KRON 4 News at

Monday, August 23, 2021 SECTION B Paul Farmer . Sports Editor . 427.6926

Vikings rally in second half to quiet Honkers, 37-33

DAily republiC sTAff

SPORTS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — After giving up 20 points in the first quarter, the Vanden High football team needed to make some adjustments.

That the Vikings did, scoring 37 unanswered points en route to a 37-33 road victory over Yuba City, Saturday night.

“I think it showed a lot of character,” Vanden coach Sean Murphy said of the victory. “It would’ve been easy (in) week 1 for a lot of guys to quit. I think they were able to regather themselves and just chip away. It shows we were able to keep our composure and start making some plays.”

It was the Honkers that made plays early, recovering a fumble on Vanden’s first offensive snap and scoring a touchdown on their own.

Vanden put together a pair of nice offensive drives only to turn the ball over on downs both times. Yuba City, meanwhile, drove for a pair of touchdowns to make it 20-0 with Jayden Robinson blocking one of the conversion attempts for Vanden.

The Vikings finally got on the board with 15 seconds left in the half when quarterback Tre Dimes hit Konar McLeod with a 15-yard touchdown pass, though a fumbled snap on the conversion attempt kept it 20-6.

Vanden forced a threeand-out from the Honkers to start the second half and put together a scoring drive capped by Dimes’ 1-yard touchdown run to make it 20-13 with 4:53 to go in the third quarter after the first of Diego NunezSmith’s four PAT kicks.

The ensuing pooch kick by Nunez-Smith was recovered by Jordan Jones of the Vikings, who then drove for another touchdown, a 2-yard run Cameron Fisherman to make it 20-20 at the end of three quarters.

Yuba City’s next possession ended with an interception by Vanden’s King Williams, who returned it to near the Honkers’ 30. Moments later, Nunez-Smith put the Vikings ahead to stay with a field goal.

Vanden’s defense again came up big by forcing another three-and-out from Yuba City. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the Vikings’ 14, Murphy decided to eschew the field goal – “In high school football, to me a six-point lead is the same as a three-point lead,” the coach said – and was rewarded when Dimes hit Michael Belk with a touchdown pass to up the lead to 30-20.

After Ryan Null recovered a Yuba City fumble at the Honkers’ 7, Elijah Fisherman, Cameron’s younger brother, scored on the next play to make it 37-20 and wrap up Vanden’s scoring with 6:28 remaining.

The Honkers tacked on two late touchdowns, though the Vikings’ lead was never threatened as

See Vikings, Page B8

Norm Hall/Getty Images/TNS file

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert presents the MVP trophy to Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm

after a 79-59 win against the Connecticut Sun during the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game, Aug. 12.

‘This is exactly where I want to be’

Stewart on balancing motherhood, on-court success

perCy Allen

THE SEATTLE TIMES

SEATTLE — Breanna Stewart has certainly felt love and happiness before, but for the first time in her life she’s at peace.

That’s the word the 26-year-old newlywed and brand-new mom used to describe her feelings while obtaining an elusive balance between her professional basketball pursuits and a growing family that now includes wife Marta Xargay Casademont and their two-week old baby daughter, Ruby Mae.

“This is exactly where I want to be,” Stewart said. “And I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing with the people that I want to be doing it with.”

After a two-game layoff to spend time with Marta and Ruby, who was born via surrogate on Aug. 9, Stewart returned to the basketball court Friday night and helped the Storm to a 99-83 victory over the New York Liberty, which snapped Seattle’s twogame losing skid.

It was Stewart’s first game as a mom, which is something she’ll never forget.

Listening to her talk about the newest additions in her life, it becomes clear that the word “family” has new meaning for the North Syracuse, N.Y., native who grew up with parents Brian and Heather and younger brother Conor.

“To be on the court as a mom just knowing that I’m representing more,” Stewart said. “My family has grown and I’m continuing to represent that. Also, even though Ruby is not aware of it right now, continuing to be a role model to her and doing everything for my family.”

In her first regular-season game as Momma Stewart, the 6-foot-4 forward looked identical to the former Connecticut Huskies star who was taken No. 1 overall in the 2016 WNBA draft and led the Storm to two WNBA championships while winning two WNBA Finals MVPs and a regular-season WNBA MVP award.

Stewart tormented New York with 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting, a game-high 14 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 32 1/2 minutes.

The diverse oncourt production is the same, but those who know Stewart say she’s different.

“She has this joy about her and this spirit about her to where it’s like, she’s just a go-getter,” coach Noelle Quinn said. “If we look at the body of work that Stewie has done on the basketball court, it’s amazing. But I think who she is as a person is really amplified in these moments. She wants to win. She’s a competitor, she’s a winner and it’s contagious. I just think because she goes about things the right way and her heart is in the right spot and doing it for the right reasons is why she’s so successful.”

