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Monday BCSNational Championship — Auburn vs Oregon, 5:37 p.m., ESPN NBA — Rockets at Celtics, 4:30 p.m., NBATV NCAA— Notre Dame at Marquette, 4 p.m., ESPN2 NHL — Bruins at Penguins, 4:30 p.m., VERSUS Sports 1B Monday January 10, 2011 Cardinals win Shootout BCS: Defense won’t rest when Tigers, Ducks meet BCSNational Championship SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Steve Spurrier, the ball coach who knows a little about offense, said the game could wind up 60-55. Kirk Herbstreit, the TV analyst who knows a little about these teams, said defenses must bristle when they keep hearing about scores in the 55-53 range. The book- makers in Las Vegas, who don’t throw out their numbers just for fun, envision something more like 38-35. There’s a reason Auburn and Oregon are playing in the BCS national title game Monday, a reason the matchup has turned into a red-hot ticket. These are two newcomers to the championship scene, both with offenses that, almost literal- ly, never take a break. Auburn has Cam Newton, the Heis- man Trophy winner who led the Southeastern Conference in rushing, passer efficiency and scoring. Oregon has LaMichael James, the key to an offense that likes to snap the ball 9 to 11 seconds after the end of the previous play, and one that scores a nation-high 49.1 points a game. ‘‘We’re anticipating it being very quick, obviously, from the things that we’ve heard,’’ Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. ‘‘But we’re prepared for that.’’ Chizik and Oregon’s Chip Kelly are, quite possibly, the most obscure coaching duo to pace the sideline in a champi- onship game since the BCS began in 1999. Both are in their second seasons as head coach at their schools. Chizik is a former defensive coordinator at Auburn and Texas who came back to the Plains despite a 5-19 record at his first head-coaching job at Iowa State. Kelly was hand- picked by his predecessor, Mike Bellotti. After his first game as Oregon’s head coach, a 19-8 loss to Boise State to start 2009, Kelly famously cut a check to reimburse a season-tick- et holder who wrote him to complain about the performance. Chizik and Kelly are both success stories in their own Daily News photo by Rich Greene Corning’s Ryan Holland races to the basket, Saturday night, for an easy layup against Trinity. BOYS HOOPS Trinity 50 Corning 63 By RICHGREENE DN Sports Editor CORNING — Cardinals’ coach Bill Mache said he believes his team has a pretty good shot of winning if they score 60 points. His boys reached that magic mark Saturday night for the seventh time this season and for the seventh time they came away with a win. The Cardinals’ 63-50 win over Trinity also claimed the school’s third straight Corning Shootout champi- onship. Trinity’s superb scorer Justin Jeangerard still managed to collect 21 points on the night, but Cameron Nye charged with the task of covering him, didn’t make it easy. Nye also tired out Jeangerard on the Green Bay 21 Philadelphia 16 other end of the court, as the Corning senior put up 19 points of his own on his way to another All-Tournament selection. “Cameron made him work on both ends of the floor,” Mache said after the victory. Corning sprinted out to a 19-9 first quarter advantage on the Wolves and held onto a significant lead for most of the game. Trinity scratched their way back to 49-43 with a little under five minutes left in the game, but the Cardinals responded. First Tyler McIntyre broke the Trin- ity backcourt trap and nestled into the heart of the Wolves’ zone and sank a 15-foot jump shot. Then Nye used his speed to drive to the basket and climb the Cardinals’ lead back to 10 points. The Wolves wouldn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the way as Corning’s other All-Tournament selec- Baltimore 30 Kansas City 7 tion Anthony Monroe led the Cardinals down the stretch and in the paint on his way to a 17-point night. McIntyre and Holland both finished with 11 points, but more importantly helped Nye break Trinity’s trapping game with ease for most of the game. Trinity’s Luke Curran finished with 10 points. Jeangerard collected 12 rebounds to go along with his 21 points and was named to the All-Tournament team. Trinity’s Kenny Swaim also made the All-Tournament team, along with Willows’ Alex Alves, Central Valley’s Christian Spaschak, Anderson’s Jeff Catron and