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Seahawks Expect Brighter Days Ahead for Jaxon Smith Njigba

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Seahawks Expect Brighter Days Ahead for Jaxon Smith Njigba


Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba may be one of the most enigmatic players on the roster.

The No. 20 overall pick in last year’s draft, Smith-Njigba was a popular pick to take a second-year leap. A 117-yard performance against the New England Patriots in Week 2 looked like a sign of things to come, but since then, he’s caught just 23 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown in five games. Most recently, he had three catches for a season-low nine yards in Sunday’s win over the Atlanta Falcons.

If he continues on his current pace, Smith-Njigba would finish the season with 775 receiving yards. That would be a mild improvement over the 628 yards he had as a rookie but not quite the leap that many were hoping for.

Still, the Seahawks have full confidence in the former Ohio State star and believe he will show his play-making ability soon.

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“You leave games, and you kind of feel guys throughout game. JSN is a guy I feel throughout the game, his presence, run game, play-action game, drop back game, third down stuff,” head coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday. “I think it’s a mixture of both. I think our staff does a great job of kind of building plays for Geno (Smith) to be able to read out and not force the ball to any particular people, but also bounce it out and design plays for all of our guys where they feel like they are an important part of the game plan. And Jax, I think he’s doing a great job. Ball will find him. Those plays will find him and he’ll continue to make a big impact for us.”

The Seahawks have the best passing offense in the league in terms of yardage, but on the receiving end, it’s mostly been DK Metcalf leading the way. Smith-Njigba and veteran Tyler Lockett have been solid complementary pieces, but most would expect some more balance between the top three wideouts.

Smith-Njigba is still an immensely talented player who set records in college, but the Seahawks hope to see some big strides soon.

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Seattle Kraken beat San Jose Sharks 4-2 to snap 4-game skid

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Seattle Kraken beat San Jose Sharks 4-2 to snap 4-game skid


SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Lindgren had the tiebreaking goal early in the third period for his first score with the Seattle Kraken, and they went on to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Saturday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Seattle Kraken 4, San Jose Sharks 2: Box score

Chandler Stephenson had a goal and an assist, and Eeli Tolvanen and Ryker Evans also scored for the Kraken, who won for just the second time in 12 games (2-9-1). Joey Daccord finished with 34 saves.

Adam Gaudette and Colin Graf scored for the Sharks, and Yaroslav Askarov had 28 saves.

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Graf gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead 36 seconds into the third period with some help from the Kraken.

Seattle’s Adam Dunn lofted a clearing attempt from behind the net that Igor Chernyshov intercepted in the left circle and sent a pass in front to Graf. Graf tried to lift it over Daccord down on the ice, but the puck deflected off the left post and in front as the goalie, on his back, tried to pull it in. However, Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson skated into the goalie and knocked the puck in.

Evans tied it again at 1:55 with a long shot from the left point through traffic.

Lindgren put the Kraken ahead 3-2 at 4:27, beating Askarov from the left point for the defenseman’s first goal in 33 games since signing with with Seattle in the offseason. Stephenson had an assist on the play to extend his point streak to eight games.

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Stephenson then scored with 1:24 remaining to push Seattle’s lead to two goals and extend his goal-scoring streak to four games.

Tolvanen gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 6:52 of the second period, picking up a loose puck, skating into the right circle and firing a shot past Askarov.

Gaudette tied it with a power-play goal with 8:38 left in the middle period. Celebrini fired a shot at the net from the left point that deflected off teammate Igor Chernyshov in front of Daccord and off Gaudette down onto the ice for an easy backhand poke from the right doorstep.

Celebrini extended his point streak to five games on the play with eight assists and 11 points in the stretch.

Up next

Seattle Kraken: At Anaheim on Monday night.

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San Jose Sharks: At Vegas on Tuesday night.

Seattle Kraken trade away their big offseason acquisition



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Three West Seattle schools’ teams advance in FIRST Lego League competition

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Three West Seattle schools’ teams advance in FIRST Lego League competition


(Photos courtesy Brenda Hatley)

By Hayden Yu Andersen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Dozens of youth robotics teams from elementary and middle schools across the district gathered on December 6 at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School for this year’s FIRST Lego League qualifier. By the end of the day, three teams from West Seattle – Madison Middle School, Lafayette Elementary School, and Alki Elementary School – emerged triumphant, with their sights set on the next round of the tournament.

Of the schools who competed that day, nine were from West Seattle, including Genesee Hill Elementary, Fairmount Park Elementary, Gatewood Elementary, Arbor Heights Elementary, West Seattle Elementary, and the aforementioned teams that are moving up to the next round.

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A local parent tipped us about the students’ achievement, so we set out to get details. We spoke with Brenda Hatley, a coach for Madison Middle School, the only West Seattle middle-school team to advance to the next round, and she says the turnout at the qualifiers was impressive. Hatley first became a coach for her son’s 4th-grade team and was one of the founding parents for Lafayette Elementary’s Lego Robotics team.

She says the program, which pairs engineering with LEGO, coding, and real-world projects, is a fantastic program for students who are less interested in athletics but still want to capture the excitement of a pep rally.

“It’s not a sports team, but they’re still getting so hyped up. The kids were cheering for each other, and the pressure was there; coaching through that was an incredible experience,” Hatley said.

Madison’s team, the Madbots, will play their next match on December 26th, at a to-be-determined location. The teams that do well this month will move on to the city-wide competition in Downtown Seattle, before moving to the regionals at Washington State University, and beyond to the international finals. Regardless of how they perform, Hatley says she and the other parents are planning to travel with their team to the city-wide and regional competitions.

“I’m really proud of the team,” Hatley said. “Last year, the fifth graders didn’t move on, and we had lower expectations; we just went in to learn more and get better. This year, we get to move on and see what the next level looks like.”

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Redhawks Upset Huskies 70-66, Win Second Straight ‘Battle for Seattle’ — Emerald City Spectrum

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Redhawks Upset Huskies 70-66, Win Second Straight ‘Battle for Seattle’ — Emerald City Spectrum


With neither team shooting well from the outside at Climate Pledge Arena, the Redhawks outperformed the favored Huskies driving the ball to the paint in the second half, making more plays down the stretch to beat their city rivals for a second straight year.



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