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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Seahawks’
Griffi n
enjoys
having focus
on football
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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.