Friday, January 30, 2015

Ohio Defeats Oregon in First Championship Game

Jake Smith
Staff Writer

 The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Oregon Ducks 42-20 in the first national championship of the college football playoffs. Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott dominated the show, rushing for 246 yards on thirty-six attempts with four touchdowns. The Ducks were initially able to limit Elliott, preventing him from creating big plays but he started to break loose in the second quarter. Elliott was able to gash Oregon’s defense and finished the night averaging seven yards per carry. Third string quarterback Cardale Jones was just as effective, plowing through defenders to gain yards after contact and using his impressive arm strength to create explosive plays. Jones completed sixteen of his twenty-three passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. Jones also added 38 yards through the ground and battered Duck defenders out of his path. The Buckeyes appeared invincible on offense, punting the ball only three times all game but were hampered by turnovers. Cardale Jones had two turnovers on the night and Ohio State had three lost fumbles. Oregon were unable to capitalize on the miscues however, scoring only one touchdown off of the giveaways.
 Oregon’s Marcus Mariota had an impressive game as well, completing twenty-four of his thirty-seven passes for 333 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His lone interception came too late to make an impact. Oregon lacked the run game to complement Mariota and Ohio State was able to bury into third and long situations. The Ducks were able to muster a mere 132 yards on the ground and were burdened by penalties, being flagged 10 times for 76 yards. Their defense was unable to stop Ohio State all night, allowing 538 yards. The score masked the poor defensive performance with turnovers by Ohio State coming in important situations as Ohio State marched downfield.
 The victory is big for Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes but leaves questions regarding the quarterback future for the team. Braxton Miller was a Heisman contender in his first two seasons but was sidelined with a shoulder injury for the year. Backup J.T. Barrett impressed as his replacement and had a great season before an ankle injury put him out of action for the Big Ten championship game. Third-string Cardale Jones picked up where Barrett left off and led the Buckeyes to a championship win. With all three quarterbacks undecided in their future, it will be interesting to see who stays and goes.

Girls Basketball Starts a Promising Season

Karli Burns
Staff Writer

 The New Hope-Solebury High School Girls’ Varsity basketball team is off to a great start this year with a record of 11-2 so far. The team consists of two seniors, Lexi Morse and Annie Behre; 4 juniors, Karli Burns, Maggie Dougherty, Bailey Jaronski, and Toni Suler, and lastly, sophomores, Bella Devito and Kelly Hyland. The team has improved tremendously since last year through their hard work and dedication to the sport.
 The girls’ basketball team so far has only two losses. One against Nazareth Academy where the score was 34-33 and another against Delaware Christian Academy where the score was 37-34.
 “Our team plays extremely hard and never goes down without a fight. Both games we lost were games we could have won. Our team’s main focus is defense, and it is something we execute very well. I believe our defense is one of the strongest in the league,” said Captain Lexi Morse.
 The team recently won against one of their rivals, Christopher Dock, who they lost to last year.
 “It was a great feeling to finally win against Dock this year. We lost to them by three points last year and that was tough. This year our first time playing them we won by 5. It wasn’t our best game but we worked together to pull out the win,” said Captain Annie Behre.
 Many agree that this is a promising year for the girls’ basketball team. The team has many girls that bring forth important and diverse skill sets that are necessary for success. The team has a “deep” bench, meaning their subs are just as good as the girl they are subbing in for, an advantage many teams do not have.
 Everyone should come out and support the girls’ team at their next home game and see for themselves how much they have improved!