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Ashland not at full-strength for last preseason bout By JOE ZAVALA Ashland Daily Tidings The good news is: Alex Aleccia is back home. The bad news is, Ashland High's junior lineman is one of several key Grizzlies who are either out or not at full strength heading into Friday's final preseason game at Gresham. Aleccia spent three nights at Providence Medical Center following a severe concussion, suffered during Friday's win over Pleasant Valley. AHS trainer Eli Champagn originally thought the injury occurred during Aleccia's block following teammate David Morris' interception return. According to Ashland first-year head coach David Coldiron, however, the game film seemed to show an aware and alert Aleccia jogging off the field after a routine hit. Aleccia made his surprise return Monday, during a special teams meeting. "We were getting to a place," Coldiron describes, "where normally Alex would be (in the play), so coach (Dave) Kitchell yelled from the back, 'Hey coach, what do we do, isn't that where Alex plays.' And I said, 'Yeah coach, it is where Alex plays, we're going to have to find somebody to replace him.' And he says, 'No you're not coach, because Alex is here,' and (Aleccia) walked in through the back door, and of course all the guys started cheering and yelling and screaming and stuff, so it was really kind of a neat deal." Regardless of when the fateful contact took place, Aleccia could be out a while - though exactly how long is source of friendly debate. "Alex told me that the doctor said it was going to be two to four weeks before he was back," Coldiron said with a smile. "I told him, 'Let's wait, let's see first before we jump back in here in two to four weeks.' But that's what the doctor's told Alex - according to Alex." Aleccia isn't the only Grizzly who's status is in limbo. Junior lineman Thomas Clinkenbeard (knee) and senior running back/linebacker Ben Helm-Graton (knee) both are nursing serious injuries, while senior lineman Preston Lehr will play with a broken wrist. Clinkenbeard is out six to eight weeks and Helm-Graton is out two to three weeks. The injuries will seriously test the depth of Ashland's defensive and offensive fronts, which played well during Friday's impressive season- opener. They won't, however, throw a wrench into Ashland's game plan. At least not yet. "Well, we can't change too much," Coldiron said. "The nice thing about it, if there is a good thing about it, is that our offensive lineman have learned to play multiple spots early on so � we have guys that can do multiple things. So, we're not really looking at making many changes because of it, we're just kind of running our same system." Gresham (1-0), which toppled Marshall 35-26 in its season-opener, has had two weeks to prepare for the Grizzlies following a bye week. The Gophers will be looking to avenge a last-minute 35-34 loss they suffered at Phillips Field in 2002. Gresham is led by 5-9, 160-pound senior quarterback Eric Brown, who can run or pass out of the Gophers' option offense. The game represents Ashland's last chance to work out the bugs before next week's Southern Oregon Conference-opener at North Medford. North (2-0) was voted the league's No. 1 team in a preseason coaches poll and is one of the top teams in the state as well. "We have to get ready for our league," Coldiron said. "We could win all the preseason games in the world and it won't put us in the playoffs. Our goal is to go to the playoffs, so we have to get ready for our SOC competitors. "We're trying to get ready, get the fundamentals done, get the stuff in that we feel we need, so when we meet the SOC people, we can be competitive." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -