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Cottage Grove grinds Tribe into turf

Lions use a dominating ground game to push their way into the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs.

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Going into Friday night's first-round Class 4A state playoff game at Hillsboro Stadium, there was plenty to make the early advantage lean in Scappoose's favor.

Aside from the Indians having already beaten Cottage Grove once this year, Scappoose had lost just once at Hillsboro since 2000 (last year's 3A semifinals), and head coach Sean McNabb had a 3-0 record against Cottage Grove and former Pleasant Hill head coach Randy Fisher.

But Friday night, Fisher used a smashmouth running game to get the Scappoose monkey off his back as Cottage Grove dominated the game in the trenches for a 22-14 victory and a trip to the second round.

Eric Anderson ran 40 times for 204 yards, more yards than Scappoose had in total offense on the night, to lead the way for Cottage Grove, seemingly taking the game over early on.

The Lions' game plan from the start was their bread-and-butter for most of the second half of the season: keep the ball, grind the clock and keep the opposing offense off the field. It worked to near perfection in a 14-6 loss to No. 1 Sisters, and Cottage Grove seemed to perfect it Friday night.

Cottage Grove held the ball for 32:16, more than two-thirds of the game. The Lions did so in part by converting on 9 of 16 third downs and 3 of 5 fourth downs, and also did it with an efficient 6-for-7 passing performance.

Cottage Grove took the game's first possession and ran 6:20 off the clock but came up empty-handed when Jason Woody's 31-yard field goal attempt fell short. During that first series the Indians -- who were already without starting two-way tackle Jed Iverson -- just junior starting two-way tackle Devon Engstrom for the game to a left knee injury.

Scappoose was forced to punt on its first possession, and the Lions scored uncharacteristically quickly, needing just five plays and 2:27 to cover 55 yards, scoring on a one-yard sneak by quarterback Bryant Sentman. The touchdown was set up by Anderson, who busted off a run for 42 yards before being caught from behind and pushed out of bounds inside the 1.

Scappoose then turned the ball over on downs on its next possession, failing to convert on fourth-and-inches with a slowly developing run to T.J. Crane which the Lions stuffed at the line.

Cottage Grove's next possession resulted in the Indians' first points of the game. Scappoose forced the Lions to punt -- it would be the Grove's only punt of the game -- and Sean Wasson fielded the kick at the Indians' 16-yard line. Wasson found a blocking seam down the right sideline and raced untouched 84 yards for a touchdown, and Brian Maloney's PAT kick gave Scappoose a 7-6 lead with 8:40 left in the first half.

The Lions then made another crucial special teams mistake when they fumbled a high, short kickoff and Scappoose's R.J. Logue recovered at Cottage Grove's 34. But the Indians offense sputtered when, on third-and-6, a Justin Engstrom pass was dropped by Ryan Wilson then, on fourth-and-6, an Engstrom pass to Weston Powers was broken up by a well-timed hit by the Lions' Chuck McLeod.

Cottage Grove turned its next possession into a 12-7 lead, driving 70 yards in 12 plays and 5:45, capping the drive when Sentman rolled to his right and hit Bobby Edwards over the middle for a 19-yard touchdown with 1:20 left in the half.

On that drive, Anderson appeared to take over the game in the Lions' backfield, carrying on the first five plays of the possession and then adding a big 11-yard run with the Lions facing fourth-and-7.

The Indians took the opening kickoff of the second half, but again were forced to punt, and Powers' shanked kick got a great forward bounce, eventually covering 44 yards before rolling dead at the Cottage Grove 3. The Lions, pinned deep in their own end of the field, gave Scappoose a golden opportunity when Sentman fumbled a snap and Scappoose's Ryland Geiger recovered at the Lions 15.

An 11-yard pass from Engstrom to Powers pushed Scappoose to the Lions 4, but two plays later Engstrom threw a pass into heavy end zone traffic and Sentman redeemed himself with the interception.