Orland’s Andrew Hutchens and Jose Huerta. The Cardinals close out their non- league schedule this week with a home game against Sutter on Tuesday and then a road trip to Marysville. “We want to continue to develop our bench,” Mache said. “Our bench was so important tonight.” Road teams strong on Wild-card weekend PHILADELPHIA (AP) New Orleans 36 Seattle 41 — You can put Aaron Rodgers in that elite quarter- back class. He’s got his first playoff victory. Rodgers threw three touchdown passes, seldom- used rookie James Starks ran for 123 yards and the Green Bay Packers beat Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles 21-16 in an NFC wild-card game Sunday. Rodgers had to watch from the sideline while Vick nearly led the Eagles back. But Tramon Williams inter- cepted Vick’s pass for Riley Cooper in the end zone with 33 seconds left to seal the win. The sixth-seeded Pack- ers (11-6) are heading to Atlanta (13-3) for a divi- sional playoff game next Saturday night. Rodgers patiently waited three years to become Green Bay’s starter and took over after Brett Favre’s messy departure before the 2008 season. He long ago made Packers fans forget about Favre, and now has punctu- ated his impressive resume with his first playoff win in two tries. It wasn’t Rodgers’ fault Green Bay lost 51-45 in overtime to Arizona last January. These aren’t the same Packers. This patch- work squad has 10 different starters, and a much stronger defense. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Coach Todd Haley kept telling his youthful Kansas City Chiefs that Bal- timore’s defense was the best they’d see all year. He was right. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and the rest of the battle-tested Ravens rattled the Chiefs into five turnovers and held their offense to 25 yards in the second half in a 30-7 playoff victory Sunday. Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes and Billy Cundiff kicked three field goals as the offense pounced on the scoring chances creat- ed by the Ravens’ smother- ing, veteran defense. Baltimore (13-4) broke open a close game with a touchdown and two field goals off turnovers in the second half. Kansas City (10-7), which set a club record with a six-game improvement to win the AFC West, now go into the NFL record book as the only team to lose seven postsea- son games in a row. The Ravens also shook off the family tragedy that Reed has dealt with since Friday morning, when the Pro Bowl safety’s brother apparently disappeared into the Mississippi River. Baltimore will hit the road again to play AFC North rival Pittsburgh on Saturday in the third matchup against the Steelers this season. SEATTLE (AP) — For a team that was the joke of the NFL playoffs, look who’s laughing now. Pete Carroll, Matt Has- selbeck and a Seattle team no one believed deserved to be in the postseason pulled off one of the biggest upsets with a 41-36 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints on Saturday. Hasselbeck threw four touchdown passes and Mar- shawn Lynch scored on an electrifying 67-yard run with 3:22 left, and the party was on at the NFL’s loudest sta- dium. The Seahawks (8-9) held a 34-20 early in the fourth quarter before Drew Brees looked ready to lead the Saints (11-6) on one of their patented comebacks. But Lynch broke about a half- dozen tackles for his TD to finish off the Saints. He took a second-down carry with less than four minutes to go and then the highlights began. He broke six tackles on the 67-yard run, tossing in a massive stiff arm to Tracy Porter. Hasselbeck, cleared to play just two days ago because of a hip injury, threw for 272 yards and his four TD passes set a playoff career high. The veteran quarterback threw two touchdown passes to tight end John Carlson in the first half. N.Y. Jets 17 Indianapolis 16 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nothing personal, Pey- ton. Rex Ryan and the New York Jets finally got the made-for-TV ending they wanted — they beat you. The coach who earlier this week made the game a coach vs. quarterback matchup needed a kicker to finally beat Manning. Nick Folk kicked a 32- yard field goal as time expired Saturday night, giv- ing the New York Jets a 17- 16 playoff victory over Indianapolis. With his main tormentor out of the way, New York (12-5) heads to New Eng- land for a third meeting next Sunday; they split dur- ing the season, but