B
S PORTS
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
North Douglas powers past Yoncalla
Lions outdo
Outlaws
Cottage Grove football
defeats Sisters in road test
By Zach Silva
After a slow fi rst half on the
road, the Cottage Grove foot-
ball team resumed their winning
ways in the second half as they
dusted off the Sisters Outlaws
44-14 last Friday to improve to
6-0 on the season.
“Sisters… is going to be a
huge challenge,” said head
coach Gary Roberts heading
into the game. “It’s a tough
place to play, it’s a road game,
it’s on grass. It’s just a different
environment for us. I challenge
our kids to prepare like cham-
pions and get ready to go over
there and take on a team that
usually matches up with us pret-
ty well.”
Sisters opened up the game
marching down the fi eld and
getting fi rst and goal on the Cot-
tage Grove six yard line only to
be stopped on four consecutive
run plays. The Lions rallied
back with a methodical drive
downfi eld that resulted in a 17
yard Hayden Glenn touchdown
reception from Dylan Graves.
Sisters answered the score
with a 36 yard touchdown pass
and a missed point after attempt
that brought them to 7-6. The
Lions struck back with a Chad
Bottorff touchdown run and
Cottage Grove squeaked out a
fi eld goal before the half to go
up 17-6 in what was their lowest
scoring fi rst half of the season.
The second half saw a steady
diet of Woods and Bottorff to
lead the Lions. It started when
Woods scored on a 29 yard rush
and on an interception while
Bottorff ran in for a 16 yard
rush. Bottorff also ran for a
touchdown in the fourth quar-
ter as the Lions outmatched and
outdid the Outlaws in the sec-
ond half.
With the victory, Cottage
Grove has now won 16 straight
regular season games spanning
the last three seasons. More
importantly for the Lions, the
game at Sisters marked their last
road game of the regular season
and what could potentially be
the last time they play on the
road until the state semifi nals.
Going into the last two games of
the season – both of which are
homes games – the Lions are
currently ranked number one in
4A. If that ranking holds, the Li-
ons would play on at home until
a neutral site semifi nal game.
But before the Lions make
playoff plans, next on sched-
ule for them is Junction City
on Friday at home. The Tigers
are currently 2-4 on the season
and lost to Sweet Home, a team
Cottage Grove beat 53-12, last
week 39-0.
North Douglas running back Caleb Parks looks to break out a run during the Warriors victory Friday.
Using a second half surge, the
Warriors defeat the Eagles in an
8-man football rivalry game
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA
They were held scoreless for the rest of the game.
“You give Teddy [Wickman] time and he will burn
you, he’s good. He’s a fantastic player. And we knew,
if you give him time, we probably weren’t coming out
on the winning side of the scoreboard,” said Mast.
“Halftime we wanted to put more pressure on him,
keep him out of rhythm, you know get to him a little
bit earlier and we were able to do that pretty consis-
tently. And that you know, they had trouble dealing
with that.
“Our kids did great. You make adjustments at half-
nent,” said Rundell. “We focused, we practiced hard
we’ll like the result. So just keeping that one game at
a time mentality the rest of the way is what we have
to get back to.”
Rundell continued to guide the offense as they
scored twice more in the fourth quarter, a Parks recep-
tion and a Rundell rush, to seal the victory.
North Douglas, ranked 11th in 1A, now sits at sec-
ond place in their district with the top four automatic
qualifying for the playoffs. With just two games re-
maining, against Mohawk (2-4) and McKenzie (0-4),
With both teams undefeated in league play coming
into the game, the rivalry was only intensifi ed as Yon-
calla travelled to North Douglas for their game last
Friday.
In a back and forth struggle, it was the Warriors that
ultimately prevailed. Behind a second half that saw
North Douglas put up 22 straight points, they defeated
Yoncalla 42-22.
“It always feels good to win a rivalry game so we’re
feeling very good right now,” said North Douglas
head coach JJ Mast after the victory.
While the Warriors ran away with the game in the
second half, it was the Eagles who came out fi ring
early.
On the fi rst series of the game, a Yoncalla pick-six
put the Eagles up 6-0 after a missed two-point try.
With a 14-play drive that lasted eight minutes, the
Warriors came back on offense and marched down the
fi eld and convert on the two point conversion to go up
8-6 at the end of the fi rst quarter.
“I think we played great, especially from the fi rst
half to the second half. That’s one of the best im-
provements I’ve seen from us, especially defensively,
since last year,” said wide receiver Caleb Parks ref-
erencing last year’s team that won 11 straight games
and place second in state. “It’s just been forever since
we’ve seen a big jump in intensity from one half to Yoncalla running back Dominic Aguilar slips by the defense on the way to a touchdown.
the next.”
time, you go out hoping they are going to execute the Warriors like where they are at.
Parks fi nished the game with 110 yards and two them and they were pretty fl awless in the second half.
“We’re in a good position to win the next two
touchdowns.
They looked very good.”
games,” said Mast. “I think these guys learned last
After North Douglas took a 20-14 lead at the half,
After going down to start the second half, the War- week to not put one foot too far in front of the other or
Yoncalla began with the ball. They opened up the half riors answered on the next drive. Quarterback Bran- bad things can happen to you. They stay focused and
behind the speed of Dominic Aguilar who last year don Rundell found Justin Smith for a 33-yard gain and play like this and they will be alright.”
went to North Douglas. On a particularly impressive a Wyatt McDaniel touchdown rush put North Douglas
Yoncalla is now in the fourth position of the district
37 yard run, Aguilar raced down the sideline, stopping up 28-22. Rundell fi nished the night with two touch- and clinging to their playoff chances. Their biggest
and starting along the way, as he made defenders miss. down passes.
test will come next week when they play on the road at
Aguilar fi nished the game with 137 rushing yards and
“It feels beyond great. Coming off a tough loss last Falls City (4-1). The Eagles then fi nish off the regular
two touchdowns. Quarterback Ted Wickman capped week we refocused, we worked hard at practice all season at Mohawk.
off the drive with a rushing touchdown to give the Ea- week because we knew Yoncalla was a good oppo-
gles a 22-20 lead.
Athletes of
the Week
This week's athletes
of the week are the
girls of the Cottage
Grove soccer team.
After a rocky start,
the team has won
back-to-back games
as they move on
to the second half
of league play. To
read more about the
team, turn to B4.
PHOTOS BY KATE KYLE AND MARKUS JULIEN
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zsilva@cgsentinel.com
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