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Sports & recreation Cottage Grove Sentinel Wednesday, October 10, 2018 South Lane County Sports and Recreation Cottage Grove drops pair of league games Section B Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com Lions get mid-season 'playoff ' win By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com After finding success in the first week of league play, the Cottage Grove girls’ soccer team dropped a pair of games in week two to go from the top of the table to a three way tie for second place. Last Tuesday at Junction City, it was the Tigers (2-7- 1, 2-2 Sky-Em) catching the Lions (4-5-1, 2-2 Sky-Em) by surprise in a 2-0 victory. “We didn’t play with ener- gy. When you don’t pick up your level of play when you’re playing a lesser opponent you lower everything and end of losing. It’s just very frustrat- ing,” said Cottage Grove head coach Reed Levings. Coming into the game, the Tigers had one win on the season, a victory over a win- less Marshfield side, and had been shut out five times. But for the second time all sea- son, they were able to score multiple times in a game. The Tigers got on the scoreboard after Cottage Grove was called for a foul, which the Lions protested, in the fifth minute of the game. Junction City’s Bailey Mullins took the free kick that was placed just outside the box on the left side and found the upper right corner for a goal. With the wind at their back, the opening 30 min- utes of the game belonged to Junction City. The home side owned possession and fin- ished with six shots and three corners in the first half. Cot- tage Grove had one shot and no corners in the half. “The wind was a huge fac- tor in this game. We were able to get the jump on them be- cause we had the wind at our back. And so that was part of it,” said Junction City head coach Chris Bolton. “Part of it also is that we can’t lose. I mean, if we lose one more game we’re probably done as far as playoffs go...As poor- ly as all of the teams in our league have done besides Marist, we’re fighting for that (second) spot.” The Lions were unable to string passes together to create meaningful posses- sion but were aided by their backline that was able to limit Junction City in the run of play. In the second half, Cot- tage Grove began to find a rhythm and were able to push their front line up but were unable to score. “I think the biggest thing is mentally being prepared when you step on the field. Having the energy when you step onto the field. It was completely different when we went on in the first half compared to halftime when it was like we’ve got to go,” said Levings. The Tigers struck again in the 76th minute. After a Cottage Grove player fell, or was pushed, (depending on which sideline you asked) the Tigers countered and Ellie Brackett scored. “They had one shot on goal which was a free kick, which was a bogus call. And same with offsides right here. That’s the thing, refs should know you can’t extend your arm and push somebody but it doesn’t matter how bad a ref is, you’ve still got to come to play,” said Levings. On Thursday, Cottage Grove lost 8-1 at home to Marist to move to 2-2 in league play. The Spartans sit on the top of the Sky-Em standings at 4-0 while the Li- ons, Tigers and Elmira are all tied. Marshfield os 0-4. PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL Cottage Grove’s Dylan Graves run into the end zone for one of his three rushing touchdowns in the game. Cottage Grove football wins 'must-win' home game against Elmira By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com After three straight losses and the team’s playoff hopes hanging in the bal- ance, the Cottage Grove football team was in desperate search of a win. On Fri- day night, they got what they were look- ing for as they defeated Elmira 45-13 at home. “This is the start of the playoffs for us even though we have three more games left in the league, this is the start of our playoffs because if we didn’t beat Elmi- ra then we were done,” said quarterback Dylan Graves. “That’s definitely not what we wanted so we just came out and exe- cuted.” For the Lions, that execution was best on display in their rushing game. Heading into the game, Cottage Grove averaged 99 rushing yards per game and had rushed for two touchdowns on the year. On Friday, the Lions just eclipsed their average finishing with 120 yards to go with six rushing touchdowns – three from Graves and three from freshman running back Fernando Giffen. Graves finished with 13 carries for 44 yards and Giffen, 11 carries for 33 yards. “(Our rushing attack) is getting bet- ter. We’re getting there. Kids are starting to understand firing out, maintaining blocks, being more aggressive,” said head coach Gary Roberts. “Playing a little bit more angry, you know? And they did a good job tonight. It was a good night to be a Lion, that’s for sure.” To Lions started the game strong as they turned an Elmira fumble, punt and bad snap into three offensive first quar- ter touchdowns. Mixed in with a 70-yard drive in the second quarter, the Lions were up four touchdowns. “It’s kind of the opposite of what’s been happening. We’ve been the team that