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Traveling Raiders have no time for regrets By JOE ZAVALA Ashland Daily Tidings Forgetting a loss is never easy, but the Southern Oregon University football team has a real doozie to put behind it this week. Five days removed from a wrenching 47-42 loss to regional rival Linfield, Raider coach Jeff Olson is still wallowing in the aftermath. He doesn't have long to right the ship. The Raiders travel to Arcata, Calif., Saturday for a night game against the up-and-coming Humboldt State Lumberjacks (1-1). "I think the biggest challenge that we're facing right now is ourselves," Olson said. "It was such an emotional rollercoaster. But, one of the things I learned about our team last week was, I think we've got a lot of character, a lot of heart. We could have hung it up � but we didn't. We came back and had an opportunity to win it. I think the mistakes that we made, the fumbles, we have to overcome that." In other words, they have to stop it. The 13th-ranked Raiders turned the ball over six times against Linfield - three fumbles, two interceptions and one muffed punt return. The fifth-ranked Wildcats took advantage of the extra offensive snaps, burning the Raiders to the tune of 448 yards of total offense. The Raider secondary gets the award for most abused. Linfield quarterback Tyler Matthews completed 29 of 46 passes for 347 yards and five touchdown passes, including a 25-yard strike to George Carter with 1:28 to go that proved to be the game-winner. Humboldt State poses many of the same problems. The Lumberjacks, who've been idle since beating NCAA Division I-AA foe St. Mary's 20-6 two weeks ago, are picking up 255 yards per game through the air with an experienced bunch that lost two close games to the Raiders in 2002. HSU returns four players who helped the squad rank third in the Northwest for passing last season. Junior all-star receiver Dustin Creager, senior quarterback Chris Dixon, senior flanker Chris White and senior receiver Brent Adkins all return for another crack at a Raider squad that beat Humboldt 27-17 and 20-10 last September. "They're certainly equal to or better than the (Linfield) receiving corps we saw last week," Olson was quoted as saying in the team's weekly football press release. "Dixon is a very dangerous quarterback, and he's showing more patience in the pocket this year. They're keeping people off-balance by rushing the ball more, and their defense appears to be vastly improved. They're a solid team capable of beating anyone in the Northwest." Dixon has completed 39 of 76 passes (.513) for 510 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. His favorite targets are Creager and White, who have a combined 25 receptions and 386 receiving yards. When Dixon hands off, it will probably be to tailback Adrian Waddy, who leads the team in both carries (42) and rushing yards (155). On the other side of the ball the Lumberjacks field the 13th-ranked run defense, a strength the team hopes will negate, or at least contain, SOU tailback Dusty McGrorty. McGrorty had 228 yards on 26 carries last week, but Saturday will run against a defense that's allowing just 67 yards per game. "They're very athletic, they've got very good speed in the secondary and they're a big, physical team," Olson said. The Lumberjacks play on an artificial grass surface at the Redwood Bowl, which should only make SOU's receivers that much faster. That phenomenal team speed lived up to expectations last week, as SOU gained 506 yards of total offense - 254 on the ground and 252 through the air. In fact, SOU outgained Linfield 506-428, a statistic that only adds salt to the Raiders' turnover sore. "We've gotta take better care of the ball," Olson said. But first, the Raiders have to forget. "Every game is important," Olson said, "and I've really stressed to our kids that we can't look down the road. We've got to worry about us, we can't control what anybody else does, we can only control what we do. And not being in a conference, it makes things very interesting." 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 -