By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
GERVAIS, Ore.–It’s a bittersweet moment for Kopi Orlov as the dawn of his senior year is coming.
Orlov suffered a knee injury his sophomore year, during Gervais’ run to the 2A State Semi-Finals and missed all of last year with the injury while the Cougars made a similar Semi-Final run up at the 3A level.
Now healthy, Orlov is hoping to contribute and help continue this Gervais ride that last year’s seniors built during their four-years as Cougars.
“It’s crazy to think how fast it blew by. I’m just really excited to get back at it and see how competitive we can be. We lost a lot of seniors, but they left a footprint and I’m excited to fill those shoes and be the next one up and teach these younger guys when they get to my spot, they can be competitive too.” starts Orlov. “We had Johnny (Mariano) he showed the running backs how to run the ball and we had some of the other recievers, they were very athletic and they weren’t scared to show it.
“It just really show us that we can be even better than them, we just have to put in the work and be here every day.”
Sure they lost a lot of those seniors and they got a new coaching staff with Michael Davenport coming in, but the ebb-and-flow between those returning with Davenport’s arrival came off as a perfection connection. As if the Cougars didn’t skip a beat in preparing for this upcoming season.
Quarterback Frank Ojeda draws similarities with Davenport with their former coach in JJ Navarette, who’s now at Woodburn, with their coaching styles and how the coaching feels natural despite the minor differences in the offensive schemes between the two coaches. The challenge has been something Ojeda has embraced as the first week of the season comes to an end.
“They have similar coaching,” starts Ojeda. “Honestly, Davenport is more of a passing-type of guy. Transitioning from a run-heavy team to a pass-more team has been a process, but with his coaching system and a lot of other people, they’ve been helping me out. I get that feeling that it’s natural.
“Last year’s seniors, they left on a high-note. I take a lot of inspiration from Johnny, Ben (Cam), Angelo (Ferreira), they inspired me a lot. I looked up to them as soon as I came in freshman, and I’m planning on doing the same for these freshmen. With this new coaching staff, I feel like we can do great things.”
