ing all right. We just keep on going, try to make as many birdies as we can.” Everyone was under par going into the weekend, with Jason Day bringing up the rear at 1-under 143. It’s a testament to the good scor ing conditions, with all but two players under par in the second round — Reed and Bubba Watson, who had a 73. Woods was hopeful of much better considering how he struck the ball, though he missed plenty of chances. r Stenson COLLEGE BASKETBALL I Mens top 25 No. 9 Michigan State holds off Rutgers, 78-67 Associated Press Last season, Tom Izzo wanted to leave Nick Ward in New Jersey after a poor game against Rutgers. Friday night, Michigan State’s coach and the rest of the Spartans were singing Ward’s praises. Cassius Winston scored 22 points and Ward added 20 to lead No. 9 Michigan State past Rutgers 78-67 in the Big Ten opener Friday night. “He’s just matured,” Win ston said of Ward. “He’s grown mentally and that’s helping his game a lot, so he was able to take his time passing the ball so teams can’t really double team him like that. He’s making good decisions with the basket ball, so once you can’t dou ble him, it’s hard to guard him.” Last year Ward only had three points in 11 minutes, spending most of the game on the bench. Ward has selective amne sia of that night, with a dead- panned “nothing,” when asked what he remembers from that game. “The only thing that was on my mind from last year was that I’m not sitting right there (on the bench),” Ward said. After a back-and-forth first half, where Rutgers led much of the first 10 minutes, Winston hit a 3-pointer to give Michigan State (5-2) the 39-37 lead over Rutgers (5-2) at the break. Rutgers would open the second half with a 3-pointer by Peter Kiss from the top of the arc to retake the lead, but a quick 6-0 run from Michigan State caused Rut gers coach Steve Pikiell to call timeout down 45-40 with 17:54 to go. The deficit would eventually balloon to 13. “I don’t know if there was a huge difference between the first and second half,” Baker said. “We just came up a little short.” The Scarlet Knights cut it to seven after Shaquille Doorson hit a pair of free throws and had a put-back dunk to cap off a 6-0 run by Rutgers. Issa Thiam’s 3-pointer made it 63-57 with 5:17 to go, but that’s the clos est Rutgers would come. RADFORD 62, No. 17 TEXAS 59: Carlik Jones made a spinning layup and a free throw with 24.5 seconds left, sending Radford to an upset of No. 17 Texas on Fri day night. Devin Hutchison made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left before Texas’ Jase Febres missed a 3-pointer to tie and Radford rebounded to end the game. It was the second big road win for Radford (6-1), which beat Notre Dame earlier this season. Texas dropped a crushing loss. The Longhorns came in with their highest ranking in four seasons under coach Shaka Smart, but shot just 35 percent at home. Ed Polite Jr. scored 11 to lead Radford. Jericho Sims scored 16 for the Longhorns (5-2). Sims had a dunk that put Texas up 59-58 with 1 minute to play before Jones drive and spin. Jones’ layup was one of just three Radford field goals over the final 8:57. Dylan Ostekowski grabbed 17 rebounds for Texas, which missed 10 of 20 free throws and was 5 of 27 from 3-point range. No. 25 MISSISSIPPI STATE 65, DAYTON 58: Nick Weatherspoon hit a pair of 3-pointers in the clos ing minutes, and No. 25 Mis sissippi State trailed most of the game before rallying to a victory over Dayton on Fri day night. The Bulldogs (6-1) sal vaged their first true road game by hitting late 3s after missing 15 of their first 19 tries from behind the arc. Weatherspoon’s 3-pointer from the corner with 27 sec onds left put the Bulldogs up 61-55. He finished with 14 points. Quinndary Weatherspoon led Mississippi State with 21 points and 12 rebounds, two shy of his career high. His layup off an inbound pass with 13 seconds left clinched it. Ryan Mikesell scored 15 points for Dayton (4-3), which was coming off a pair of tournament losses — 66-59 to Virginia and 65-54 to Oklahoma. Associated Press