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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2015)
B S PORTS Section B Wednesday, October 28, 2015 South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Lions shine against Junction City in a close homecoming game Lions top Tigers 19-14, ending the regular season on a high note BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel I t was a glorious night under the lights for Cottage Grove football on Friday, Oct. 23, as the Lions had come off of a 44- 0 rout over Sutherlin the week before and kicked off to face a tough Junction City team. The Lions toppled the Tigers at their homecoming game, 19-14, in a thrilling win. “Our offense moved the ball well, but we had some major mistakes that ended drives,” Head Coach Gary Roberts said. The Lions had a pair of bad snaps and a missed fi eld goal that killed scoring opportuni- ties. As the end of the fi rst half neared, Junction City fumbled a handoff and the Lions pounced on it, but they were unable to capitalize on the turnover, and they went into the half leading only 13-7. Without the mistakes, Roberts said the score at half time could have easily been 35-7. It was a busy day for the Lions' running game, which helped them gain control of clock management and essen- tially the game itself. Running back Zane Levings carried the ball 14 times for a total of 100 yards, averaging 7.14 yards per carry. Reily Boyce also had a chance to carry the ball; he ran for 73 yards on just six carries, averaging a whopping 12.16 yards per run. Brynden Howell also averaged over seven yards rushing on six carries for 46 yards. The Lions' offense ran 33 times for a total of 260, and a team average of 7.87 yards, an impressive performance. Junior quarterback Blake Sentman also had a strong per- formance. Sentman completed nine of 16 pass attempts for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He also had no interceptions. On the receiving end, the Lions saw Michael Tharpe catch two passes for a total of 57 yards and one touchdown, along with Howell, who caught fi ve passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. Kory Parent and Reily Boyce also caught one pass each, and the receiving corps averaged over 15 yards per catch. The defensive performance was just as impressive and is what kept the Lions in the lead with some offensive mistakes. “Our defense played great; we saw kids tackle well and they all rallied to the ball well,” Roberts said. The defense put an exclama- tion mark on their performance as Garren Taylor intercepted the ball in the fourth quarter to seal the Tigers’ fate. “He blitzed on three straight plays, and off of a time out, we dropped him into coverage and they just threw it right to him,” Roberts said of Taylor. With this win, Roberts has moved into third place for all time wins at Cottage Grove High School and now has 44 ca- reer wins. The Lions now have to travel all the way east to Baker for their play-in game on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. Hybrid receiver/running back Brynden Howell carries the ball around the right against Junction City Friday night. Athlete of the Week Junior Hudson Weybright handles the ball against Elmira during the Lions' victory Thursday. Lions take Sky-Em but share crown with Sisters The girls' soccer team has won the Sky-Em League but is forced to share with Sisters after a loss on Tuesday BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel The girls’ soccer team was poised to take the top rank in the Sky-Em league pending their game against Sisters last Tuesday. Unfortunately, the Lions lost 2-0 to the Outlaws. But the loss didn’t knock them out of the top ranking. Instead, Cottage Grove was asked to make room and share the top spot with Sisters for Cottage Grove girls’ soccer’s fi rst time winning the Sky-Em League. Had the Lions won against the Outlaws, the top would have been a lot lonelier. “We just never got to play our game,” Head Coach Vern Stewart said. He believes that the lack of necessity for win- ning the match may have been a factor in the girls’ motiva- tion. “I think the fact that we didn’t have to win this game may have resulted in a lack of focus,” he continued. He also added that without trying to make excuses, the elevation at Sisters might have also played a role. On Thursday, however, the girls’ hosted Elmira and were back in their regular form. The Lions defeated the Falcons 3-0 with ease. “This time we were able to play our game and at our speed,” Stewart said. Cottage Grove won a coin toss to decide where their play-in match will be played and chose Sweet Home in or- der to play on a turf fi eld. Although Cottage Grove will be heading to the playoffs, the end of the regular season brought about the awards for the girls’ soccer team. Kia Hemenway was voted the player of the year for Cottage Grove. Hemenway passed Josie Mootz in overall scoring this season, and the votes were “pretty much unanimous” according to Stewart. She, along with teammates Mootz, Melissa McCasline, Hudson Weybright and Jasmin Lopez all made fi rst team all-league. That’s a total of fi ve out of 10 all-league players that are from Cottage Grove. “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person,” Stewart said of Hemenway. “She’s so hum- ble and just goes out and plays her best for her teammates." Pending the results of the Sisters rematch, Cottage Grove will play at home on Friday, Oct. 30 should they lose, or on Tuesday, Nov. 3 should they win. Kiana Hemenway was voted player of the year as the junior helped lead her team into the playoffs The junior forward was almost unina- mously voted as the player of the year. Hemenway lead the Lions in scoring, even passing all-star Josie Mootz, who held the position of top scorer for a large portion of the season. Water polo ends season with positive outlook BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel The water polo teams ended their season against Ashland on Saturday, Oct. 24, with the boys unfortunately ending their season with no wins. The girls’ team, however, fi nished the sea- son with only two losses. The boys lost to Ashland, 11-5. The team saw two goals by Ian Miller in the second and third quarters, two goals from Gage Nash in the third and fourth quarters and one goal by Johnny Witt in the third quarter. “The boys needed to work on play- ing as a team all season,” Head Coach Tyson Pilling said. “This time they did, but there’s so many beginners that each game is a learning step.” Although the boys went without a win, Pilling is still pleased with the season. “We really improved throughout the season. It was tough for the boys, but I think they learned a lot and got a lot better.” The girls’ accrued their second loss in their last game against Ashland on Saturday. The Lions lost 13-10 but fought hard on their way out of the regular season. Star senior Amelia Phillips scored four goals overall, one in each quarter. Sophia Edelblute, who scored one goal in the fi rst quarter, and two in the second, accompanied her. Tori Raade scored a goal in the fi rst and third quarters and Emma Meyers scored once in the fourth quarter. “I’m proud of the girls; they played really well all season and always made a great team effort,” Pilling said. The girls’ team now looks to its playoffs with the fi rst game on Nov. 5. Pilling hopes to see continued success from the girls and shows confi dence in their ability to win.
