S PORTS
B
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Athlete of
the Week
Brynden Howell
racks up 165 yards
of quick offensive
production and
returns a kick off for
a touchdown
Photo by Sam Wright
Senior receiver Brynden Howell runs the ball off a sweep to the right. Howell rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns on Friday Night
Lions nab season's fi rst victory at home over Henley
After starting the season with two losses, the Lions regained a passion that Coach Gary Roberts said was
lacking in the fi rst two games and pulled off a solid win over a strong opponent
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
The Lions faced off against
Henley on Friday, Sept. 18, beat-
ing the Hornets 41-33 and snag-
ging their fi rst win of the sea-
son. The home-opener brought
a certain enthusiasm and energy
within the team that was lacking
in the fi rst two games.
It was a night for junior quar-
terback Blake Sentman to shine.
Sentman threw an outstanding
20 of 26 passes for 263 yards
and two touchdowns. He also
ran the ball for 63 yards and an-
other touchdown. Sentman and
the Lions showed their ability to
spread the ball around by com-
pleting passes to fi ve different
receivers, although Sentman’s
favorite target seemed to be No.
6 Brynden Howell, who had
seven catches for 93 yards and
a touchdown. The other top re-
ceivers were Zane Levings, who
caught four passes for 76 yards,
and Payton Presley who caught
three passes for 23 yards and a
touchdown.
The Lions and Hornets ex-
changed blows in the fi rst half,
with Henley scoring fi rst.
After Cottage Grove gave up
a second touchdown through
the air, allowing Henley to go
up 14-7, Assistant Coach Chris
Joyce immediately called for
his kick-return team to gather
around and listen. Joyce’s words
proved successful, as Howell re-
turned the kick over 80 yards for
a touchdown.
“I just reiterated what we
teach them in practice: get your
blocks, form your wedges. It
was just a regular kick-return
right, and everyone executed
well,” Joyce said.
It was a night for the Lion’s
highlight reel, as they kept the
fi rst half close. After going up
20-14, Henley was marching
down the fi eld yet again, and
it looked like they would score
until the Lions intercepted a
pass over the middle. The Lions
returned the march and scored
at the very end of the fi rst half to
tie the game at 20-20.
Newfound confi dence and
passion came into play in
the second half, as the Lions
gained a two-touchdown lead
and fought off an attempt at a
Henley comeback. There was
a much different attitude under
the lights this past Friday.
“Usually I come to the team
with a scouting report of our
opponent,” Head Coach Gary
Roberts said. “But this [past]
week, I said ‘guys, we need to
worry about us and only us right
now.’”
And Roberts’ concerns were
vindicated.
“When we play with that kind
of passion, we can play with any
team in the state,” Roberts told
his team.
The Lions will be on the road
this week to face Elmira.
Senior receiver Bryn-
den Howell not only
contributed to the
high-scoring offen-
sive production of the
Lions with two rush-
ing touchdowns and
one receiving touch-
down. The receiver/
defensive back also
took a kickoff all the
way from inside the
20 to the end zone to
help the Lions tie the
game up 14-14 in the
fi rst half.
Howell's athleticism
fi ts well with Cottage
Grove's spread of-
fense.
Photo by Sam Wright
Eugenian Carey Hilbert has been attending Cycle the
Lakes since its fi rst ride fi ve years ago.
Photo By Sam Wright
Junior Garrett Woodcock attempts to get the ball past a Sutherlin defender in the Lions' 8-0 victory Thursday night.
Rotary Club hosts
fi fth-annual Cycle
the Lakes ride
Boys' soccer routs Sutherlin
Great weather and great attendance marks a
successful event for cyclists
Cottage Grove lays a beating on Sutherlin, winning 8-0
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Similar to the football team,
boys’ soccer had been struggling
with sluggish starts that didn’t
match the energy or aggressive-
ness coaches would normally
like to see. This week, however,
it seemed to change. Cottage
Grove came out extremely ag-
gressive and dominated Suther-
lin High School on Thursday,
Sept. 17, winning the game 8-0.
“We fi nally started out very
energetic and aggressive,” Head
Coach Brian Fish stated. Within
the fi rst 20 minutes of the game,
the Lions were already up 3-0
and extended that to a 5-0 lead
by halftime.
Cottage Grove showed great
versatility, with fi ve different
players scoring seven total goals
(Sutherlin scored an own goal)
over the span of the match.
Scoring leader Kaiden Ramsey
found the goal twice Thursday
night but was also accompanied
by senior Richie Villalobos,
sophomores Kyle Conley and
Kyle Browning and senior Scott
Anderson in scoring goals.
“We got everyone in on the
passing game, that’s why we
were able to spread the ball
around so well,” Fish said.
Fish also said that coming
out into the second half, the Li-
ons took their foot off the gas
slightly. “Sutherlin packed it
in on defense, so we had a bit
more trouble scoring in the sec-
ond half,” Fish explained, “but
we also didn’t want to pour it
on too badly when you’re up by
that much.”
The Lions improved their re-
cord to 4-1, with their only loss
being to the power that is the
North Bend soccer program.
This week, the Lions will host
the Junction City Tigers and
travel to Sweet Home to face the
Huskies on Tuesday and Thurs-
day, respectively.
The Cottage Grove Rotary Club hosted its annual “Cycle the
Lakes” event on Saturday, Sept. 19. The event has now been run-
ning for fi ve years, and this year it was blessed with fantastic weath-
er and enthusiastic riders.
The Rotary Club saw yet another high attendance this year, with
over 150 pre-registered cyclists, and over 30 who came to register
the day of the event, the total being 189 riders. The event chairman,
Don Strahan, said that these are great numbers, and it’s all thanks
to participating riders.
“We saw 192 riders last year, so we’re glad we’re just as high this
year, especially considering we were competing with a Duck home
game,” Strahan said.
Please see CYCLING, Page 2B
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