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CRAIGRUTTLE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney holds up the jersey for the Houston Texans first pick in the 2014NFL Dra with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday in New York. ByBarryWilner APProFootballWriter NEW YORK For nearly three years, Jadeveon Clowney couldn't wait to get to the NFL, and the league was just as eager to add the player some called the best defensive prospect in a decade. No surprise: Clowney is the Tex- ans' man. But Thursday's first pick of the 2014 NFL draft didn't come without some intrigue about how it would all turn out. There had been criticism of Clowney's work ethic last season and questions about whether the Texans would hold or trade the No. 1 slot. "I just been proving a lot of people wrong throughout my life," Clowney said. "Growing up, I grew up hard. I always said I'm going to do something great. Hopefully, I'm going to be a Hall of Famer one day." Houston will take that. This draft's other big name, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, sat with a sullen look on his face until Cleveland made its third trade of the round and grabbed the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner at No. 22. To rousing cheers and chants of "Johnny, Johnny," Manziel smiled widely as he walked onto the Radio City Music Hall stage. "If you call it a slide, I wouldn't call it that at all," he said. "I was drafted in the first round of the NFL draft." Manziel's wait added plenty of suspense nearly three hours after the Texans took their time selecting Clowney. Rarely does a team not re- veal the top overall choice until it is announced, and there was wide spec- ulation the Texans had soured on the defensive end, whose junior season at South Carolina was accompanied by criticism he played it safe to stay healthy for the pros. After Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the pick, fans filling Radio City Music Hall to capacity applauded Clowney as he held up his index fin- ger, his eyes moist, a relieved look on his face. Just like the 30 prospects on hand, the fans were extra eager to see who would wind up where after the draft was pushed back from late April because the theater was unavailable. NFL DRAFT TexanspickClowneyatNo.1 Manziel goes to Browns with No. 22 selection a er lengthy wait Staff Report CORNING The Corning High Lady Cardinals beat visiting Lassen 60- 25 in a dual meet Wednesday. Jessica Beckley won the 100 me- ters (13.62 seconds), 200 (28.43) and long jump (11 feet, 7 inches). Leonor Reyes won the 800 with a time of 3:23.10. Grace Mora ran the 100 hurdles in 21.09 for the win and was first in the high jump, clearing 4-8. Heather Hogan won the shot put with a mark of 30-1. Sara Savocchio took first in the discus (77-9). TRACK AND FIELD Lady Cards dash past Lassen in dual meet Staff Report RED BLUFF Sports physicals for Red Bluff and Mercy High School students who plan to participate in competitive sports, athletic teams and cheerleading in the 2014-15 school year will be offered Satur- day, May 17. The physicals will be held in the Red Bluff High School cafeteria. Mercy students should arrive at 9:20 a.m. Incoming Red Bluff students and students new to the school should arrive at 9:30 a.m. For returning Red Bluff stu- dents, those with last names be- ginning with A-M should arrive at 10 a.m. and the rest of the alphabet should arrive at 10:30 a.m. If a student is not able to attend this physical examination, the stu- dent will need to see their own phy- sician for medical clearance before being able to participate in a sport. If a student has an illness or con- dition such as a heart condition, di- abetes, seizure disorder, absence of a kidney or loss of vision in one eye clearance will be required by a student's own physician. Those choosing to have a stu- dent seen by their own physician should contact the Red Bluff High School nurse's office to obtain the necessary sports physical form for the doctor to complete. On the day of the sports phys- ical students should wear a shirt and shorts. A$10cashdonationisrequested. For more information or ques- tions contact the Red Bluff High School nurse's office at 529-8722. PREP SPORTS Physicals set May 17 for RB, Mercy athletes LeBron James scored 22 points, Chris Bosh added 18 and the Miami Heat took a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Confer- ence semifinal series by beat- ing the Brooklyn Nets 94-82 on Thursday night. NBA PLAYOFFS Halfwaythere:Heat top Nets in Game 2 FULLSTORYONPAGEB2 The Gary Burton Invitational is at noon at Corning. In so ball action Red Bluff is at Shasta, Corning at Yreka, Liberty Christian at Los Molinos and Mercy at Redding Christian. All games are at 4p.m. TODAY'S PREP SCHEDULE Corning hosts track and field invitational The last day of the regular season sees Shasta visiting Red Bluff at 7p.m. with the Sac River League title