2B 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
