B
S PORTS
Section B
Sky-Em
Changes
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Back-to-back champs: Lions earn historic win
Cottage Grove will have
new competition in league
next season
By Zach Silva
Cottage Grove High School
will be facing some new oppo-
nents in Sky-Em league-play
starting next fall.
Last week, the OSAA fi nal-
ized plans that will change the
structure of the league. Sisters,
Sutherlin and Sweet Home will
all be leaving the Sky-Em while
Siuslaw, Marshfi eld and Marist,
previously 5A, will be joining
the league.
“It’s going to be fun. I’m look-
ing forward to having Marsh-
fi eld in the league because that’s
where I grew up and I’m look-
ing forward to having Marist
in the league because I want
our kids to compete against the
best kids out there,” said CGHS
Athletic Director Gary Roberts.
“It’s going to be a big challenge
for us but I’m excited.”
The farthest Cottage Grove
will now travel for league
games will be 94 miles to
Marshfi eld which is down from
the previous farthest distance to
Sisters of 125 miles. Aside from
that, the average travel distance
to each school in the district is
down from 61 miles to 56.
“From a travel standpoint it
worked out pretty well for us
and I think from a competition
standpoint it worked out pretty
well for us. I think overall I’m
pleased,” said Roberts.
On the competition side, the
Lions will be facing tough bat-
tles.
Football, where the Lions are
currently undefeated and ranked
number one in 4A, will become
a bigger challenge in league
play next season. Marshfi eld is
the only other team in 4A that is
currently undefeated in football
and Marist is currently ranked
10th at the 5A level.
Additionally, the Lions do not
have the best track record with
the Pirates and Spartans. Be-
tween 2006-2015 Cottage Grove
played Marist and Marshfi eld
six times in football and lost all
six games. On average the Lions
scored 12 points and gave up 40
points in those games.
The Lions will have their
hands full in other sports as
well. Marist’s volleyball, boys
and girls soccer teams and boys
and girls cross-country teams all
fall between being ranked third
and 14th at the 5A level this sea-
son. Last season Marist’s girls
basketball team fi nished fourth
in state and their softball team
won the state title.
For Marshfi eld, their volley-
ball team is currently ranked
8th in the state. Additionally,
last year the Pirates girls basket-
ball team fi nished ranked 3rd in
state, the boys track team won
state and the girls track team
took 6th.
And while Siuslaw is ranked
22nd in volleyball, 37th in foot-
ball (and they don’t have a boys
or girls soccer team) and their
basketball, baseball and softball
teams were in the same area of
the rankings, both cross-country
teams are currently ranked in
the top fi ve of the state and both
their track and fi eld teams did
better than the Lions last season.
PHOTO BY JORDAN HAGEWOOD/CGHS
Cottage Grove receiver Hayden Glenn races through the Sutherlin defense on a busy offensive night.
cut down the turnovers this week and I
was really proud of our kids. I’m happy
for our kids, our coaches and just the
community and the high school.”
On Friday night, it was more of what
it has been all season for the Lions as
they defeated Sutherlin 63-21. The Li-
ons, who scored more points than any
other team in 4A this season, won their
sixth game of the year by over 30 points.
The fi rst half saw seven Cottage
Grove touchdowns on their fi rst seven
possessions. The lethal wide receiv-
er combination of Jacob Woods and
Hayden Glenn was again active this
game. While the pair only played in the
fi rst half, it was more than enough time
for them to fi nd success.
Glenn had four receptions for 100
yards and two touchdowns, including a
55 yard score on a double move down
the right side that broke him wide open
Cottage Grove football
beats Sutherlin and
continues winning ways
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Undefeated.
For the second year in a row, the Cot-
tage Grove football team completed
the regular season without a loss and
claimed the Sky-Em League title.
The Lions, who won back-to-back ti-
tles for the fi rst time in program history,
now enter the playoffs with the number
one seed as they seek redemption after
losing in the championship game last
season.
“Really happy for the kids; for the
seniors,” said head coach Gary Roberts.
“Kids did a good job. We were able to
S TATE T ITLE S TATE
OF M IND
“Our focus is just to stay focused,
just get a lot of practice and get
that state title.”
- Jacob Woods, senior wide
receiver/defensive back
Lions lock
down league
title, stay
unbeaten
Cottage Grove boys
soccer fi nishes the regular
season without a loss
and now prepare for the
playoffs
for the easy score. Not to be outdone,
Woods had four receptions, three of
which were touchdown receptions of
33, 35 and 36 yards. He also had three
rushes for 65 yards.
Quarterback Dylan Graves ended the
game with the absurdly effi cient stat
line of 8-for-10 with 198 yards passing
and fi ve touchdowns. The Lions were
also active on the ground as Juice Claf-
lin and Chad Bottorff each rushed for a
touchdown.
“There’s always things you can do
better,” said head coach Gary Roberts
on the fi rst half success. “Always things
you can do better, but the kids played
hard and they were fi red up for senior
night and they did a good job.”
Up 49-0 at the half, the Lions sec-
ond-string unit took up where the start-
ers left off. With the running clock
moving, the DeJean Alonzo lead of-
fense marched down the fi eld and a Lo-
gan Nelson nine-yard rush put Cottage
Grove up 56-0.
Sutherlin then found the end zone
once before the quarter ended, the start
of the fourth and with just seconds left
on the clock. David Cox also added a 12
yard rush for a touchdown.
While Cottage Grove secured the
win, the postseason awaits them and it
is clear that their goal is to bring home
the title that eluded them last season.
“The fi rst part is done and now every-
body is 0-0 and the second part begins,”
said Roberts. “We got a week off and
in that we will focus on Cottage Grove.
We will focus on getting better at the
little things.”
The Lions will have a bye week this
week and will host a round of 16 game
on either Friday Nov. 3 or Saturday
Nov. 4.
“It feels amazing, like there’s no
better feeling. Going into playoffs “We got to focus on the fi nish this
undefeated is always good and just year. One of my things is talking
doing it as a family is even better. about being champions this year,
not just making it to state but
There’s no limit for where we can
being state champions.”
go. There’s nothing but clear skies
-Nate Farrell, senior offensive
and state.”
lineman/linebacker
-Anthony Slay, senior lineman
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
After treating the crowd to an acapella performance
of the national anthem, the seniors of the boys Cottage
Grove soccer team then took the fi eld where they looked
to make some noise in their fi nal regular season game of
the year last Thursday.
Through the pouring rain and a half-hour injury delay,
the Lions (10-0-2, 9-0-1 Sky-Em) beat Sweet Home (3-
7-3, 2-5-3 Sky-Em) 3-1 as they claimed their title as Sky-
Em champions and fi nished the regular season without a
loss.
Cottage Grove controlled possession early and threat-
ened on a counter in the 25th minute. Defender Kyle
Browning, who earlier this season was in an attacking
position, found Evan Snauer ahead who played forward
to Konrad Raum who was foiled by Sweet Home’s goalie.
While that play did not produce a goal, head coach Vern
Stewart is excited about what Browning can bring to the
table from the back line.
“We’re getting enough scoring from other places so we
Continued on page B3
Athlete of
the Week
PHOTO BY CGHS PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS
Rodas Rodas Martin maneuvers through the rain during a win
last Thursday.
This week's athlete of the week
is Cottage Grove's Konrad
Raum. On Wednesday Raum
was the top fi nisher at the
Country Fair Classic cross-
country meet (see B4 for
coverage) and on Thursday
he scored two goals in a 3-1
victory for the soccer team
(see above for coverage).
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
PHOTO BY SAVANNAH DAVIS/CGHS
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
zsilva@cgsentinel.com