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Monday, December 20, 2021 SECTION B Paul Farmer . Sports Editor . 427.6926

Garoppolo strong, Kittle, Bosa dominate in win

DieteR KuRtenbach

THE MERCURY NEWS

The Niners welcomed an inferior team to Levi’s Stadium Sunday and did what a playoff team should do: They dominated them.

It wasn’t a full 60-minute beat-down, but it was pretty close. San Francisco’s 31-13 win was its best performance since Weeks 10 and 11, which re-established the Niners as a playoff team.

The Week 15 win against the Falcons in all likelihood punched the Niners’ ticket to the postseason with three games to play.

Here were the studs and duds of the Niners’ eighth win of the season:

ANALYSIS

Studs

NICK BOSA

In a truly dominating performance on the defensive line, Bosa had a sack and a forced fumble, recovered by the 49ers. The stat sheet wasn’t filled, but the Falcons’ offensive line stood no chance against him. Bosa’s constant pressure on Matt Ryan left the Atlanta offense in shambles.

Atlanta couldn’t dedicate enough players to stop Bosa, so they decided to hold by design, hoping the referees wouldn’t flag them.

More often than not, they didn’t. Good work if you can get away with it.

And it was no coincidence that when Bosa exited to be evaluated for a concussion (he was cleared and returned) and the Niners kept him on the bench save for third down in the second half, Atlanta started moving the ball a bit.

Bosa is playing the best football of his young career right now and is a viable Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

GEORGE KITTLE

It wasn’t simply the catches or the yards – it was the way that Kittle required three, four, sometimes even five Falcons players to bring him down when he had the ball in his hands.

If you want to talk about establishing a tone for the game, Kittle did it on Sunday.

Over his last three games, Kittle has averaged more than 140 yards. He, too, is playing arguably the best football of his career at the exact right time.

TRENT WILLIAMS

The Niners’ left tackle was absolutely rag-dolling whomever Atlanta put in front of him Sunday.

How is this guy eighth in Pro Bowl voting? Williams is the best tackle in the game right now. Get it together, people.

DEEBO SAMUEL

Not only is he the only Niners running back who can get to the outside, but he also reemerged as a receiving threat in this game, catching a 30-yard pass to spark the Niners’ scoring drive to close the first half.

He followed that play with a 10-yard touchdown run from the backfield.

The Niners’ offense is at its best when it is featuring Samuel in a variety of ways. That was on full display Sunday.

JEFF WILSON JR.

He had his first touchdown of the season and his first 100-yard game of the season. Wilson showed more burst than we’ve seen from him all season on Sunday.

When Mitchell returns, the Niners have a dangerous inside-outside threat. Plus Samuel in the backfield? My goodness, that could be fun.

JIMMY GAROPPOLO Credit where it’s due:

See Win, Page B8

Tribune Content Agency file

Columbus Blue Jackets center Jack Roslovic shoots the puck to score a goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender Adin Hill during the third period of the NHL game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio Dec. 5.

NHL postpones two Sharks games over Covid travel concerns

tRibune content agency

SAN JOSE — Two Sharks home games this week against Canadianbased teams were among 12 postponed by the NHL on Sunday as the league halted all cross-border travel prior to Christmas over increasing Covidrelated concerns.

In a joint announcement with NHL Players’ Association, the league said all games between and American and Canadian-based teams between Monday and Thursday would be rescheduled, “due to the concern about cross-border travel and, given the fluid nature of federal travel restrictions.”

The Sharks were slated to play the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday and the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at SAP Center in their final two games before the Christmas break that runs between Dec. 24 and 26.

San Jose’s next scheduled game is Dec. 27 in Anaheim against the Ducks. The Sharks (15-14-1) last played on Thursday, a 5-2 home loss to the Canucks.

Entering Sunday, the Canucks and Oilers had a combined 11 players and two coaches in the league’s Covid protocol, joining over 90 other players league-wide. The Sharks, as of Sunday afternoon, did not have anyone in protocol.

A Sharks spokesman said anyone with tickets to either postponed game should hold onto them until the games have been rescheduled.

As of Sunday afternoon, 39 NHL games have been postponed as the Detroit Red Wings became the sixth NHL team to shut down their schedule until after Christmas. Boston and Nashville did the same on Saturday, joining Calgary, Colorado, and Florida in that regard.

Despite a sharp league-wide increase in positive Covid test results among players, coaches, and hockey staff, the joint announcement also stated that the 2021-22 regular-season schedule would continue.

The league and NHLPA said, “there have been a low number of positive cases that have resulted in concerning symptoms or serious illness. Therefore, the NHLPA’s and NHL’s medical experts have determined that, with virtually all Players and Club hockey staff fully vaccinated, the need to temporarily shut down individual teams should continue to be made on a case-by-case basis.”

The league, in its statement, did not say when the 12 postponed games

See Sharks, Page B8

Shaun White struggles again in Olympic snowboard qualifier

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An American halfpipe snowboarder essentially punched his ticket to the 2022 Beijing Olympics on a historic afternoon at Sunday’s qualifier in Copper Mountain, Colo.

