Versatile Giffin Adds Spark To Horizon Football

Horizon football is far from their 0-10 2015 season where they were the lone team left out of the Division I playoffs. The Huskies were riddled with injuries that year, but they also had a young group moving their way up to the varsity level.

The Huskies are stocked full of returning talent that are now juniors and seniors: up front on both sides of the ball are Justin Segura and Isaiah Mursalat, there’s Grant “Gronk” Mileski (trying that one on for size) at tight end, Dylan Lizarraga is a running back who is a receiver as well, and the Huskies return their three leading tacklers in Brett Rudolph, Jonah Brownell and Segura.

And adding to the mix in all three facets of the game is incoming junior Nash Giffin, who played running back, linebacker and kick returner last year. Giffin might be undersized as a linebacker at 5-foot-9 but notched two sacks as a sophomore and scored two rushing touchdowns in 2016.

Giffin did a lot for the 6-4 Huskies, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t nervous.

“There were a lot of things I needed to know,” Giffin said. “I think I learned like every position on the field except for quarterback because I can’t throw. I feel like I stuck with it. I did my best, I worked hard and then I did new things and it feels good.”

Giffin comes in more comfortable as a junior because he is more experienced at the varsity level at multiple sports. This offseason, he wrestled and ran track as well.

“I would get so nervous before matches, I think I threw up one time,” Giffin said. “But dealing with the stress of the football games, now before I get to a race, I’m just like, ‘I’m going to do this. I’m going to do my best and it’s going to be good.’ I think I deal with stress a lot better.”

Running track not only has helped him get comfortable in big situations, but has made him better conditioned for the football field.

“I didn’t do it last year, and that’s a huge mistake,” Giffin said.

Nash Giffin’s sophomore year was a transformative one. The pressure that came with varsity football, but also the trust his coaching staff showed him, has helped Giffin gear up for a big season for Horizon football.

“You have to do new things,” Giffin said. “Sometimes you need that pressure, it’s a good thing to have. It felt good that they trusted me.”

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