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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2018)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com SPORTS IN BRIEF Reddick’s HR, rookie’s poise help Astros beat Seattle SEATTLE — Houston man- ager A.J. Hinch knows his pitch- ing staff can throw good fastballs. However, it is the change-of-di- rection pitches that bring a smile to his face. Rookie left-hander Fram- ber Valdez won in his big-league debut, and Josh Reddick hom- ered to give the Astros the lead for good as they beat the Seattle Mar- iners 3-2 on Tuesday night. Reddick’s tiebreaking home run in the fourth inning put the Astros ahead 2-1, and Yuli Gurriel added an RBI single in the sixth for a two-run lead. Valdez, called up from Tri- ple-A Fresno earlier in the Tues- day, gave the ballclub a lift with his four-plus innings of one-run ball in relief of Brad Peacock. Val- dez (1-0) came on at the end of the second inning with two on and two out, and threw two consecu- tive curve balls to Dee Gordon for strikes, eventually getting out of the jam. Oregon to play Georgia in 2022 season opener in Atlanta ATLANTA — Oregon and Georgia will meet for only the sec- ond time when the schools play in the 2022 season opener at Mer- cedes-Benz Stadium. The teams were announced on Tuesday to play in the annual Chick-fil-A Kickoff game on Sept. 3, 2022. Oregon will become the second Pac-12 team to play in the game. Washington will play Auburn on Sept. 1 in this year’s opener. Georgia beat Oregon 27-16 in Athens in 1977, the only previous meeting between the teams. Georgia is scheduled to play Virginia in the 2020 opener in Atlanta. The Bulldogs lost to Boise State in 2011 and beat North Carolina in 2016 in their previous appearances in the kickoff game. Seattle Storm’s Stewart is AP Player of the Year NEW YORK — Breanna Stewart has taken her game to a new level this year to lead Seattle to the top spot in the league. Her efforts earned her Asso- ciated Press WNBA Player of the Year honors on Tuesday. The award was chosen by the 14-mem- ber media panel that votes for the weekly poll. Stewart averaged 21.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and shot 52.9 percent from the field this season to help the Storm earn a bye until the semi- finals of the playoffs. She received 12 of the 14 votes with Liz Cam- bage earning the other two. Giants receiver Cruz retires, joins ESPN EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Former New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz has retired. In making the announcement Tuesday, the 31-year-old Cruz said he plans to join ESPN as an NFL analyst. Cruz will contribute to variety of shows and make his ESPN debut Wednesday. Cruz was a seven-year NFL veteran and a 2012 Pro Bowl selection. He joined the Giants in 2010 as an undrafted free agent out of Massachusetts. He had his first 1,000-yard season and caught a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in February 2012. — Associated Press SCOREBOARD PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY Volleyball — Knappa at Warrenton, 6 p.m.; Jewell at Columbia Christian, 6:30 p.m. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Seattle Seahawks punter Michael Dickson signs autographs for fans. Dickson and Janikowski emerge from Seahawks camp competition By TIM BOOTH Associated Press R ENTON, Wash. — There were so few competitions for starting roles when the Seattle Seahawks arrived for train- ing camp that the daily assessment of where things stood with the kicker and punter became a major topic. The competition ended as expected with veteran Sebastian Janikowski appearing to be a lock as Seattle’s kicker, beating out Jason Myers, and rookie Michael Dickson as the punter with Jon Ryan’s tenure coming to an end. So much for any drama. And for Ryan it meant the end for the longest-tenured Sea- hawks player. “First, let me say this: Jon Ryan has been a great Seahawk,” Carroll said. “We loved the time we spent together. He’s been here since the beginning, and I know everybody would understand that it’s a very difficult decision when you have to make one like this after all this time together. He was doing great. “Michael was just kicking out of this world and was doing the things that we had hoped he could do. ... It was the right time to help Jon get moving too. So he’s been a great AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Seattle Seahawks kicker Sebastian Jan- ikowski kicks as punter Jon Ryan holds during warmups before a preseason against the Indianapolis Colts. UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS • Seattle Seahawks at Minnesota Vikings • Friday, 5 p.m. player, been a great competitor, been a great team guy, community guy. We love him.” Dickson was expected to land the punter job from the moment he was selected in the fifth round by Seattle. The Seahawks didn’t invest a draft pick like that without want- ing Dickson to win the job. Ryan was kept around in case Dickson struggled or there was an injury, but Seattle was able to save money by letting go of the veteran and going with the rookie from Texas. “There’s just a lot of things we’re excited about with him and we’re excited to get it going,” Carroll said. “It’s good for him to feel the confidence in the program and that we’re behind him.” Dickson