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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Maldonado,
White homer
as Astros beat
Mariners 10-7
Brittany Israel/For The Daily Astorian
Left to right: Alivia Rickenbach (on Scatty), Olivia Rilatos (on Logan), Haylee Skipper (on Bluzee), Angelina Linares (on Shay is
Good), Tony Sanchez, Allison Keeling (with That’s Your Story).
Clatsop riders head for state fair
The Daily Astorian
T
he Clatsop County state equestrian
team hits the road Thursday, to take part
in the state fair this weekend in Salem.
Six students and their animals will take
part — Allison Keeling, Angelina Linares,
Alivia Rickenbach, Olivia Rilatos, Tony San-
chez and Haylee Skipper.
The state fair’s equestrian competition fea-
tures an exhibition of riding skills and equine
instincts. Top competitors from 4-H, FFA and
open class vie for ribbons.
Keeling and her horse, “That’s Your
Story,” have been in 4-H three years, but this
will be her first trip to state. Her favorite mem-
ory: “Competing in the hunt seat over fences
class and winning high point.”
Linares and “Shay is Good” have been
involved in 4-H for four years. This is her sec-
ond visit to state. Her favorite memory: she
“enjoyed the award ceremony, even though
there were a lot of tears.”
Rickenbach and her horse “Scatty” have
spent five years in 4-H, but this will be her
first time at the state fair. Her favorite mem-
ory involves “having fun with everyone and
playing games on the horses, especially musi-
cal freestyle.”
Rilatos and “Logan” are five-year veter-
ans of the 4-H. She is making her second trip
to state. Her favorite memory: “Winning the
Jamie Nelson Award, which is the outstanding
4-H horse member award.”
Sanchez has been in 4-H three years with
his horse “Shay is Good.” It’s his first time to
state. His favorite memory was “when Haylee
Skipper helped me with my western pattern.”
Skipper, with her horse “Bluzee,” is an
eight-year veteran of 4-H, and is going to state
for the third time. Her favorite memory: “Get-
ting grand champion in showmanship.”
Ex-Vikings Johnson, Stephen finding fit with Seahawks
By CURTIS CRABTREE
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — As the Sea-
hawks try to keep their defense play-
ing at its traditionally high level
despite the absence of five former
Pro Bowl selections, a pair of vet-
eran additions from Minnesota along
the defensive line could help steady
the ship.
Seattle added former Vikings
defensive tackles Tom Johnson and
Shamar Stephen as veteran pieces
along the defensive front on consec-
utive days in March. While Johnson
and Stephen don’t directly replace
Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, Rich-
ard Sherman or Kam Chancellor,
they are experienced veterans that
played on a Vikings defense that was
among the league’s best last season.
Johnson and Stephen get a chance to
return to Minnesota to face their for-
mer team in Seattle’s third preseason
game Friday night.
“This was the place that kind of
wanted both of us,” Johnson said. “I
ended up telling him I was going to
come here and shortly after he made
the decision to come out. It was a
great deal.”
Johnson — one of the few play-
ers still in the NFL to have played
in NFL Europe — brings the ability
to rush the passer from the interior.
He posted a career-high 6.5 sacks
with Minnesota in 2014 before net-
ting just two in each of the last two
seasons.
“I wish we found him six or seven
years ago,” coach Pete Carroll said
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
• Seattle Seahawks
at Minnesota Vikings
• Friday, 5 p.m.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
From left, defensive tackles Jarran Reed and Tom Johnson take part
in an agility drill.
of Johnson. “He’s one of our guys.
He’s got the chip on his shoulder and
he shows it day in and day out by the
way he approaches his work. ... He’s
fantastic and we love the fact that
he’s in that room (and) got a lot of
young guys with him. He’s got a fan-
tastic influence on those guys.”
Stephen is more of a space-eat-
ing force that the Seahawks hope can
help get the team’s run defense back
on track after it had some uncharac-
teristic struggles last season. After
three straight seasons in the top five
against the run, the Seahawks fell to
19th last year, allowing an average of
114 yards per game on the ground.
“Shamar is big, thick, studly, big
strong hands getting off blocks and
filling up the line of scrimmage, and
he’s a really good pursuit guy,” Car-
roll said.
Defensive tackle Jarran Reed
was perturbed early in camp by all
the focus on the players who weren’t
with the team: Avril, Bennett, Sher-
man, Chancellor and Earl Thomas,
whose holdout continues nearly a
month into camp.
“Too many people are worried
about them being gone,” Reed said.
“We got the team here right now
that’s going to go out there and bat-
tle with us on Sundays. I’m honestly
tired of hearing it. We got guys right
here and they can do the same thing
and I just want everybody to believe
in us.”
