Daily Republic
Monday, November 29, 2021 SECTION B Paul Farmer . Sports Editor . 427.6926
49ers able to run over Vikings in 34-26 win Tribune Content Agency SANTA CLARA — The 49ers won their third straight game and bolstered their playoff chances Sunday with a 34-26 win over the Vikings at Levi's Stadium. The victory, their four in their past five games, improved their record to 6-5 and they closed to within one game behind of the second-place Rams (7-4) in the NFC West. The triumph was headlined by a 133 rushing
yards by rookie running back Elijah Mitchell and two rushing scores by wide receiver Deebo Samuel, while the defense provided two second-half takeaways deep in Minnesota territory that led to 10 points and had a fourthquarter goal-line stand. Leading 34-26, the 49ers had a chance to seal the win, but placekicker Robbie Gould's 42-yard fieldgoal attempt on the first snap after the two-minute warning was pushed
wide right. The 49ers could breathe after quarterback Kirk Cousins sailed a fourthand-8 pass from the 49ers' 38-yard line over wide receiver Justin Jefferson with 45 seconds left. The win came with a cost as two of the 49ers' best players — Samuel (groin) and All-Pro linebacker FredWarner (hamstring) — exited in the third quarter with injuries. Samuel pulled up on a carry that lost six yards and stayed down for a
few minutes before he slowly walked off the field. However, he went down to one knee after he reached the sideline and later paced the sideline, clearly distraught, with a towel over his head. The injury ended another do-it-all day for Samuel, who had 66 yards on six carries, had scoring runs of 20 and 3 yards and became the first 49ers receiver since Anquan Boldin to have 1,000 yards in a season. Samuel also became the
first wide receiver to have five rushing touchdowns in a season in the Super Bowl era. After the 49ers had opening scoring drives that previous two weeks that each lasted at least 18 plays and 11 minutes, they waited until late in the second quarter to embark on their latest marathon march. And it came at an opportune time. Trailing 14-7, their 15-play, 85-yard drive lasted 8 minutes, 20 seconds and tied
the score, 14-14, just before halftime. One snap after quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a 24-yard completion to wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on third-and-11, he capped the drive with a well-placed, three-yard touchdown toss to Jauan Jennings in shallow right corner of the end zone. It was the start of a fourminute, 13-second blitz in which the 49ers outscored the Vikings, 21-0. See 49ers, Page B8
Warriors rusty but still top Clippers Tribune Content Agency
Shawn Jansen/Merced Sun-Star photos
Vanden High School senior receiver Michael Belk finds some open space to run during Saturday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship game at St. Mary’s
High School in Stockton. Vanden beat Merced 49-21 for the title. The Vikings will play at Windsor Friday night in a Northern California playoff game.
Vanden heads into unchartered waters with NorCal playoff game Matt Miller
mmiller@dailyrepublic.net
FAIRFIELD — Vanden High School’s celebration of its SacJoaquin Section Division IV football championship didn’t last long, because a new chapter of school history begins now, a berth in the Northern California playoffs. These are new unchartered waters for the Vikings, who had won three previous section championships before adding a fourth on Saturday with a 49-21 win over Merced at St. Mary’s High School in Stockton. Vanden (11-2) has never had a NorCal playoff game. The Vikings hit the road for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday night in a Division 3-AA matchup with Windsor (11-1), a city just north of Santa Rosa. “We’ve already started sending out film,” Murphy said. “It’s very
Vanden head coach Sean Murphy receives a celebration shower after his Vikings beat Merced for the title Saturday. much a big task in front of us. We put so much into the section championship, it was almost like getting ready for a rivalry game. Now we have to have an adrenaline dump and get ready to go again.” Windsor won the North Coast Section Division III title with a 38-14 win over Benicia, an old Superior California Athletic Conference friend of Vanden. It was a big play offense that got it done as the Jaguars scored 24 of their 38 points in the second quarter against
the Panthers. Damian Escarcega scored on two touchdown runs and Chase Vehmeyer threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Nicholas Faaghara to account for the bulk of the scoring for the Jaguars. “I’ve already talked to (Benicia head coach Craig Holden) about them,” Murphy said. “They have a prolific offense and are aggressive on defense. It’s going to be quite a challenge.” Vanden had a solid allaround performance in
its win over Merced, but there were some individual standouts as well. Quarterback Tre Dimes finished 15-for-23 passing for 311 yards with four touchdown passes. Jamai East hauled in TD catches of 55, 8, and 13 yards. East also had a “Pick Six” interception return for touchdown that covered 24 yards on defense. “We are really hitting on all cylinders on offense and defense, and are really bodying up on people,” Murphy said. “I appreciate how we have really been coming together as a family. It’s been really impressive.” The Northern California schools are hosting the state championship games this year. Newport Harbor and Aquinas are matching up for the Southern California title and the winner of that game will travel to either Windsor or Vanden for the state title game.