has been impressive in the first two preseason games, averaging 51.7 yards per kick, with better hang time and direc- tional control than what Ryan showed. Still, while Dickson was excited to win the job, finding out he had arrived with some bitter- sweet feelings about Ryan’s departure. “It was something that I was battling for every day, and I wanted to win the spot more than anything,” Dickson said. “But it was surprisingly more bittersweet than any- thing, just because Jon was such a great men- tor to me when he was here. He was probably one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. So, yeah, it was a little bittersweet. But I’m super excited.” AP playoff predictions: Tide, Tigers, Huskies and Wolverines son poll that will finish the season ranked: Boston College, Memphis, Utah. By RALPH D. RUSSO Associated Press The College Football Playoff has yet to produce a real surprise team. In four seasons, nine schools have reached the semifinals — and even the teams that came from outside the AP preseason Top 25 were traditional powers. The lowest-ranked team in the pre- season media poll to make the CFP was Oklahoma in 2015. The Sooners were 19th to start the season, mostly because they were coming off a dis- appointing season (8-5) and few knew how good Baker Mayfield would be. Clemson made the playoff that same year after starting the season ranked No. 12. The Tigers went 10-3 the season before, but Deshaun Wat- son was a sophomore coming off a knee injury, there was major turnover on defense and exactly what Dabo Swinney was building at Clemson had not yet been fully revealed. Washington was No. 14 going into the 2016 season before going on a playoff run. The Huskies were also coming off mediocre season (7-6), but there was definitely a sense Chris Petersen’s team was ready to take a significant step forward in year two of his tenure. Turns out it was even big- ger than expected. Last year, Georgia went from No. 15 to the CFP. The Bulldogs were 8-5 the season before, Kirby Smart’s first in Athens. The Bulldogs had an expe- rienced team in ‘17 that was favored to win the SEC East, and ended up being the second-best team in the country. So what does this small sample tell us? If you want to pick a playoff dark CONFERENCE WINNERS AP Photo/Rick Scuteri Washington running back Myles Gaskin runs against Penn State during the Fiesta Bowl. horse, look for a brand-name team ranked somewhere in the teens of the preseason poll. Maybe one with a tal- ented quarterback who still has some uncertainty attached to him. And with that, predictions for the 2018 college football season: TOP 25 Three teams in the AP preseason poll that will not finish the season ranked: No. 16 TCU, No. 20 Virginia Tech, No. 25 LSU. Three teams not in the AP presea- • American Athletic Conference: Memphis (West) over Temple (East). The last two teams to win the Amer- ican lost their coaches soon after. So where’s Mike Norvell going? • Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson (Atlantic) over Miami (Coastal). The Tigers are stacked and freshman quarterback Trevor Law- rence could give the offense an explo- siveness it was missing last year. • Big Ten: Michigan (East) over Wisconsin (West). Jim Harbaugh finally quiets his critics. • Big 12: Oklahoma (No. 1) over (West Virginia No. 2). The Big 12 is the most likely Power Five conference to provide an unexpected champion. There is little separation among the top six or seven teams but when in doubt, pick the Sooners. • Conference USA: Florida Atlan- tic (East) over Louisiana Tech (West). Lane Kiffin brings a second straight C-USA title to FAU. • Mid-American Conference: Ohio (East) over Northern Illinois (West). Ohio wins its first MAC title since 1968. • Mountain West: Boise State (Mountain) over San Diego State (West). Could be the Broncos best post-Chris Petersen team. • Pac-12: Washington (North) over Utah (South). The Huskies win their second Pac-12 title in three seasons, but the opener against Auburn could determine playoff hopes. • Southeastern Conference: Ala- bama (West) over Georgia (East). This time only the SEC champion makes the playoff. • Sun Belt: Arkansas State (West) over Troy (East). Red Wolves win the first Sun Belt championship game. HEISMAN TROPHY The favorites are running backs Bryce Love of Stanford and Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin, but the Heisman has become a quarterback’s award. Fifteen of the last 18 winners have been QBs. Feels like a season where a not-so-obvious player makes a run. Top five vote-getters: 1. Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon 2. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin. 3. Will Grier, QB, West Virginia. 4. Shea Patterson, QB, Michigan. 5. A.J. Dillon, RB, Boston College. NEW YEAR’S SIX/ COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF Cotton Bowl: Alabama (1) vs. Washington (4). Orange Bowl: Michigan (2) vs. Clemson (3). Sugar Bowl: Georgia (SEC) vs. Oklahoma (Big 12) Rose Bowl: Wisconsin (Big Ten) vs Oregon (Pac-12) Fiesta Bowl: Boise State (Group of Five) vs. Ohio State (at-large) Peach Bowl: West Virginia (at-large) vs. Miami (at-large) NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Clemson and Alabama make it four straight seasons meeting in the playoff. The Tigers even the series at two and win another national title.