Added Johnson: “We got a mix
of guys that’s athletic enough and
strong enough and smart enough to
be the top defensive linemen in the
league so that’s one of our goals to
strive for right now.”
Reed and Johnson have been
Seattle’s starting defensive tack-
les throughout the preseason with
Stephen and second-year tackle
Nazair Jones rotating in situation-
ally. Though Johnson and Stephen
have more experience in the NFL
than Reed or top pass-rusher Frank
Clark, they’ve assimilated into Seat-
tle’s defensive line group seamlessly
since joining the team this spring.
“They’ve been very respectful in
understanding the fact this is Frank
and Jarran’s room,” assistant head
coach Clint Hurtt said. “We’re just
going to mesh and continue to build
the cohesiveness of the unit and it’s
been outstanding. They’re a pleasure
to have.”
Ohio State suspends Meyer for three games
Coach will miss
Oregon State game
By MITCH STACY
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State sus-
pended coach Urban Meyer for three
games on Wednesday night for mishandling
repeated professional and behavioral prob-
lems of an assistant coach, with investigators
finding Meyer protected his protege for years
through domestic violence allegations, a drug
problem and poor job performance.
The superstar coach’s treatment of his
now-fired assistant was also clouded by his
abiding devotion to the legacy of former Ohio
State coach Earle Bruce, the grandfather of
former wide receivers coach Zach Smith and
an early coaching mentor for Meyer.
“I gave Zach Smith the benefit of the
doubt,” Meyer said.
The investigation turned up “a pattern
of troubling behavior by Zach Smith: pro-
miscuous and embarrassing sexual behav-
ior, drug abuse, truancy, dishonesty, financial
irresponsibility, a possible NCAA violation,
and a lengthy police investigation into alle-
gations of criminal domestic violence and
cybercrimes,” according to summary investi-
gative findings released by the university on
Wednesday night.
Meyer knew about at least some of the
issues.
The report and punishment culminated
a two-week investigation of how Meyer
reacted to allegations that Smith abused his
ex-wife, Courtney Smith. Zach Smith was
fired last month after she asked a judge for a
protective order.
Courtney Smith alleged her husband
shoved her against a wall and put his hands
around her neck in 2015. Zach Smith has
never been criminally charged with domestic
violence. The university put Meyer on paid
leave and began investigating after Courtney
Smith spoke out publicly, sharing text mes-
sages and photos she traded in 2015 with
Meyer’s wife, Shelley Meyer. Shelley Meyer
is a registered nurse and instructor at Ohio
State.
Meyer, 54, will miss Ohio State’s first
three games against Oregon State, Rutgers
and No. 16 TCU, though he will be allowed
to coach practices leading into the Rutgers
and TCU games.
SEATTLE — Martin Maldo-
nado and Tyler White helped the
Astros build an eight-run lead,
and Houston’s bullpen made it
hold after a little scare in the sixth
inning.
Maldonado and White each
homered and had three hits,
Roberto Osuna got his first save
with Houston and the Astros
beat the Seattle Mariners 10-7 on
Wednesday.
The Astros led 9-1 before the
Mariners got one back in the fifth
and added five more in the sixth,
all off starter Charlie Morton
(13-3).
No changes
coming to NFL’s
helmet rule
NEW YORK — The NFL Com-
petition Committee has recom-
mended not making any changes to
the helmet rule approved by own-
ers in the offseason, which means
instant replay use for officials will
not be instituted for such calls.
After members of the powerful
committee held a conference call
Wednesday, football operations
chief Troy Vincent noted there
would be no alterations. Vincent
said the feedback after two weeks
of preseason games was reviewed
and “the committee resolved that
there will be no changes ... “
“The committee also deter-
mined that inadvertent or inciden-
tal contact with the helmet and/or
facemask is not a foul,” Vincent
said.
Vincent added that as players,
coaches and officials adjust to the
rule, the league will provide more
feedback and examples of incor-
rect calls.
Ex-Brazil soccer
boss gets 4 years
in prison in probe
NEW YORK — A former
South American soccer official
convicted on corruption charges
in the sprawling FIFA bribery
scandal was sentenced in federal
court to four years in prison on
Wednesday.
Jose Maria Marin, a former
president of Brazil’s soccer feder-
ation, also was ordered to forfeit
$3.3 million and pay a $1.2 mil-
lion fine in connection with his
participation in a scheme to accept
bribes in exchange for the media
and marketing rights to various
soccer tournaments, according to
the office of the U.S. Attorney for
the Eastern District of New York.
— Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Volleyball — Knappa at Warrenton, 6
p.m.; Jewell at Columbia Christian, 6:30
p.m.
AP Photo
Paul
Vernon
Ohio
State
football
coach
Urban
Meyer