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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2019)
A8 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019 CONTACT US FOLLOW US Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Seahawks’ Griffi n enjoys having focus on football facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports GIRLS SOCCER LCYSA TEAM TAKES THIRD IN TIGARD SHOOTOUT By TIM BOOTH Associated Press RENTON, Wash. — Nothing will ever be completely normal for Shaquem Griffi n as a football player. He will always be known for being drafted and making the Seattle Seahawks roster despite not having a left hand. But this training camp has felt different for the second-year line- backer. There’s been less hoopla. There haven’t been cameras fol- lowing his every move. The focus has been on where he fi ts as a football player and ultimately proving he belongs on the roster for another season. “I felt like I was able to be myself and focus on football instead of all the outside talk and everybody in your ear day after day. It was kind of good to get back to strictly football and strictly football itself,” Griffi n said. “That’s all I wanted to do — period — was play football. When it comes to balancing everything I got used to that last year, but it felt good to solely focus on football and being around the guys all the time and not worry about com- mercials this, and signing that.” Griffi n will get his fi nal chance to make an impression in the pre- season Thursday night when the Seahawks face Oakland. Griffi n has missed the past two preseason games after suffering a bruised knee in the preseason opener against Denver. He returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to play against the Raiders. It’s important for Griffi n to get on the fi eld again to show what he brings to the Seahawks. “I don’t feel like I’m behind,” Griffi n said. “My whole thing was to work my butt off to get back and focus on learning from everyone in front of me. ... It was more mental learning and putting myself in situations.” Griffi n’s rookie season was a whirlwind. Every move he made in training camp was docu- mented, culminating with Griffi n starting the season opener at Den- ver due to injuries. But he also had to contend with the fact that his size — 6-foot, 227 pounds — has made it diffi cult to fi nd a per- manent position on the fi eld. Grif- fi n’s biggest contributions came on special teams. Coach Pete Carroll said it was evident Griffi n and his cornerback brother Shaquill had more to deal with than anyone else a year ago. “I think both the brothers really took it to heart. They know that they had gone through a tre- mendous amount last year, and it was a distraction for them and they had to live with it,” Carroll said. “It remains such a great story and it was so hot for so long. As well as they apply themselves, and tried to deal with it, it was more than anyone else had in that regard.” Both brothers spoke of changes they made to their diets and workout plans in the offsea- son, and both believe there has been improvement. Now comes the task of fi nding a spot on the fi eld that best suits Shaquem. “The main thing for us is coaches want to see guys run- ning fast and hitting,” Griffi n said. “That’s what preseason is all about. You run a few plays and you shouldn’t mess up the few plays that you have. Do every- thing right, make hits, hit hard, run fast.” O’Brien Starr-Hollow The LCYSA Ospreys, in blue, in this month’s win over Lincoln. The Astorian T he Lower Columbia Youth Soc- cer Association’s age 15-and-un- der girls Classic team recently took third place in the Southside Tigard Shootout. Comprised of players from Astoria, Warrenton and Seaside — with guest players from Clackamas United and Beaverton FC — the “Ospreys” won the third-place f riendly match in the bronze division with a 2-1 win over Lincoln Youth Soccer, the weekend of Aug. 16 through Aug. 18. The U15 team from the LCYSA actu- ally opened with a 1-0 loss to Thelo Alle- giant on Friday at Cook Park, followed by Saturday losses to Lincoln (3-0) and Oregon Trail FC (2-0). The Ospreys bounced back to defeat SCOREBOARD THURSDAY Volleyball — Knappa at Warrenton, 6 p.m. Cross-Country — Seaside at Hillsboro Invitational FRIDAY Football — Astoria jamboree, at CMH Field, 6 p.m.; War- renton jamboree, 6 p.m. Volleyball — Astoria at Catlin Gabel, noon SATURDAY Volleyball — Warrenton Tournament, 10 a.m. Lincoln 2-1 on Sunday at Tigard Sta- dium for the tournament’s third-place spot. Taylar Danielson, from Clackamas, scored the opening goal for the Ospreys, placing the ball over the Lincoln goal- keeper from 20 yards out. Lincoln tied the match with a penalty kick in the 25th minute, but the Ospreys answered in the 50th minute, when Pele Starr-Hollow, of Astoria, scored the go-ahead goal, assisted by Tenley Hat- tori, of Clackamas. Aside