It wasn’t Shaun White.

The three-time gold medalist continued to underwhelm in the 2021-22 season and is down to one remaining qualifier, Jan. 6-8 at Mammoth Mountain. It doesn’t mean he won’t make the three- or fourman U.S. team. But more and more, it looks like the 35-year-old icon from Carlsbad will need a discretionary pick from U.S. Ski & Snowboard to get to Beijing.

White finished seventh at the Dew Tour event in Copper Mountain. He was eighth two weeks ago on this same halfpipe at the U.S. Grand Prix.

Fellow American Taylor Gold was second, giving him the podium finish that all but secures an Olympic spot. Up to two Americans make the team if they’re in the top six of the world halfpipe rankings on Wednesday (Gold is currently the highest at No. 9). The remaining spots are filled by anyone with a podium finish in the four qualifiers (and so far only Gold has one), plus at least one discretionary pick by the federation.

White’s day was a mixture of bad fortune and sloppy riding. He snapped a binding on his board in practice runs, replaced it, then snapped it again during his first run, resulting in a late crash. He slid out of his first landing on his second run, dropping to ninth place in the 10-man final.

That left one run, which was clean despite a few uncharacteristic bobbles. His score of 82.00 moved him up only two places.

In an interview that aired Wednesday on NBC’s “Today,” White spoke like a man coming to grips with the realities of getting old in a young man’s sport. As recently as October, he said he “wouldn’t count out” 2026.

“This is, I think, my last run,” White told “Today” of his quest for a fifth Winter Games. “It’s hard to talk about, because my whole life I’ve kind of been looked at as somewhat superhuman because I do these things (in the halfpipe). . . . I’ve prided myself on being that individual, and, man, realizing and

RHS boys roll past Wood for Curry hoops tourney title

Daily Republic staff

SPORTS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

DAVIS — Jerel Victor poured in 26 points, hitting 6-of-7 3-point attempts, and the Rodriguez High boys basketball team stampeded past Monticello Empire League rival Will C. Wood, 55-30, to win the Les Curry Invitational championship, Saturday night.

Tournament MVP Leroy Bryant added nine points, five rebounds and three assists, while Joe Gould had seven points, five rebounds and five assists with Gould and Victor also making the all-tournament team.

The Mustangs led 21-8 after the first quarter and 35-13 at the half and cruised home from there.

Krishna Clay led Wood (8-2) with 12 points, while Remy Hardin had eight with both being named to the all-tournament team.

“Rodriguez came out strong and forced us into bad decisions as we couldn’t make a shot in the first half,” Wildcats coach Mark Wudel said. “If we were on the beach, we wouldn’t have been able to hit the water tonight. We settled down in the second half but the lead was too much to overcome. We learned a lot tonight and will get back at practice to correct the problems. This will only make us better.”

Rodriguez 70, Davis 58: At Davis on Friday, the Mustangs knocked off the Les Curry Invitational hosts behind 24 points, seven steals, five rebounds and five assists from Bryant, 17 points and five steals from Victor, and eight points, six rebounds and two blocks from Cameron Brewer.

Rodriguez 56, Roseville 54: At Davis on Thursday, the Mustangs had their toughest test in the Les Curry Invitational with Bryant providing 14 points, eight rebounds and seven steals, Oliver Wiliams 12 points, five rebounds and one steal, and Gianni Miles nine points and four rebounds.

Vacaville Christian 50, Delta 26: At Vacaville on Saturday in the championship game of their own Christmas Classic, the balanced Falcons outscored the Saints in all four quarters en route to the victory.

Vacaville Christian (6-1) got nine points and three steals from Thomas Lane; nine points and six rebounds from Mehki Dawson; eight points and eight rebounds from John Elliott; eight points, six rebounds and four steals from Rohan Aujla; six points, three steals from tournament MVP Garrett Kuch; five points, two rebounds and two steals from Landon Graves; and five assists from Tanner Tripp.

“Overall, the team played well balanced defensive and offensive,” coach David Kuch said.

Prep wrestling Green pins his way to tourney title for Falcons

VACAVILLE — Jimmy Green pinned all four of his opponents to win the 220-pound wrestling title in leading the efforts of Fairfield High at the Brett Fafard Memorial Wildcat Invitational, Saturday.

One of Green’s pins was in 8 seconds, another in 22 seconds.

Eduardo Gonzalez took second at 160, going 3-1 with one pin, while Hezekiah Glasper was third at 170, going 2-2 with two pins.

The Falcons open Monticello Empire League competition at Wood against the Wildcats and Vacaville on Jan. 5.

Prep girls soccer Royals have no answer for Edison in 2-1 loss

FAIRFIELD — The Armijo High girls soccer team got the equalizer from Mia Ponce in the 42nd minute but didn’t have an answer for a second-half goal by Edison of Stockton as the Vikings earned a 2-1 victory at Brownlee Field, Friday.

“Overall, there was great possession by our team, and we looked strong,” said Royals coach Regina McGee, who praised the “great game” played