the Patri- ots won 45-3 at Foxbor- ough. The Colts (10-7) beat the Jets for the AFC title a year ago. But both defending conference champs were eliminated from the play- offs Saturday. New Orleans, which beat Indy in last Feb- ruary’s Super Bowl, lost at Seattle. It was a remarkable turn of emotions for the Colts, who thought they won it when Adam Vinatieri made a 50-yard field goal with 53 seconds to go. But Antonio Cromartie returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards and Mark Sanchez needed five plays to get the Jets into position for the winner. right but have spent the week puncturing the long-held theo- ry that the most intriguing characters in college sports often are the coaches. Neither has said much memorable in the weeklong build up to the game. After posing stiffly for the cameras in front of the crystal championship ball Sunday, the coaches headed into their final pregame news conferences. Asked for his opening statement, Kelly responded: ‘‘Game is tomorrow night. Let’s go play. Questions?’’ So much for insight. Auburn has been pummeled all sea- son with questions about Newton’s status, the result of a meandering investigation into allegations that his father was involved in a failed pay-for-play scheme during Newton’s recruitment to Mississippi State. The NCAA cleared Newton to play shortly before the SEC title game, and with the Tigers confident — at least for now — they won’t have to give back the crystal ball if they win it, the most notable thing to pass for controversy this week has been the debate over whether Auburn defensive lineman Nick Fairley is a cheap-shot artist. Fairley, the Lombardi Award winner as the nation’s best lineman, has brandished a reputation for playing very hard through the whistle, and sometimes beyond. How Oregon’s quick — but not huge — offensive line handles Fairley could dictate how well Oregon’s fast-paced offense runs. ‘‘He’s got speed, strength, technique,’’ Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said. ‘‘Basically, all the things you don’t want to see as an offensive guy lining up against him, he’s got.’’ James, who has averaged 152 yards and almost two touchdowns for an offense that has been held under 37 points only once all year, said he can tell when a defense is break- ing down. ‘‘You start seeing a lot of hands on hips, broken tackles, things like that,’’ he said. ‘‘You see them blitzing but not real- ly blitzing because they don’t have the energy.’’ Knowing Oregon will try to push the pace in this game, the way the Ducks have all year, Chizik said he would have a very specific conversation with officials before the game, urging them to enforce a rule that allows the defense time to make substitutions if the offense does. Kelly said it won’t make a difference, ‘‘because we don’t sub.’’ ‘‘When we want to play fast, we know the rules,’’ he said. ‘‘If we are trying to play at a fast tempo, we are not trying to See BCS, page 2B Tehama Tracker WRESTLING NorCal Championships Red Bluff’s Dillon Reid captured the 160-pound title at the NorCal Championships in Anderson, Saturday. Red Bluff finished ninth out of 52 schools at the two-day event with 132.5 points. Orland won the event with 225.5 points followed by Chico and Bella Vista. Corning was 26th with 52 points. Dan St. John finished second for Red Bluff at 112 pounds, falling to Bella Vista’s Josh Lazaro in the final. Red Bluff’s Jeff Skaggs was fourth at 215 pounds and Corning’s Erik Miranda was sixth at 215 pounds. The other weight winners were: 103, Jaxon Fitzgerald (Foothill); 119 Hermilo Esquivel (Orland); 125, Quinn Walker (Woodcreek); 130, Nick Morelli (Paradise); 135, Drew Smith (Damonte); 140, Mike Macuk (Crater); 145, Austin Branum (Del Oro); 152, Kevin Burrage (Del Oro); 171, (Cody Linton); 189, Ross Longnecker (Chico); 215, Austin Lobsinger (West Valley); 285, Luke Peterson (Lassen). BOYS HOOPS Mercy 58 University Prep 41 Mercy evened their Tri-Cities League record out to 1-1, Friday night, with a 58-41 road win at University Prep. The Warriors had no trouble breaking the Panthers full court pressure and Mitchell Lopez led Mercy with 25 points. Jeremie Jones cleaned up the boards with 16 rebounds, including five offensive boards and also scored eight points. Isaac Williams contributed eight points and eight rebounds. “Well balanced scoring is good to see,” coach Steve Shellabarger said.