from the Lincoln penalty kick, Osprey goalkeeper Andrea Ortega, of Seaside, made some huge saves and kept a strong Lincoln offense out of the goal. The Ospreys will head into the f all Classic season with games in the Port- land m etro a rea and at Volunteer Field in Warrenton, beginning Sept 7. Lower Columbia’s U13 girls Clas- sic team also played in the tournament, fi nishing 0-3 in pool play, followed by a 4-0 loss to Tualatin Hills United in the f riendly B game Sunday. The LCYSA team suffered pool play losses to Southside Evans (3-0) on Fri- day, and Saturday losses to Tualatin Hills (2-1) and Oregon Trail FC (5-0). Pac-12 saw some key QB competitions heading into season By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press Gardner Minshew’s success was something of a pleasant surprise last season for Washington State. Now the Cougars will look to his backup, Anthony Gordon. Washington State was one of several Pac-12 teams that went through a quarterback competi- tion before the season. Washington was similarly tasked with replac- ing Jake Browning, while Oregon State’s Jake Luton was pushed in his sixth season of eligibility by Nebraska transfer Tristan Gebbia. Gordon spent the past few sea- sons behind Luke Falk and then Minshew in coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid system, waiting his turn. It came when Leach named him the starter for No. 23 Washington State’s opener at home Saturday night against New Mexico State. Gordon beat out Gage Gubrud, a transfer from Eastern Washing- ton who was granted a sixth year of eligibility after he was sidelined for part of his senior season with a toe injury. Gubrud had beat Washing- ton State in his fi rst start with the Eagles in 2016, throwing for 474 yards and fi ve touchdowns. Leach told reporters that Gor- don had started to separate himself earlier this year. Ted S. Warren/AP Photo Washington State quarterback Anthony Gordon, shown here in 2018, has big shoes to fi ll. “He had a really good spring and then he really didn’t break stride from spring to fall camp. He was very steady in camp,” Leach said. “Steady, but also explosive.” Gordon has big shoes to fi ll. Minshew, a graduate trans- fer, emerged as the team’s starter during fall camp after a three-way competition with Gordon and Trey Tinsley. Minshew ended up as the Pac-12 offensive player of the year, throwing for 4,779 yards and 38 touchdowns for the Cougars (11-2) last season. He ended up as a sixth- round draft pick by the Jackson- ville Jaguars. A look at the Pac-12’s other quarterback competitions: WASHINGTON: Similar to the rival Cougs, No. 13 Washing- ton is also replacing a big-time QB. Jacob Eason started for Georgia as a freshman but eventually lost the job to Jake Fromm. He trans- ferred to Washington but had to sit out a season. After earning the job in camp, he’ll start on Satur- day when the Huskies host Eastern Washington. Jake Haener, who was in the mix, abruptly left the Huskies after Eason won the job. Washington coach Chris Petersen said Haener’s departure was a surprise, but it also clarifi ed the competition, Eason replaces Browning, who threw for 3,192 yards with 16 touchdowns last season, leading the Huskies to a 10-4 record and the Pac-12 championship. Brown- ing now plays for the Minnesota Vikings. OREGON STATE: Coach Jon- athan Smith announced last week that Luton will start for the Bea- vers on Friday night when they host Oklahoma State. Luton had been limited by inju- ries to just nine starts since he trans- ferred to Oregon State in 2017 and was granted a sixth year of eligibil- ity by the NCAA. During his fi rst season in Corvallis, he missed eight games with a spine injury. He played in FALL SPORTS PREVIEW 2019 COMING IN THE SATURDAY ISSUE OF THE ASTORIAN eight games with fi ve starts last year but was hampered by a con- cussion and an ankle injury. “I’m just trying to stay healthy and just trying to be consistent throughout the year. I’m not try- ing to light up any record books or anything like that,” the 6-foot-7 quarterback said. “I want to put the team in position to win games and make sure I’m on the fi eld. If I can do those two things I think we’ll have a good year.” THE RETURNEES: In the Pac-12 North, the returning quar- terbacks include Oregon’s Jus- tin Herbert and Stanford’s K.J. Costello. Chase Garbers, who started Cal’s fi nal seven games last season, is back at starter for the Golden Bears. He was challenged in camp by transfer Devon Mod- ster, but the job was widely seen as Garbers’ to lose. In the Pac-12 South, Utah brings back Tyler Huntley, while USC quarterback JT Daniels will have a new system under offensive coor- dinator Graham Harrell. Arizona returns Khalil Tate but the Wildcats have already had a rough start with a 45-38 loss to Hawaii in an early opener last weekend. Steven Mon- tez embarks on his senior season at Colorado.
