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ByJonWilner BayAreaNewsGroup LOS ANGELES No player on Stanford's roster covered a shorter distance to join the pro- gram than linebacker Kevin An- derson. No player took a greater leap of faith. The Palo Alto High School product pledged his allegiance to Stanford in the late winter of 2010, during his junior year and before any other continu- ing member of the current team. (Safety Dallas Lloyd committed before Anderson but left for a two-year church mission.) At the time, the Cardinal was coming off a trip to the Sun Bowl. It was more rising curi- osity than fledgling powerhouse and had a hard-driving coach with a preference for khaki. "I didn't know what to expect, really," Anderson said. "I knew it was a team on the rise. But it's hard for a team that hadn't been to the Rose Bowl since 2000 ... it's hard to say I expected to get there three (times)." No one could have envisioned Stanford, which had been to one bowl game in the previous eight seasons, transforming into a Rose Bowl regular — a program that would make three trips to Pasadena in a four-year span. Only a handful of schools have accomplished the feat in the modern era, and most an- swer to the nickname Buckeyes, Wolverines and Trojans. "No one is satisfied to be good," Anderson added. "To maintain being good, you have to change and adapt and always try to be better." Each of Stanford's trips to Pasadena has followed a differ- ent trajectory. The first, in the 2012 season, came out of nowhere: The An- drew Luck-less Cardinal suf- fered two early losses, changed quarterbacks in Week 9 and got hot — searingly so — in Novem- ber. The second, in 2013, car- ried a tinge of disappointment. Viewed as a national title con- tender early in the season, Stan- ford stumbled late and dropped out of the race. The third trip to Pasadena — this one — falls between major surprise and mild disappoint- ment. The Rose Bowl was consid- ered a possible landing spot for the Cardinal before the season, looked wholly out of reach fol- lowing the Week 1 loss to North- western, then came back into fo- ROSE BOWL Stanfordmakeslatest returntoPasadena The Cardinal play in 'Granddaddy of Them All' for 3rd time in 4 years, facing Iowa MARCIOJOSESANCHEZ—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey (5) is the center of both teams' attention when Stanford's Heisman Trophy finalist makes his Rose Bowl debut Friday against Iowa. ASSOCIATED PRESS Stanford head coach David Shaw speaks during a news conference for the Rose Bowl on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Stanford and Iowa are scheduled to play on New Year's Day. By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group SANTA CLARA Jarryd Hayne's first NFL season — heck, his first season of any football — comes to a close Sunday with him fully optimistic about his future. The former Australian rugby- league star is coming off his first career start, and whether he re- mains in that role for the San Francisco 49ers' finale against the St. Louis Rams, it at least will afford more experience in his highly scrutinized career switch. "There's a whole bunch of things I've improved on," Hayne said Thursday. "I guess over time, I'm going to get better, and I'm excited for the future, because I'm still learning and still developing." Hayne's preseason showing led to him returning punts in the 49ers' first six games, and af- ter spending nearly two months on the practice squad, he re- turned to the roster last week- end as the surprise starter in Sunday's 32-17 loss at Detroit. Upon rejoining the 53-man roster, Hayne signed a three- year, minimum-salary contract that keeps his rights under the 49ers' control through 2017. What does that future hold? "I'm not too sure," Hayne said. "You obviously have to wait and see, and take it one day at a time." Offensive coordinator Geep Chryst cautioned against label- ing Hayne as a third-down back, possession receiver or special- teams maven. "All those labels we want to define him," Chryst said, "but he's kind of an outlier in that he can carry the ball, he can catch the ball, he can run. We'll have to wait and see where it goes." Short-yardage specialist Ken- NFL Haynelookstofuturea errookieyear 49ers running back optimistic a er first season in league ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne is stopped by Detroit Lions defensive end Darryl Tapp (52) during the first half of a game Dec. 27. ROSEBOWLGAME Friday: Stanford vs. Iowa, 2p.m., TV on ESPN. TUNEIN Staff Reports REDDING The Mercy Warriors girls' and boys' basketball teams each took wins Wednesday and early Thursday at the Liberty Christian tournament. MERCY 82, QUINCY 76 The boys' team went up early against the Quincy Trojans on Wednesday, finishing the first period with a 20-9 lead, and held on for a close win despite a strong final quarter from the Trojans. "Today was a complete oppo- site of (Tuesday's) offensive per- formance," coach Steve Shella- barger said. "Everyone contrib- uted to the win." Leading the way for the War- riors was Teddy Ranberg with 22 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Nick Ornelas put up 19 point, six rebounds, 10 assists and five steals; Marcus Kuchle had 13 points, 14 rebounds and three as- sists; Junior Grace had 13 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal and Travis Gorden had 12 points, seven rebounds and an as- sist. "If we can continue to play at this level we will be very compet- itive in every game," Shellabarger said. With the win, the Warriors (8-1) were scheduled to play the Weed Cougars (2-7) in the consolation fi- nal match at 1 p.m. Thursday. Due to early holiday deadlines, cover- age from that game will be pub- lished in a later edition. MERCY 53, LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 30 The Lady Warriors were rotten guests Thursday morning, beat- ing the host Liberty Christian Pa- triots in a blowout at the Patriots' tournament. The Warriors controlled the game from the start with a 15-3 first-period lead and going up 27- 10 by the half. It was more of the BASKETBALL Mercy boys, girls take wins at tourney Ranberg leads Warriors with 22 points, 10 boards By Jimmy Durkin Bay Area News Group ALAMEDA The Oakland Raid- ers defense experienced a youth moment throughout this season, which concludes Sunday in Kan- sas City. Some of that was by necessity after Justin Tuck's season-ending pectoral injury and Aldon Smith's yearlong suspension. Some has been performance-based, such as Curtis Lofton ceding most of his inside linebacker snaps recently to rookie Ben Heeney. It's added up to a defense that appeared to be the Raiders' weak- ness early in the year becoming its strength over the season's fi- nal month. "I think it's huge for us as an organization to understand that there are a lot of ways to win a game," Del Rio said. "We talk about complementary football and you'd like to be crisp in all three, but the bottom line is as long as you keep fighting, you have a chance. You can keep your- self in games. I feel like we've done some of that with our de- fense here over the last month or NFL ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, bottom right, loses a fumble as he is tackled by Oakland Raiders defensive back Nate Allen (20) earlier this season. Young Raiders defense looks to improve more in finale BASKETBALL PAGE 2 ROSE PAGE 2 49ERS PAGE 2 RAIDERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, January 1, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1