Stewart, a four-time NCAA champion at UConn and three-time WNBA All-Star, is no stranger to success.

Since returning from

See Stewart, Page B8

Rangers legend Rod Gilbert dies at 80

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Rod “Mr. Ranger” Gilbert, the Rangers’ all-time goals and scoring leader, has died. He was 80 years old.

Gilbert’s death was announced by the team Sunday evening.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Gilbert — one of the greatest Rangers to ever play for our organization and one of the greatest ambassadors the game of hockey has ever had,” Rangers owner James Dolan said in a statement. “While his on-ice achievements rightly made him a Hall of Famer, it was his love for the Rangers and the people of New York that endeared him to generations of fans and forever earned him the title, ‘Mr. Ranger.’ Our thoughts are with Rod’s wife, Judy, and the entire Gilbert family during this difficult time. They will always be a part of the Rangers family.”

“Everyone in the Rangers organization mourns the loss of a true New York icon,” Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury added. “Rod’s remarkable talent and zest for life personified this city and endeared him to hockey fans and non-hockey fans alike. Growing up a young Rangers fan, one of the first names I ever heard about was Rod Gilbert – he was synonymous with Rangers hockey. It was an incredible privilege to get to know Rod. His passion and dedication to the Rangers will forever be a source of inspiration for me.”

Born July 1, 1941 in Montreal, Gilbert played with the Rangers from 1960 to 1978. Across parts of 18 seasons, Gilbert tallied 406 goals and 615 assists as a winger, for a total of 1,021 points in 1,065 games.

More late heroics as Solano’s pinchhit homer, lifts Giants over A’s

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

There’s following a general game plan and then there’s matching the same script to an absurd extent.

That’s what the Giants did Sunday at the Coliseum.

Just like the day before, San Francisco trailed late, got a key walk and then a pinchhit homer, this time by Donovan Solano, whose blast off A.J. Puk in the eighth lifted the Giants to a 2-1 victory. Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee worked scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, as San Francisco’s majorleague best record improved to 80-44.

It was the first time in major-league history that a team has hit pinchhit homers in the eighth inning or later to erase a deficit and take a lead in back-to-back games.

“It doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Giants starter Logan Webb said, adding of Solano’s drive, “It sounds weird to say but I almost knew it was going to happen.”

Solano was pinch-hitting for LaMonte Wade Jr., who on Saturday had pummeled a pinch-hit homer in the ninth after Brandon Belt walked, giving San Francisco a last-gasp win. Solano said he thought back to that at-bat by Wade – but he also had some extra inspiration.

“I just happened to look at my stats and saw that I had only 28 RBIs and I was like, ‘OK, it would be nice for me to get up to 30,’ and I started thinking what LaMonte felt when he hit the home run and drove in the winning run,” Solano said, with Erwin Higueros interpreting. “That was my mental state.”

On Sunday, Austin Slater drew the two-out walk from Puk while also serving as a pinch hitter, and manager Gabe Kapler hoped that plate appearance doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, especially after Slater fell behind 1-2.

“Donovan is going to get all the credit and the glory for the homer, which he should, but don’t sleep on how huge that at-bat from Austin Slater was,” Kapler said.

It’s just the second time since 1961 that the Giants have recorded goahead pinch-hit homers in back-to-back games. Neither Solano nor Wade had a pinch-hit home run before the weekend, but it’s becoming the norm with the Giants, whose 14 pinch-hit homers lead the majors and tied with the 2001 club for most by a San Francisco team since 1974.

All nine of the Giants’ runs in taking two of three against the A’s came via the homer, and their 187 homers lead the majors.

As the Giants sprint down the home stretch, Webb has emerged as the most consistently good member of the rotation. Over the past month, his ERA is 1.69, the rest of the starters combined, 4.93.

Webb was working quickly much of the day and throwing strikes with everything, his fastball, slider and changeup. He allowed five hits in his six innings, walked one and struck out seven.

The A’s lone run came when Tony Kemp slipped an opposite-field double down the left-field line and scored on Mark Canha’s base hit to center, which ended an 0-for-17 funk. Canha took second on the throw home, but was then struck by a ball off the bat off Starling Marte.

A replay clearly showed the ball changing direction after hitting Canha’s foot and while the play is not eligible for replay review, Webb said all the players heard the ball strike Canha. The umpires huddled and made the correct call: Canha was out, Marte was credited with a hit and though he then stole second, Webb got Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie to ground out.

With the Dodgers’ loss to the Mets, the Giants pushed their lead in the NL West back to 2 1/2 games.

“We lost two in a row, and people start freaking out a little bit, which is crazy,” Webb said of social-media reaction. “But that’s just the type of division that we’re in, the type of race that we’re in. These guys on our team bring it every day. We’re never out of the game, and we’ve been proving that.”