turns over other teams and other teams capitalize on it. We were able to capitalize on some of their mistakes and they helped us and you know, I think by the time they figured out what was go- ing on it was 28-0,” said Roberts. “I was just proud of the kids and the way they fought. We needed it. We needed to get back in the winning column.” Before the half Elmira’s Brady Nagel slipped by the Cottage Grove defense for a 44-yard touchdown run. To start the third quarter, it was Nagel again but this time on a run from 66-yards to cut the Cottage Grove lead to 28-13. While Nagel had the two explosive runs, the Lions, for the first time since their three-game losing streak were able to stop the run. In the past three games teams have ran for 293 yards and five touchdowns; 435 yards and two touch- downs; and 257 yards and three touch- downs. After a number of running plays for negative yardage, the Falcons finished the game with 94 yards rushing and two touchdowns. “Coach Jordan Johnson did a great job of putting a defensive game plan in against a running team with a really good back. And then our kids went out and ex- ecuted it pretty well. We had two hiccups but when you take out those two runs, they barely had 50 yards,” said Roberts. “I was just really proud of how our kids rallied and played.” It looked like the Falcons had a chance at seizing momentum in the third quar- ter down two scores when they got close to blocking Erick Giffen’s punt. Instead, Giffen side-stepped the defender and re- corded a 62-yard punt that pinned the Falcons deep and they were unable to score the rest of the game. Erick Giffen finished the game with 85 yards receiv- ing, an interception and a made field goal. With two weeks left in the regular sea- son, the Lions have a favorable schedule as they face a pair of winless opponents in the final weeks of the season. This Fri- day the Lions are on the road at Phoenix before returning home to face Junction City. “We know we can’t sleep on them and we’ve just got to go out and just keep playing our game and just know that if we lose we go home and we’re done after that so we’re definitely going to be fired up,” said Graves. The Lions are sitting in third place in the Sky-Em League which takes them out of contention for an automatic play- off spot for the top two teams in league. Twelve teams from around the state au- tomatically qualify for the playoffs with the next highest ranked teams claiming a play-in spot. Cottage Grove currently is in a favorable position ranked at #13. But for Cottage Grove, it’s a simple message for how they want to move for- ward. “They’re all must-win from now on,” said Roberts. Elkton seniors stick together, find success From a two-win season to the playoffs: how the seniors of the Elkton football team found success By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com O Elkton’s coaches Bill Shaw and Mike Hughes speak to their team after a practice at the start of the season. Athletes of the Week n the first day of football practice, fresh- men Spencer Moore got a concussion. “I could barely see the road over there,” the now senior Moore says about Umpqua Highway that runs right next to the Elkton football field. Going through drills, Moore, from what he remembers, was hit in the head by a trio of senior teammates. For Moore and his fellow freshmen teammates, that first practice set the tone for the upcoming year. Moore and his freshmen counterparts made up over 50 percent of the Elkton roster (10 of the 19 players) and were in for a long year. The group of 10, 13 and 14-year-old boys competing every week against 17 and 18-year-olds did not fare well. “I got beat up big time, a lot of us did,” said Jase Billman. “I was thinking this kind of sucks. I was just a dumb freshman that got thrown in with a couple seniors and juniors.” This week’s athletes of the week are the members of the Cottage Grove boys’ soccer team. Behind a team effort, the Lions defeated Junction City with three players scoring goals and the defense recording a shutout. For more on the game, turn to B4. They lost big and they lost often. The team went 2-7 on the year and in five games, they lost by at least 40 points. Against North Douglas they were shut out 72-0. “A lot of us started as freshman which was kind of hard for us,” said senior Mark Russell. “We got our ass handed to us.” But since that painful first season, things have changed. That group of once small freshmen are now slightly larger seniors and they have brought win- ning ways to Elkton. Since those early losses, they have put together a winning season, hosted the school’s first playoff game in over 25 years and were ranked as high as #2 in state earlier this sea- son. A group that would have once been happy just with winning now have their sights set a little higher this season as they chase a deep playoff run and an elusive state title. “Our main goal has been to go to state and win a championship. And it seems like all of us are really focused on that. And it shows,” said senior Gunnar Lynn. “We just go from there. Making it a good last year.” SUCCESS see B3 Cottage Grove’s Lathan Van Wag- ner (right) races to gain possession in Tuesday’s game.