High School Sports Zone September 18

High School Sports Zone
The Chronicle

Colts dominate Eagle Point;
Cottage Grove volleyball undefeated

Athlete Of The Week

Samuel Castanza – Thurston football

Castanza accomplished a rare feat in high school football – nailing a 39-yard field goal. A standout in both soccer and football, he brings elite kicking skills to the Colts football team.

Top Stories, Recaps & More

Colts romp in home opener, 47-6

THURSTON – With the band blaring, the sun setting warmly over the stadium, and the Colts charging across the field with their flag, Thurston’s return to Friday night lights opened… Read more.

Colts romp in home opener, 47-6

THURSTON – With the band blaring, the sun setting warmly over the stadium, and the Colts charging across the field with their flag, Thurston’s return to Friday night lights opened… Read more.

Dig this: Lions volleyball dominating

COTTAGE GROVE – The Lions have followed up a strong preseason performance in the 2nd annual North Star Volleyball Jamboree with an undefeated start through two weeks of the regular… Read more.

Dig this: Lions volleyball dominating

COTTAGE GROVE – The Lions have followed up a strong preseason performance in the 2nd annual North Star Volleyball Jamboree with an undefeated start through two weeks of the regular… Read more.

Billies take first win of the season; football roundup

The Cottage Grove Lions were shutout for the first time since 2023, losing to Coquille 34-0. The Lions struggled with the physicality of Coquille’s running game, with many missed tackles… Read more.

Billies take first win of the season; football roundup

Creswell starts perfect; girls soccer roundup

Cottage Grove went 2-0 last week in non-league. It began on Tuesday with a 2-0 win against Cascade. The Lions recorded 10 shots on goal and the GK made 5… Read more.

Creswell starts perfect; girls soccer roundup

Cottage Grove went 2-0 last week in non-league. It began on Tuesday with a 2-0 win against Cascade. The Lions recorded 10 shots on goal and the GK made 5… Read more.

Pleasant Hill and Creswell cruise in non-league; boys soccer roundup

Creswell went 1-2 last week against a line of private schools. It started with a 3-2 loss to Oregon Episcopal on Tuesday. Then, the Bulldogs dominated Rogue River 8-0. Finally,… Read more.

Pleasant Hill and Creswell cruise in non-league; boys soccer roundup

Creswell went 1-2 last week against a line of private schools. It started with a 3-2 loss to Oregon Episcopal on Tuesday. Then, the Bulldogs dominated Rogue River 8-0. Finally,… Read more.

The Main Event:

COTTAGE GROVE (1-1) AT CRESWELL (0-2)

■ Game facts: Friday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m….at Don King Field… The Cottage Grove Lions are ranked 15th in Class 4A and the Creswell Bulldogs are No. 22 in 3A.
■ Tickets: Adults are $5 … students $4 … Senior citizens $3
■ What2Know: Cottage Grove defeated Creswell 49-14 in last year’s matchup. The Lions will look to recover from a 34-0 loss to Coquille, which broke a 10-game regular season win streak. The Bulldogs have lost by a combined score of 86-12 in
Chase Beach’s first two games as head coach. The Lions are 10-3 against Class 3A teams under Steven Turner, while going 1-6 against Class 4A teams.

In case you missed it…

Billies debut:
Toughness, determination

Pleasant Hill opened their 2025 season against Sutherlin at the Billies’ turf on Friday night. JOSIE HEACOCK / THE CHRONICLE

PLEASANT HILL – “2016.” It’s painted on Pleasant Hill’s locker room wall – a reminder of the last time the Billies had a winning season and made the playoffs in football. And it serves as a goal for this year’s team.

A 28-21 loss to Sutherlin in the season opener was not the way first-year head coach Kenny Koberstein wanted to start the season, but he said he was proud of his team’s effort.

“Two full classes came through this high school without ever having a winning season, and so these kids are accustomed to a certain style of football around here. We have to, as a culture, kind of break that, and they’ve worked really, really hard to do that. Their effort tonight was tremendous,” he said.

The game delivered only three offensive touchdowns through three quarters, with the Billies leading 14-13. Jacob Neely had scored both touchdowns for Pleasant Hill: a 26-yard interception return in the second quarter and a long touchdown pass where quarterback Steven Bounds threw a 50-50 ball and trusted his receiver to catch it. He caught a contested pass, threw his defender off, and sprinted into the end zone.

Neely, a first-team all-league player at safety and wide receiver last season, finished with 5 catches for a team-leading 125 yards.