4B COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL OCTOBER 17, 2018
LIONS
from B1
tage Grove seventh and eighth
grade football players, Erick
and Dylan were put on separate
teams by their coaches. In the
final minutes of the contest, Er-
ick’s team had a one-point lead
but Dylan’s team was putting to-
gether a drive when – somehow
– Dylan suffered an injury.
“I was like on the ground,
and I went to get up and then,”
Dylan says adding the sound of
a hand getting stepped on with
cleats “right on my hand. And it
like started to bleed.”
“I remember going in, sacking
Dylan or something and getting
up and stepping on his hand on
accident. It was on accident I
promise,” said Erick with a brief
pause and a slight grin. “It, uh,
actually wasn’t on accident.”
Despite pleas from Dylan that
this act was done on purpose, he
was sidelined with an injury to
his throwing hand and Erick’s
team was able to secure a victo-
ry. After some brief tension be-
tween the friends, they moved
forward and have been on the
same side of the field in games
ever since. But their next chal-
lenge was their biggest yet: high
school football.
“Probably the biggest thing I
remember about them, and the
memory is similar for both of
them – man, if these kids can
get taller because they are both
vertically challenged… they’d
be really good because they are
really good athletes,” said Cot-
tage Grove football head coach
Gary Roberts. “That was my first
memory of both of them is just
that they were tiny little guys.”
Dylan entered high school
around 5-foot-4 and pushing
100 pounds on a good day while
Erick walked through the doors
of CGHS at nearly 5-foot-3.
Feeling like they were swim-
ming in their football pads, the
pair – that eventually grew to
5-foot-10 and 5-foot-6 respec-
tively – prepared to be varsity
athletes.
After being the only fresh-
men to attend football camp in
their first year, both players took
meaningful strides during their
sophomore seasons to become
the impactful players that they
are today. For Erick that came
by earning a starting role.
“Coach Marty Johnson, said,
‘Hey, I think you can play a big
role on our team this year.’ …
And by big role, I thought he
just meant special teams, play
a little bit of kicker,” said Erick.
“But then our first scrimmage
came and he was like, Giffen,
you’re starting at slot. And I just
remember my eyes lighting up
and I was so excited to get in.”
Erick scored in that first jam-
boree game – despite running
the wrong route – and contin-
ued to find the end zone in the
regular season including a game
with three touchdowns.
“I just remember Dylan on
the sidelines and like all my
friends on the sidelines, all my
young friends because I was
the only sophomore (playing).
I just remember all of them, ev-
ery time I scored like pushing
me and hyping me up and I just
remember the crowd noise and
stuff and I just thought it was
the coolest thing in the world to
play varsity football,” said Erick.
“It was crazy.”
The Lions rolled through the
season with the lone loss com-
ing to North Bend in the State
Championship. Along the way
Erick was named as an honor-
able mention defensive back
and slot receiver in addition to
second team kicker in league.
Dylan was sidelined for the
season with academic ineli-
gibility but was preparing for
his opportunity. Showing up
at practice every day as a slot
wide receiver, he received some
shocking news when starting se-
nior quarterback Blake Sentman
informed him that he would be
taking over as quarterback the
next season.
“I was like, ‘What? There’s no
way, you’re messing with me.’
And then I kind of felt pressure
on myself,” said Dylan. “A lot
was in my head. It was like ‘Oh,
you better step up your game.’”
When he confirmed that this
was not just a mean joke, Dylan,
with Erick at his side, got ready
for the upcoming season. With
a talented team coming back for
their junior year with the expec-
tation of competing for a state
championship, it was, indeed,
time to step up.
“He didn’t even play quarter-
back and now we’re like, okay,
well now this kid is going to
have to, trial by fire, as they say,”
said head coach Roberts. “You
know, learn how to do this on
the fly. And he did a good job.”
With a heart-to-heart conver-
sation with assistant coach Jor-
dan Johnson and a pair of first
team all-state wide receivers to
throw to in Jacob Woods and
Hayden Glenn – in addition to
honorable mention receiver Er-
ick – Dylan was able to get the
job done as the Lions went on
to win state and he was named
first-team all-state quarterback.
After soaking in the success
of winning the school’s first
football title, it was back to work
for Dylan and Erick. The lone
returning starters on the team,
they were getting the attention
coming in, and throughout, the
season.
“We had good seasons last
year but we were going to have
to step it up to have a good sea-
son this year. And I just remem-
ber all the people like around
the community that would talk
to us and just telling us how
we’re going to be terrible next
year,” said Erick. “And how me
and Dylan are like all we have.
Me and Dylan are going to do
good this year but our team will
be terrible and I just remember
wanting to prove them wrong.”
After having a wealth of talent
and dominating each and every
game last season, this year has
indeed been different. The Lions
have been tested. In week one it
was a heroic comeback victory
but in week three it was a come-
back that came up just short. It
was three consecutive losses to
finish September before a pair
of blowout victories in the last
two weeks. But through it all,
Dylan and Erick have relied on
each other.
“Me and Dylan are definitely
the tightest out of any duo in the
state,” said Erick. “I just feel like
I could trust Dylan in any situa-
tion whether it be fourth and 20
or 3rd and 1, I can trust Dylan’s
abilities and I feel he trusts my
abilities to do whatever it takes
whether it be on offense, defense
or special teams.”
It hasn’t been an easy season
and while a cast of characters
across the team has stepped up
to help the team get to their
4-3 record, at the core it comes
down to number three and
number four out on the field.
“We talked to them about how
fair or unfair, you are the two
main guys that played a bunch
last year and target is going to
be on your back,” said Roberts.
“You’re going to have to make
plays for us to be successful.
The games that we’ve been suc-
cessful in, they’ve done a pretty
good job at making plays and
we’ve had a couple of hiccups
here that we probably needed
them to make some more and
they didn’t. But overall, they’ve
done a good job.”
With one final game to play
in the regular season, the Lions,
who just have to beat a winless
Junction City team that has giv-
en up at least 49 points in each
of last five games, have all but
guaranteed a spot back in the
playoffs.
And while the end of this Cot-
tage Grove season looms in the
distance, it may not be the end
for Dylan and Erick playing to-
gether on a football field. With
aspirations to play together at a
small college, possibly George
Fox, the pair of friends continue
to have their sights set on more.
Whatever they do, now or in
the future – Erick wants to be an
athletic trainer and Dylan a po-
lice officer – they plan on always
having the other one near them
or just a call, or text or Face-
Time, away. Their friendship
was forged in the fires of middle
school and solidified every day
for the past five years. They have
their friendship now, and in
their eyes, maybe forever.
But before forever comes Fri-
day night.
Senior night: a night of cele-
bratory posters, heartfelt Insta
captions and maybe some tears.
It’s when the “lasts” that accom-
pany senior year start to become
a reality.
“It’s going to be emotional,”
said Erick. “It’s going to be a
weird feeling. It’s just crazy.”
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