Cottage Grove sentinel., September 30, 2015, Image 13

B
S PORTS
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Wednesday, Septemeber 30, 2015
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Lions pile it on at Elmira for their second win in two weeks
After being up
35-0 at halftime, the
Lions had to take
their foot off the gas
pedal in their 55-28
rout over the Elmira
Falcons on Friday
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
highly anticipated road
game against Elmira on
Friday, Sept. 25 showed a great
amount of improvement in ex-
ecution and passion within the
Lions varsity football program.
Cottage Grove emerged vic-
torious in a 55-28 route of the
Falcons. It was a game of very
few mistakes by the Lions and
a simple case of a stronger, bet-
ter team beating down a less
equipped squad.
For starters, the Lions ran all
over the Falcons, quite literally.
Zane Levings had 10 carries for
105 yards. Between Levings,
Brynden Howell and Kory Par-
ent, the Lions had three ball car-
riers that averaged 10 yards or
more per carry each. In total, the
Lions rushed the ball 34 times
for a total of 288 yards and an av-
erage of 6.5 yards per carry. The
ground game was virtually un-
stoppable, and even junior quar-
terback Blake Sentman picked
up 46 yards on the ground with
three rushing touchdowns.
Quarterback Blake Sentman bursts through Elmira defenders, highlighting the dominance of Cottage Grove's offense.
“We were able to take advan-
tage of what the defense was
“Our kids did a great job of
The passing game was no passes for 46 yards and Levings to score 14 unanswered points
giving us,” Head Coach Gary different. Sentman completed who caught two passes for an- in the third quarter due to a Lion reading keys and fl ying to the
Roberts said. “Our offensive 12 of 14 passes to four differ- other 46 yards and a touchdown fumble early in the second half. ball; Garren Taylor (linebacker)
line did a great job of opening ent receivers and three passing off of a beautifully executed
“They were able to get us with was a great addition coming
up holes and blocking down- touchdowns along with zero screen.
those traps and counter plays,” back from injury.”
fi eld.”
The Falcons were unsuccess-
“We were just able to exploit said Roberts of defensive con-
interceptions. Sentman’s 85.7
Roberts noted the efforts of percent completion rate shred- match ups that were in our fa- cerns. “We’ll just have to take ful in mounting a comeback,
offensive linemen Cody Sapp, ded the Falcons secondary with vor,” Roberts noted.
a look at the game fi lm and see even after they developed an
Brad Geisler and Seth Morris. the help of Howell, who caught
offensive rhythm. The Falcons'
After a 35-0 halftime lead, the how we can improve.”
He also said that sophomore six passes for 118 yards and game looked to be in the books.
But all-in-all, Roberts was momentum was reversed by a
Anthony Slay is showing great two touchdowns along with top But Elmira wasn’t completely pleased with the way his de- huge kick return by Michael
growth.
Tharpe, who brought the ball to
producers Parent, catching three out yet. The Falcons were able fense performed.
Photo by Sam Wright
Elmira’s 30-yard line.
At the end, the Elmira coach-
ing staff refused to shake hands
with Coach Roberts.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“We only threw it downfi eld a
handful of times and by the end,
we rotated a lot of back ups in.”
The Lions will host the Sweet
Home Huskies on Friday at 7
p.m.
Athlete of
the Week
Watch out goalies:
Kiana Hemenway
leads the Lions to
two victories this
week
Photo by Sam Wright
Junior Kiana Hemenway strides toward the goal on a penalty kick during Thursday's game against Sweet Home.
Lions break losing streak to JC, dominate Huskies
After 13 years of losing to the Junction City Tigers, girls' soccer defeates the Tigers and
puts on a dominating performance against Sweet Home
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
The girls’ soccer team trav-
eled north to Junction City on
Tuesday, Sept. 22 to take on
the Tigers, a team that Cottage
Grove has failed to win against
for over a decade.
But the tables were turned on
Tuesday, as the Lions beat the
Tigers, 2-1.
“We just had great passing,”
Head Coach Vern Stewart said.
“We played like the team I know
we are.”
It was senior Josie Mootz
who scored in the fi rst half, giv-
ing the Lions a 1-0 lead over
Junction City, and after the Ti-
gers had tied it up in the second
half, junior Kia Hemenway put
the Lions back on top.
Cottage Grove was ranked
No. 6 in the 4A division, and
having beaten a No. 14 ranked
Junction City, the Lions are sure
to move up.
Their climb to the top didn’t
stop at Junction City. On Thurs-
day, Sept. 24, the Lions hosted
the Sweet Home Huskies, a
game Cottage Grove yet again
controlled in its entirety, rolling
to a 4-2 victory.
Thanks to top scorers Mootz
and Kia Hemenway, who scored
two goals each, the Lions held
a commanding 4-0 lead in the
second half until the Huskies
managed to sneak in two goals
before the end of the game.
“We’re consistent, and we
communicate well,” Stewart
said after the game. "I’m proud
of the way everyone has been
playing and we’ll keep looking
to improve.”
There’s not much to worry
about for Stewart and his team
so long as the Lions remain con-
sistent in their game play.
The only concerning moment
in the game was during the mid-
dle of the fi rst half when senior
Melissa Thielman injured her
knee. Thielman was swept off
the fi eld via ambulance and to
the hospital. No further word on
her condition has come in.
“It’s defi nitely a big loss,”
Stewart said. “Mo is one of our
top defenders, and we’ll have to
make some adjustments.”
This week, the Lions host
Sisters on Tuesday, Sept. 29 and
travel to Elmira on Thursday,
Oct. 1.
It was a week for her
highlight reel, as ju-
nior Kiana Hemenway
scored once in Junc-
tion City and twice
at home against the
Sweet Home Huskies.
Hemenway, alongside
her teammate Josie
Mootz, have been
dominating up front
and maintaining a
relentless attack on
opposing goalies all
season.