Gentry benches Kings starters in defeat Tribune Content Agency SACRAMENTO — Interim Kings coach Alvin Gentry didn’t like what he saw when his starters came out looking lethargic in the opening minutes of Sunday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. When they did it again to start the second half, Gentry decided he had seen enough. Gentry benched his starters less than three minutes into the second half. He was looking for a spark from his bench, but his backups didn’t fare much better in a 128-101loss to the Grizzlies at FedExForum. Dillon Brooks scored 21 points to lead the Grizzlies (10-10), who
won despite the absence of point guard Ja Morant. Desmond Bane added 18 points. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 17 points and nine rebounds. Buddy Hield had a team-high 14 points for the Kings (8-13), but he made just 5 of 17 from the field and 1 of 9 from 3-point range. Terence Davis had 13 points. De’Aaron Fox had 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting for the Kings, who were coming off back-toback wins over the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers. The Grizzlies led by 24 at the half and extended their lead to 28 early in the third quarter, prompting Gentry to call a timeout. Gentry made mass substitutions, replac-
ing Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Davis, Chimezie Metu and Alex Len with Hield, Davion Mitchell, Louis King, Marvin Bagley III and Damian Jones. “We started the third quarter and I didn’t think we had the kind of activity I thought we should have,” Gentry said. “And then after a couple easy baskets here or there, I decided it was time to try somebody else.” The Grizzlies shot 48.1% from the field while holding the Kings to 34.0%. Memphis also amassed a 68-49 rebounding advantage. “When you look at the stat sheet, all the things say that we had no chance to win the game,” Gentry said.
LOS ANGELES — Whether it was a matchup of the league’s top defensive teams living up to the billing or two teams that took too long to wake up for a Sunday matinee is in the eye of the beholder. To Jordan Poole, it was merely an opportunity. His flurry of points at the end of the third quarter awakened the Warriors and propelled them to their best-inthe-NBA 18th win in 20 games, 105-90, over the Los Angeles Clippers. At 18-2, Golden State takes the NBA’s best record and a sevengame winning streak into its home-andhome showdown with Phoenix, which has won 16 straight and sits a game behind the Warriors in the Western Conference. “It was a chippy game, very physical,” coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “The Clippers have a great defense. They play really hard. They make it difficult on you. We obviously have a great defensive team, too, so it was a very phys-
ical game. There was some frustration, as there often is in a physical game.” A free throw off a technical foul kicked off a stretch of 12 points in the final 2:35 of the third quarter for third-year guard, which extended the Warriors’ lead from one point to seven entering the final quarter. Poole traded buckets with Clippers star Paul George and scored all but five of his 17 points during his flurry. He left it to Steph Curry to ice the win. Enraged by a noncall on a drive to the basket midway through the fourth quarter, Curry drew a technical foul that only fired him up further. He gestured at the referee, removed his mouthpiece, stomped in fury. Then he channeled that energy. drained Curry three 3s in a span of 75 seconds after he got teed up, while the Warriors mounted a 21-7 run in the following 4:27 to seal the game. He finished with a game-high 33 points and stuffed the stat sheet with seven See Warriors, Page B8
Reimer solid with shutout in Sharks’ victory Tribune Content Agency CHICAGO — Once again, the Sharks didn’t provide James Reimer much in the way of offensive support. Once again, it didn’t matter. Timo Meier scored a second-period goal and Reimer made it hold up, finishing with 29 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Sharks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 at the United Center on Sunday. Reimer had 20 saves in the first two periods and held off the Blackhawks the rest of the way the Sharks opened their five-game road trip on a positive note. Meier scored an empty-net goal with 1:31 left in the first period and now has a team-high nine goals this season. The Sharks have scored two goals or less in eight of Reimer’s starts this season.
The Sharks opened the scoring at the 13:39 mark of the second period. Brent Burns took control of the puck just inside the blue line and sent it to Logan Couture, who redirected it through his legs to Rudolfs Balcers near the slot. Balcers then fired a shot that glanced off Meier’s stick and past Marc-Andre Fleury with a 1-0 Sharks lead. Meier now has points in five of eight games since he and six other Sharks players returned from the NHL’s COVID Protocol on Nov. 12. The Sharks placed Evander Kane on waivers Sunday. The other 31 NHL teams now have until 11 a.m. (PT) on Monday to claim Kane and add him to their roster. If Kane clears waivers, which See Sharks, Page B8
