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SPORTS WEEKEND, AUGUST 26-27, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS College Football Beavers’ Hodgins to make debut in season opener Four-star WR enrolled early to make impact By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press Oregon State Colorado St. Beavers Rams (0-0) (0-0) • Today, 11:30 a.m. • at Fort Collins, Colorado • TV: CBS Sports Network CORVALLIS — Freshman Isaiah Hodgins gave a peek at his future in Oregon State’s spring game. The 6-foot-4 early enrollee from Northern Cali- fornia pulled down a 38-yard pass from junior transfer quarterback Jake Luton in the fi rst quarter, setting the stage for a 6-yard TD reception by Jordan Villamin. For Saturday’s season opener at Colorado State, Hodgins makes his Beavers debut atop the depth chart at receiver opposite Villamin. “When I fi rst got here I was defi nitely more immature as a player, more immature physically and mentally for the game of football. Since then my IQ for football has just jumped. From reading safeties and corners and coverages to knowing different playbooks and different routes to run. My body has defi nitely gotten more physically domi- nating,” Hodgins said. Overall, the Beavers are in transition at the receiver position. The top receiver from last season, Victor Bolden, has graduated. Hunter Jarmon, who was expected to be one of the team’s best options, decided to leave the Beavers early for a pro baseball career. Dynamic playmaker Seth Collins, who missed the fi nal two games of last season because of a serious illness, was moved to slot receiver in fall camp. But he has a fi nger injury and won’t play on Saturday, making way for sophomore Trevon Bradford to top the season-opening depth chart. Villamin, a senior, is the leading returner at the position. After a promising sophomore year, he fi nished last season with just 21 catches for 253 yards and a touchdown. “There’s some good pieces to the puzzle. I like the receiving corps. But we have to be able to throw the ball down the fi eld. It will loosen up the run game. It will get those safeties back off the ball a little bit, and those will become big threats for us,” head coach Gary Andersen said this week. “But we’ve got to go out, on game day, and execute similar to the way we have in practice, and I think our offense will really be in a better spot than it has been in the past. Again, right now, that’s just all talk. We have to go out and produce.” Hodgins, considered a See BEAVERS/3B Amanda Loman/Albany Democrat-Herald via AP In this Aug. 4, 2017, photo freshman wide receiver Isa- iah Hodgins participates in a scrimmage at Summit High School in Bend. A four-star recruit, Hodgins came to Corvallis early from the San Francisco Bay Area. MLB NFL Mariners win in extra innings Seahawks sharp in preseason victory Seattle Mari- ners’ Yonder Alonso follows through on a home run during the 11th inning of a baseball game against the New York Yan- kees on Friday in New York. AP Photo/ Frank Frank- lin II By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer SEATTLE — Kansas City may be looking for a starting running back after Spencer Ware injured his right knee in the Chiefs’ 26-13 preseason loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Friday night. Russell Wilson was again brilliant for Seattle, throwing for 200 yards and a touchdown, but his performance was secondary to the injury suffered by Ware and the Kansas City impact it could have for the Chiefs. W a r e remained on the turf after making a Seattle 6-yard recep- tion on a pass from Alex Smith in the fi rst quarter. Ware appeared to take an awkward step with his right leg during the play and team trainers were looking at his knee while he was down on the fi eld. Players from both teams took a knee while Ware was examined, and he was taken off the fi eld on a cart. It was the second straight week a starter in Seattle was taken off the fi eld with a knee injury. The Seahawks lost starting left tackle George Fant for the season last week due because of a torn ACL in his right knee. The Chiefs have depth at running back with veteran Char- candrick West and impressive rookie Kareem Hunt, who aver- aged 4.3 yards per carry fi lling in after Ware as hurt. But Ware’s strength was his versatility as a runner and pass catcher out of the backfi eld. Ware rushed for 921 yards and had another 447 yards receiving last season for the Chiefs, fi nding a home in 13 26 Alonso comes through with home run in 11th inning Seattle’s Yonder Alonso (10) cel- ebrates a home run during the 11th inning of Friday’s game in New York. AP Photo/ Frank Frank- lin II By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK — Yonder Alonso homered on a 100 mph fastball from demoted closer Aroldis Chapman in the 11th inning, and the Seattle Mariners outpitched the New York Yankees for a 2-1 victory Friday night. Mike Zunino homered and had three hits for the Mariners, right in the middle of a crowded race for the second AL wild card. They used seven pitchers to hold down the Yankees, who lead the wild-card chase but trail fi rst-place Boston by 4 1/2 games in the AL East. Alonso entered as a pinch hitter Seattle New York 2 1 in the ninth and sent a drive to center fi eld with two outs in the 11th against Chapman (4-3), the $86 million reliever who recently lost his job as closer. The strug- gling lefty was booed again as he walked off the mound after the inning. Acquired from Oakland this month, Alonso became the third left-handed batter to homer against Chapman in his eight-year See MARINERS/3B See SEAHAWKS/3B Sports shorts 49ers release veteran linebacker SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have released outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks after eight seasons with the team. The Niners cut Brooks on Friday because they determined he would not make the roster and wanted to give him a jump on fi nding a new team. The 33-year-old Brooks signed with San Francisco in 2008 and was the longest-tenured defensive player on the roster. He had 51 1/2 sacks in 131 career games with the Brooks Niners and helped the team make three straight trips to the NFC title game from 2011-13. Brooks was tied for the team lead with six sacks last season. Eli Harold had passed Brooks on the depth chart and will start at linebacker. Harold had three sacks last season. “You wouldn’t expect him to be able to do what he does. He can pick you apart. He can beat you with his feet. He can do a lot of things. He does all his talking with his play, and I like that.” — Mike Mularkey Tennessee Titans head coach on QB Marcus Mariota. After bat- tling injuries early in his career, Mariota is getting more freedom from Mularkey and the Titans to lead the team in 2017. MLB hands out suspensions for Tigers-Yankees brawl NEW YORK (AP) — Two of baseball’s biggest hitters were suspended Friday after taking some menacing swings with their fi sts. Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera was banned seven games and New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez got barred four games for their actions on a fi ght-fi lled afternoon at Comerica Park. Major League Baseball handed out the penalties one day after the Yankees and Tigers got into a trio of beanball-related clashes during Detroit’s 10-6 victory. Also suspended were Tigers reliever Alex Wilson (four games), New York catcher Austin Romine (two games) and Detroit manager Brad Ausmus (one game). All four players were appealing and remain eligible until the process is complete. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1939 — The fi rst major league baseball game is tele- vised. NBC-TV broadcasts a doubleheader at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field between the Cincinnati Reds and the Dodgers. 2011 — The Tulsa Shock snap the longest losing streak in WNBA history with a 77-75 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. The Shock (2-25) had 20 straight losses before Sheryl Swoopes hit a jumper with 2.9 seconds left. 1999 Michael Johnson shatters another world record at the World Championships this time, breaking the 400-meter mark with a time of 43.18. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
