B
S PORTS
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Defense, run game carry Lions to victory
The Lions had to make defensive
adjustments with the Knight's tricky
formations, but their strong running
attack helped put the game out of reach
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Cottage Grove rolled past yet another opponent this past Fri-
day, except this time in a game with higher stakes. Round one of
the OSAA state playoffs took place over the weekend, and the
Lions are going to see round two after sending home the North
Valley Knights with a 35-17 loss.
In what initially seemed like a close defensive struggle, Cot-
tage Grove was able to open up the game in the second half with
a strong run game.
The game started off with an attack on the Knight’s second-
ary when quarterback Blake Sentman threw a 49-yard touch-
down strike to Erick Giffen before the game clock of the fi rst
quarter could hit 11:30.
North Valley responded with a threatening drive, but the Li-
ons’ defense made a crucial red zone stop to force a fi eld goal.
Both offenses struggled through the second quarter, with sev-
eral turnovers and punts forcing pressure on defenses. Junior
Juice Clafl in would have broken free on a touchdown run of
over 50 yards, but a holding penalty brought the play back. The
penalty happened 10 yards down from the line of scrimmage, so
second down and eight yards to go was simply replayed.
The Lions were able to drive the ball down the fi eld regard-
less, and Sentman fought his way across the goal line on a one-
yard QB keeper.
The Cottage Grove defense then saw a much different look
from North Valley once the Knights took the fi eld again. The
formation was similar to a Lonesome Polecat offense where an
offense puts linemen out wide. In this case, North Valley re-
sorted to three linemen in the center and then put three linemen
in front of a wide receiver on one side, while two other receivers
stood wide on the other side.
The formation attempted to open up the passing game, which
it did, until multiple false starts from lineman out wide killed
the Knight’s drive. North Valley kept using the formation but
didn’t fi nd a way into the endzone until the third quarter.
The run game kicked in on the Lions’ opening drive in the
second half. Senior running back Zane Levings had 57 rush
yards on a 61-yard touchdown drive to give the Lions a 21-3
lead.
With the fear of Sentman’s arm, North Valley only put fi ve
defenders in the box in a 3-2 formation, allowing the Cottage
Please see PLAYOFFS, Page 3B
Photo by Gary Ordway
Hayden Glenn (left) and Kory Parent (right) attempt to disrupt a North Valley pass on Friday night.
Harriers meet expectations at state, more PRs set
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
The Cottage Grove boys’
cross country team gave a strong
performance at the state meet
on Saturday. The team sent six
boys to Lane Community Col-
lege on a drizzling morning, but
they weren’t the only Lions at
LCC that day.
In a display of great comrad-
ery and sportsmanship, a large
majority of the rest of the team
came out to support their team-
mates. The harriers even prac-
ticed with them over the days
leading up to the meet.
Cottage Grove wasn’t able to
upset the rankings as they did
during the district meet against
other Sky-Em schools. Last
week, the Lions were projected
to fi nish third in the district, but
they stole fi rst place in a sur-
prising performance. Despite a
variety of personal records this
week, the Lions fi nished with
207 points in ninth place, the
same place they were seeded
coming into the state meet.
Junction City was able to sneak
past Cottage Grove and land a
seventh-place fi nish with 198
points.
The Lions were one of 14
teams that qualifi ed for a team
score. Overall there were over
30 different schools represented
at the meet.
Valley Catholic took fi rst
place with 58 points, followed
by Seaside (79), Phoenix (121)
and North Bend (147).
Cottage Grove may not have
rocked the rankings, but the
team still managed to beat a few
schools known for successful
athletic programs. La Grande
was just out of reach in 10th
place with 210 points. After
that, the Lions fi nished fi rmly
ahead of Philomath (11th place,
235 points), Marshfi eld (12th
Place, 247 points) and Hidden
Valley (13th Place, 321 points).
Baker fi nished off the 14 team
scores with 390 points.
Champion Valley Catholic
didn’t have a runner fi nish in the
top eight. Senior Jamie Kawa-
guchi was the top fi nisher for
Valley Catholic in ninth place
with a time of 16:51, and many
of his teammates were close be-
hind him to boost his team to the
top.
Cottage Grove’s top fi nisher
was Jesse Ellingworth. The ju-
nior fi nished in 17th place with
a time of 17:13, followed by
Paesen Timm in 23rd with a
time of 17:19.
Freshman Jimmy Talley fi n-
ished in 18:16, and Konrad
Raum fi nished in 18:23. The
back end of the Lions’ team was
completed with freshman Justin
Francis (19:22), sophomore Eric
Cortes (19:32) and sophomore
Konnor Owens (19:43).
Timm, Talley and Owens all
set personal bests, and the rest
were all within 15 seconds of
their personal records, too.
The team met one last time
on Tuesday for their awards cer-
emony. The cross country team
can next be seen helping out
with the Jingle Bell fi ve-kilo-
meter run/walk on Dec. 3.
Bass Pro Shops outdoor
tips for November
Hunting Deer on Public Land
Deer hunters who have scout-
ed well and prepared themselves
do just fi ne hunting public lands.
Find out how other hunters are
coming into the woods so you
can use that to your advantage.
Keep in mind that if fellow
hunters aren’t familiar with the
area, chances are they’re going
to wander aimlessly and end up
spooking deer. There’s plenty of
land and no need to ruin each
other’s hunts by crowding one
another. Most hunters will re-
spect that and head off in other
directions. Don’t let hunting on
public lands mess with your at-
titude or the way you hunt. If
you do your best to stay scent-
free, maintain a good positive
attitude and don’t fret over the
other hunters in the area, you’ll
be able to harvest a nice deer.
Some of the biggest bucks taken
each year are taken on public
land.
Knowing how different types
of weather affects waterfowl
can lead to more successful
hunting trips. Ducks and geese
don’t like to fl y in the low vis-
ibility of heavy fog. Occasion-
ally they have to, and when they
do, they become very vulner-
able to calling. Waterfowl don’t
like to move in heavy rains ei-
ther, but as the rains cease, they
start looking for newly fl ooded
areas. If it hasn’t rained, water-
fowl seem to sense where it has
rained nearby and will leave to
fi nd the new water created by
the rain. Find that water be-
fore they do and be there when
they get there. It is well known
that cold fronts push ducks and
geese south, but this doesn’t al-
ways occur. Sometimes, if they
can still fi nd suitable areas to
roost and feed, they will stick
around. Make sure where to
fi nd those areas.
The Effects of Weather on
Waterfowl
Please see TIPS, Page 3B
Jesse Ellingworth and Paesen Timm run through Saturday's relentless rain at the
state meet in Eugene.
Athlete of the Week: Zane Levings
Senior running back
Zane Levings made his
presence felt on the fi eld
against North Valley Friday
night. Levings ran for 164
yards on just 17 carries
and one touchdown. 145
of his yards came in the
second half, and on Cot-
tage Grove's opening drive
of the third quarter, he
ran 57 of the 61 yards that
drive, including a seven-
yard touchdown run to
take a 21-3 lead.
During the regular season,
the rushing attack wasn't
the Lions' area of focus on
offense. But Levings still
managed 321 yards on 65
carries and three touch-
downs.
With tougher games ap-
proaching, a developing
rush attack can prove use-
ful to quarterback Blake
Sentman and the rest of
the Cottage Grove offense.