2B COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL APRIL 12, 2017
Taggard weighs in on Duck season
cus Arroyo (with Cristobal),
was the offensive coordinator for
the NTampa Bay Buccaneers in
2014 and 2015 and wide receiver
coach Michael Johnson has had
10 years of NFL experience with
the Baltimore Ravens and San
Francisco 49ers.
Taggart exudes enthusiasm
and preaches three main tenets:
“blame no one, make no excuses
and do something.” The Ducks
began spring drills on Wednesday,
April 5 after offseason workouts.
“We’re really fi red up,” Tag-
gart told the media last Wednes-
day. “Our football team has done
an outstanding job this offseason.
I’m really impressed with the way
they’ve been working. I’m real-
ly impressed with how they’ve
worked in the classroom. I’m
really excited to see how all that
translates onto the football fi eld
now, because our guys are doing
the things we asked them to do
and they’re competing and doing
it the way we want them to.”
Taggart says a big key to turn-
ing the Ducks around from the
dismal 4-8 record last season will
be how the players bond and play
for each other.
“I think the key is for our play-
ers to play for each other,” said
Taggart. “The teams that win
championships are having fun.
You can tell they enjoy playing
with each other and being around
each other. Watching the fi lm
from last year, I didn’t see that…
a team that cared and played for
each other. Need to continue to
build some depth and that cama-
raderie.”
Taggart also thought last year’s
team lacked some toughness. “
We are a weak football team
just looking at the numbers in the
weight room … not as developed
as I’d like us to be, but we’re
Continued from A1
getting there.. We were a men-
tally weak football team, when
things got tough we took the easy
way out. We’re trying to change
that culture. We want to put our
guys in tough situations so they
can learn to fi ght through tough
times.”
The cupboards for the Ducks
are far from bare, especially on
offense. Oregon returns four start-
ers on the offensive line, plus got
a big bonus when Taggart talked
star senior running back Royce
Freeman into returning instead of
going to the NFL. Senior wide
receiver Darren Carrington and
Lions Expected to Contend again for Sky-Em Title
tackle Tyrell Crosby also decided
to comeback. And then there is
quarterback Justin Herbert. As a
true freshman, the pride of Shel-
don H.S. passed for 1936 yards
with 19 touchdowns and only
four interceptions. Behind him is
the talented Terry Wilson, Travis
Jonsen and last season’s Parade
All-American Braxton Burmeis-
ter.
Taggart said his immediate
goal for the Ducks is: “… to be
able to say we’re good at some-
thing, offensively, defensively
and special teams and then build
on that. I want to make sure we
have a technically and fundamen-
tally sound football team in ev-
erything we do. We are going to
harp on that this spring.”
One good sign is that last win-
ter term the team had the highest
GPA for one quarter in 17 years.
If that performance can be du-
plicated on the football fi eld, the
Ducks will very likely return to
one of the more elite teams in the
Pac-12.
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Brightening Lives One Smile at a Time
GARY BREEDLOVE
Senior Brett Ollivant pitched a two-hit shutout at Junction City last week.
BY JERRY THOMPSON
Can the Cottage
FOR THE SENTINEL Grove Lions varsity
baseball do an en-
core after last season when they won the
Sky-Em Championship? The Lions lost a lot
of key players, but head coach Dan Geisz-
ler, now in his 14th year as Cottage Grove’s
skipper thinks his squad has as good as shot
as any other Sky-Em team.
“There are some good teams in the league,
and we should be one of them for sure,” said
Geiszler. “We have the potential to be a top
one or two team in our league, but we’re go-
ing to have to play really well.”
The Lions have played eight games since
starting the season on Friday, March 17.
The Lions are currently 1-0 in the Sky-Em
after drubbing Junction City 11-0 last week
in the league opener. The Grovers were 4-3
in the non-league season with wins over
Douglas, Pleasant Hill, North Valley and
Cascade Christian and losses to Cascade,
Hidden Valley and North Bend.
On Tuesday, April 4 the CGHS baseball
team travelled to Junction City and tamed
the Tigers with great hitting and superb
pitching. Brett Ollivant struck out four Ti-
gers and allowed just two hits on his way
to the fi ve-inning shutout. Jaydin Osban and
Emry Foster both had two hits to lead the
Lions.
Pitching is always a big part of success
in baseball and the Lions return senior Brett
Ollivant, who was pitcher of the league last
year as a junior. T.J. Bellamy, Hunter Gib-
son, Wyatt Sayles and Jaydin Osban round
out the staff. Osban was also hitting over
.400 going into Thursday’s non-league con-
test with North Bend.
This week, weather permitting, the Gro-
vers will be tested as they take on Elmira in
a Monday (April 10) doubleheader at Kelly
Field, travel to Sweet Home on Tuesday and
play a Friday double-header at Sisters.
“We have the players who can do it again,
but our league is pretty tough. Sisters,
Sweet Home, Junction City and Elmira are
all pretty tough,” said Geiszler.”
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