on the line. Corning visits Yreka at 5 p.m. and Mercy is at Redding Christian at 4p.m. PREP BASEBALL SCHEDULE Red Bluff hosts Shasta with league title on line By Josh Dubow The Associated Press ALAMEDA Oakland Raiders coach Dennis Allen knows first- hand how much impact a rookie pass rusher can have on a de- fense. Allen has set the bar high for fifth overall pick Khalil Mack, hoping he can do for the Raid- ers what Von Miller did in Den- ver three years ago when Allen was coordinator. "The thing that really was at- tractive about Khalil Mack was the fact that he understands how to rush the passer and he under- stands how to rush the passer with power," Allen said. "I see a lot of similarities between he and Von Miller." The Raiders can only hope Mack turns out to be as produc- tive as Miller, who had 30 sacks and 54 quarterback hurries in his first two seasons. Mack went from mostly an un- known linebacker toiling in the Mid-American Conference to a surefire top 10 pick with a stel- lar senior season in which he recorded 10½ sacks and put to- gether a personal highlight reel in one game against Ohio State. He had nine tackles, 2½ sacks and an interception return for a touchdown in a loss to the Buck- eyes that showed he could domi- nate top-flight talent as well as he dominated his conference. "The guy has the size, he has the length, he's got speed," Raiders general manager Reg- gie McKenzie said. "He's a play- maker. We'll find a way to put him on the field and get some produc- tion out of him. That Ohio State game was just the tip of the ice- berg." The Raiders targeted Mack early in the draft process and were ecstatic when he was still on the board at fifth overall, lead- ing to no debate in the draft room about which player to select or whether to trade down. Mack will fit in immediately as a starter at linebacker and offers flexibility as a pass rusher who is adept at blitzing as well as lining up as an end. He will team with free-agent acquisitions Justin Tuck, La- Marr Woodley and Antonio Smith on an overhauled defen- sive front that the Raiders hope will help improve a defense that allowed the second-most points per game (28.3) in franchise his- tory. "He's going to obviously have a big role in what we're going to do and he'll be a guy that we're go- ing to use to send after the quar- terback in a variety of different ways," Allen said. Mack won the Jack Lambert Award and finished second to Al- abama's C.J. Mosley in the But- kus Award voting — both hon- oring the nation's top lineback- ers. He set a conference record with 16 career forced fumbles. His 75 career tackles for a loss were the most at the NCAA level since 2000. At 6-foot-2 and 251 pounds, Mack is touted to have the speed, strength and versatility to play any linebacker position. At the NFL combine in February, Mack topped linebacker prospects in four of six categories: the 40- yard dash (4.65 seconds), 20- yard shuttle (4.18 seconds), ver- tical jump (40 inches) and broad jump (128 inches). Mack said he believed he was the best defensive player in the draft. "I think that I am, but even then I'm at the point right now where I'm tired of talking and I want to go out and start proving a little bit of this stuff everybody's been talking about," he said. "I can't wait. I cannot wait." McKenzie has been unable to draft a star in two years at the helm in Oakland and is under se- vere pressure to bring in impact players as part of a rebuilding ef- fort after the team posted back- to-back four-win seasons in his first two years. McKenzie spent much of the offseason upgrading the roster with veteran free agent signings and a trade for quarterback Matt Schaub. But with most of those additions at least 29 years old and likely on the downside of their ca- reers, Mack is expected to be one of the major building blocks in ending a 10-year playoff drought. Oakland also has its own picks high in rounds two, three and four and three seventh-round picks. The Raiders traded this year's fifth-round choice for quar- terback Matt Flynn, who was re- leased last season. NFL DRAFT RAIDERS GET MACK WITH FIFTH PICK Standout linebacker out of Mid-American Conference will fit in immediately as starter CRAIG RUTTLE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack (right) poses for photos with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a er being selected by the Oakland Raiders as the fi h pick in the first round of the 2014NFL Dra on Thursday in New York. More inside: For a story on the 49ers and the dra , see page B2 The photocopy machines churning out the ballots for eastern Ukraine's sovereignty referendum have been clatter- ing around the clock for days. Even the powerful Vladimir Putin can't stop them. UKRAINE Pro-Russia insurgents to hold vote in the east FULL STORY ON PAGE B4 TRACK PAGE 2 DRAFT PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, May 9, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1