Cottage Grove made Scappoose pay for that mistake with another long, time-killing drive, goin 80 yards in 14 plays and 6:35 and capping the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Sentman to David Black. The Lions gave Scappoose a healthy dose of Anderson on the drive with 10 carries and mixed in some variety, including a 7-yard bootleg by Sentman on a fourth-and-4 conversion.

Scappoose turned its next possession into points, going 66 yards in 3:43 -- their longest possession of the night -- and eventually scoring when Jacob Francoeur made a diving 8-yard catch of an end zone pass by Engstrom, and Maloney's PAT made it 19-14 with 9:43 left in the game.

On that drive, Engstrom hit Powers on back-to-back passes to keep the drive alive, including a 14-yarder on third down which gave Powers 71 receptions on the season and broke the Tribe's single-season receiving record of 70, set by Brett Maloy in 2000. Powers finished the game with six catches and 54 yards, giving him 74 receptions on the season.

After Scappoose's score, the Lions made it an 8-point game with aonther time-killing possesion, using 6:02 to go 57 yards, capping the drive with a 21-yard field goal by Woody with 3:41 left in the game. Anderson carried on all 12 offensive plays on the drive.

Scappoose's Engstrom was picked off a second time on the Indians' next play from scrimmage. He was looking for Kyle Goodnight on a 10-yard route near the sideline, but instead hit the Lions' McCall in the hands, and McCall returned the pick to the Scappoose 8-yard line with 3:17 to play.

Game over? Um, not yet.

Scappoose's defense held firm inside their own 10, and a missed field goal gave the Indians new life, but with just 1:43 to play from their own 20 and needing a touchdown and two-point conversion, it would be a steep climb.

The Indians covered just 12 yards in their first four plays, including two more dropped passes (they dropped five in the game) before back-to-back completions from Engstrom to Powers moved Scappoose to their own 47 with 0:29 to play.

But Scappoose could get just 10 more yards on a pass from Engstrom to Kevin Carpenter before needing two desperation heaves toward the end zone, the second of which was picked off by Sentman as the clock expired.

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

CG -- Sentman 1 run (kick blocked), 2:24

Second Quarter

S -- Wasson 84 punt return (Maloney kick), 8:40

CG -- Edwards 19 pass from Sentman (run failed), 1:20

Third Quarter

CG -- Black 12 pass from Sentman (Woody kick), 1:26

Fourth Quarter

S -- Francoeur 8 pass from Engstrom (Maloney kick), 9:43

CG -- FG 21 Woody, 2:41

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing: Cottage Grove, Anderson 40-204, Sentman 7-15, Stanley 7-14, Thompson 4-13, Edwards 1-(minus 4); Scappoose, Crane 11-53, Geiger 3-32, J. Engstrom 2-0, team 1-(minus 9).

Passing: Cottage Grove, Sentman 6-7-0-85; Scappoose, J. Engstrom 14-29-3-104, Jackson 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: Cottage Grove, McLeod 3-42, Black 2-34, Edwards 1-19; Scappoose, Powers 6-54, Carpenter 3-23, Crane 1-10, Francoeur 1-8, Goodnight 1-5, Wasson 1-2, Hoglund 1-2.

TEAM STATISTICS

Time of Possession: Cottage Grove 32:16, Scappoose 15:44.

First downs: CG 16, Scappoose 11.

Rushes-yards: CG 59-242, Scappoose 17-76.

Passing yards: CG 85, Scappoose 104.

Total offense: CG 327, Scappoose 180.

Offensive plays: CG 66, Scappoose 46.

Third-down efficiency: CG 9-16, Scappoose 3-10.

Fourth-down: CG 3-5, Scappoose 1-3.

Fumbles-lost: CG 2-2, Scappoose 2-0.

Punts-avg.: CG 1-38.0, Scappoose 3-39.7.

Penalties: CG 3-25, Scappoose 1-15.