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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2016)
B S PORTS Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016 Section B South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Water polo starts off hot Boys' soccer bounces back After two losses in a row, Cottage Grove corrects itself against Marshfi eld and avoids a loss to Elmira BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel The week before last was not the smoothest for Vern Stewart and the Cottage Grove boys’ soccer team. The Lions faced a lot of trouble on the road and lost 6-0 twice in a row against Phoenix and North Bend. But the story was that they were not deterred and the team stood confi dently behind its seasoned coach. Cottage Grove avenged its losses by blazing through Marshfi eld in a 7-1 rout and then played one of its most physical games of the season against Elmira. Garrett Woodcock, Kyle Browning, Kyle Conley and Je- sus Urenda all found the back of the net last Tuesday as they led their team to its biggest victory margin of the season. But the true test and game of the week came on Thursday, when the Elmira Falcons came to Cottage Grove. “Elmira is a lot better than they have been in previous years,” Stewart said. The game was at a deadlock during the fi rst half. Neither team was able to score as the game kept getting more and more physical. “The refs really let both sides get away with a lot,” Stewart added. In the second half, the Lions showed life when Woodcock scored off of a corner kick, giv- ing Cottage Grove the lead. But with under fi ve minutes left to play, a worn-down Cot- tage Grove defense allowed the Falcons to sneak a goal in and tie the game. “We should’ve cleared the ball a lot earlier,” Stewart said of the last goal. The sheer physicality of the game had exhausted both sides. “I told them that we really only played 75 of those 80 min- utes,” he added. In the last fi ve minutes, Cottage Grove just Girls rout Medford and Churchill, boys grab two wins and a tie BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Photo by Sam Wright Garrett Woodock (left) attempts to head the ball to Jesus Urenda during Thursday's match against Elmira. seemed to break down, but so we moved the ball across the added that in preparation for the did Elmira. The Falcons were middle really well,” he said. Cot- game, he has been telling the just a little more desperate for tage Grove now faces Sutherlin players “we cannot play down and Junction City this week, to the level of whoever we play,” a goal. Though they tied, Stewart and Stewart wants to make sure and that the team needs more outside shots to happen. says the team played a lot better his team is in shape. “I ran them quite a bit on Fri- against Elmira than they did in day, which I don’t usually do their win over Marshfi eld. “Our passing was great and right after a game,” he said. He Getting up Athlete of the Week An emerging leader in Urenda Jesus Chuy Urenda, or "Chewie" as he's known by his teammates, is one of the soccer team's leading scor- ers. In a tough and exhausting battle against Elmira on Thursday, Urenda displayed a level-headed attitude with intense energy. The senior consistently communicates with his team, emerging as a team leader at the right- forward position. The Cottage Grove water polo program has had a hot start to the season. The boys started off with a game last Tuesday against Willamette, where the Lions came away with a domi- nating 15-2 victory. On Saturday, Cottage Grove hosted Medford and Churchill/ Springfi eld, where the Lions (especially the girls’ team) truly showed their dominance in the water. The boys crushed Medford 12-0, but even that performance was overshadowed by a 23-5 victory over Medford by the girls’ team. The girls then shut down Churchill/Springfi eld 10- 2, while the boys were stuck in an 8-8 deadlock. The girls’ water polo team was strong last year, but this year it seems they’ve reached a new height. Head Coach Tyson Pilling says it’s because of the strong senior group. “A lot of these girls have been playing together for four years now,” Pilling said. The team features six seniors out of the nine players on the roster. Seniors Tori Raade, Clover Rudicel and Emma Meyers hold leadership positions that have directed the Lions to their cur- rent success. “They have really great lead- ership qualities, but they’re also just really strong swimmers,” Pilling said. While the girls’ dominance was already in the making dur- ing previous years, it’s not so much the case with the boys’ team. The boys sit at a 2-0-1 record, a much better start than last year. Pilling says the success can be attributed to the boys playing more as a team. “They weren’t quite clicking last year as well as they are this year,” Pilling said. Seth Chambers leads his time alongside freshman Jeremiah West, who has emerged as a team leader himself. The addi- tion is a welcome one, as the Lions have only seven players on the team’s roster. This means that the Cottage Grove boys’ team has a distinct disadvantage with the inability to substitute and rest its players. However, that doesn’t appear to slow them down. Both teams host Ashland this Friday. Photo by Billie-Jo Miller Fourteen year old Nathan Boxberger grabs some air at the local skate park. Cottage Grove hosted its fi rst ever bike competition over the weekend. A variety of kids came out to the skate park to compete in a casual competition with multiple events. Local resident Jason Enarson organized the competition for the local youth. Cottage Grove holds off Scappoose to stay undefeated BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel As predicted, the Lions have started the season off with three wins in a row, carrying a world of momentum into upcoming Sky-Em competitions. The most recent contest was not as easy as the fi rst two games. Scappoose, a team that made it to the 4A state championship last year, came to Cottage Grove on Friday night to disrupt the strong start of the Lions’ season, and they almost did it, too. The Indians put together a strong opening drive that result- ed in a touchdown but missed the extra point. Cottage Grove was able to bounce back with Blake Sent- man throwing to a wide-open Erick Giffen, taking a one-point lead. A few mix-ups, and turnovers stalled the Lions offense from time to time, but in the second quarter it seemed that Cottage Grove had fi gured Scappoose out. On a very sneaky play call, Sentman faked a reverse, caus- ing defensive backs to step up and leaving Jacob Woods uncov- ered near the goal line, where Sentman threw and scored his second passing touchdown of the night. A stout defense nearly kept Scappoose scoreless in the sec- ond quarter and prevented the Indians from taking advantage of turnovers. Sentman threw one more touchdown pass to Kory Parent before halftime, and Cot- tage Grove went up 21-6 in the second quarter. A big kickoff return by Scap- poose placed the Indians in good fi eld position, giving them the opportunity to strike back. Scap- poose capitalized on its fi eld po- sition and drove down the fi eld through the air and managed to score before halftime, shrinking their defi cit to a 21-13 score. It seemed the state champ runner-ups might have found their answers against the Lions. Halftime turned the game into a nail-biter, and Cottage Grove couldn’t maintain a solid drive or get into the end zone at all. “They defi nitely made some good adjustments, but we also hurt ourselves with costly pen- alties and carelessness,” Head Coach Gary Roberts said. Scappoose’s second half Photo by Sam Wright Please see FOOTBALL, Page 3B Jacob Woods dives into the end zone after catching a pass from Blake Sentman.
