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.