COTTAGE GROVE – It often felt like a carnival after Cottage Grove football games this season. A cacophony of celebration – fans cheering, players striding with confidence, celebratory hugs all around.
It was a different scene on Saturday.
The Lions, undefeated through nine regular-season games during their first year as a Class 3A football participant, fell 46-7 against Burns’ high-powered running game in the first round of the OSAA state playoffs on Saturday.
Outside the locker room where parents and fans awaited the players, one could hear the faint rustling of the leaves that matched the solemn postgame atmosphere.
“Well, at least we don’t have to go to Medford next weekend,” one parent said, piercing the silence as he attempted to lighten the mood.
When the team finally walked out of the locker room, there were red faces, puffy eyes, and downcast profiles.
Most went directly to their parents for a consolation embrace.
“Burns is a really good football team,” coach Steve Turner said. “They’re a very physical team, too. They’re the most physical football team we’ve seen. You can’t practice against the physicality that they brought to this game.
“It wasn’t so much what we did or didn’t do. It’s what they did. They set the tone for the game and whatever we tried just did not work. Our kids played hard, but they were a lot better,” he said.
What the Lions (9-1) were able to accomplish this season was noteworthy. Cottage Grove finished No. 6 in the state and won the 3A-SD3 Special District 3 league. But on Saturday, the Lions’ red-hot season fizzled out.
The Lions defense started strong, forcing three turnovers on fumbles, and playing to a scoreless first quarter. The Hilanders, utilizing their bruising rushing attack from the I-formation, pulled away in the second quarter and led 24-0 by halftime. The Hilanders’ powerful rushing game found success running sweeps to either side of the field, which relentlessly pounded the Lions defense.
Hometown fans, accustomed to the Lions’ slow starts and furious second-half finishes this season, held onto their hopes for a comeback.
“We’re a second-half team,” one spectator said in reassurance while standing in line at the concession stand. “We’ll get back.”
And their hopes were brieflylit when senior Nathin Lemon threw a touchdown pass to Trevor Cooper upon opening the third quarter. However, they would be the last points Cottage Grove would score. Halfway through the third quarter, the officials implemented the “mercy rule” by running a non-stop clock as the Hilanders finished the game with six touchdowns and five two-point conversions.
Turner explained that the Lions still lack the experience of the intensity and higher level of play in the playoffs despite their perfect regular season.
“Our kids have never experienced that intensity, and they were intense,” Turner said of Burns. “It’s a different level when you get to the playoffs. Burns has been here before, all those kids today were also in the playoffs last year. They have kids on their team who are state champion wrestlers. They know what it’s like to compete. We don’t. We’ve never been a winner.
“So sometimes, to create a program, you have to take steps. Our steps are ‘Can we get to the playoffs?’ And then after the playoffs, ‘Can you win?’
“So that’s where we’re at. You have to learn how to compete. You have to learn how to push through things. And you know, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to learn how to compete. Whether it’s football, whether it’s in the offseason, wrestling, basketball, or track, it’s all about learning how to compete. We just didn’t compete,” he said.
While it’s clear that the Lions struggled to compete against the more-physical Hilanders, Turner said it’s equally clear that they never gave up.
Reflecting on the first season in 3A and the larger picture of Cottage Grove’s program building, Turner reiterated that the team is in the right classification for its size and that moving to a higher level again would be inappropriate.
“That’s a long way aways,” Turner said of moving back to Class 4A where the Lions won only two games from 2019-23. “If you want to be a 4A program you have to have 80 to 90 kids in your program, and we’ve got 50. We can’t compete at that level. This is the level that we need to be to have success.
“Who needs to be a 4A and get the holy poop kicked out of them? That’s not good for anybody, and it’s not good for the teams you play either. Right now, I’m focused on building the program,” he said.
Turner said any discussion of the Lions’ success in the context of competing at the Class 3A level is unfair to the players.
“People gave us a bad time this season,” Turner said. “‘Oh, you guys should be 4A’. Horse manure. It’s horse manure.”
Turner cited North Marion, Madras, Sisters, and Elmira as 4A schools competing at the Class 3A level now who the Lions played against this year. He also mentioned that when Cottage Grove won the state championship in 2017, “they beat four of the teams that the ‘24 team played.” Also, in the last four years, the Lions were “0-8 against three schools they played against this season.”
“So how are we beating up on smaller schools? … How about giving our kids credit for doing what they did instead of saying that? Our kids did all the things that they needed to do to get to this point. They didn’t have any direction before. Now they’ve got direction.
“My official statement to that criticism is that the people who say that have no idea what they’re talking about. The people who are criticizing us for being 3A now have absolutely no idea about football,” he said.
Turner said he’s not yet thinking about next year and is focused on this season’s aftermath. He mentioned the emotional toll of the ’24 season and the need to take time to reflect before planning for the future.
“Right now, we’re all hurting,” Turner said. “It doesn’t feel good. I’m gonna go to church after this and ask for forgiveness for being so dang angry, and then, you know, I’m gonna take some time and we’ll figure out where we’re going after that.”
