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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 12, 2005 Ashland deals with EP, pain Littleton out with hurt knee, Gaviglio to start By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland at Eagle Pt. When/Where : Ashland at Eagle Point, at Eagle Stadium, 7 p.m. Thursday. Injuries: Ashland will play without quarterback/defensive back Sam Littleton (knee) and may also be without tailback Dylan Steeves (knee), who will be a game time decision. Ashland High senior quarterback Sam Littleton stood on the sideline Tuesday at Phillips Field and settled into one of his least favorite pastimes: watching his backup, junior Gus Gaviglio, guide Ashland’s starting offense. Littleton strained a knee ligament during the first half of last week’s loss to Grants Pass and will sit out Thursday night’s crucial Southern Oregon Conference contest at Eagle Point. That puts Gaviglio in the driver’s seat of an offense that cruised through the Grizzlies’ first four games of the season, only to sputter through their next two — both Ashland losses. Now, Ashland (4-2 overall, 1-2 SOC) needs a win against the Eagles (3-3, 0-3) to keep its playoff hopes in the realm of reality. Kickoff is at 7 at Eagle Stadium. Frustrated but determined to return soon, Littleton believes Gaviglio can deliver in the meantime. “Gus will do fine, I’m confident in him,” said Littleton, who’s completed 62 percent of his passes for 960 yards and 10 touchdowns. “He knows what’s going on, he’s got a great arm and he’s a play-maker. He makes stuff happen.” Gaviglio certainly made stuff happen — for both teams — in last week’s loss to Grants Pass. The strong-armed signal caller completed 10-of-14 passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns, but also had an interception returned 20 yards for a back-breaking fourth-quarter TD. That represented Gaviglio’s first extended action of the conference season. In five games of mostly handoff duty Gaviglio has completed 14-of-20 passes for 185 yards, three touchdowns — all to Josh Cornelius — and one interception. That gives him a higher quarterback rating than Littleton, but it’s Littleton’s ability to scramble that makes him so dangerous. Littleton has 152 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 41 attempts. Without that double threat, the Grizzlies will probably ditch most of the option plays in their offense and lean on a running game that may also be shorthanded — starting tailback Dylan Steeves (twisted knee) will be a game time decision. “I think coach (Charlie) Hall is going to be able to prepare me for it, even though it’s a Thursday’s game,” Gaviglio said, referring to the short week. Gaviglio had a lot going through his head two days before the game, and not just Ashland’s offense, which he feels comfortable running. Eagle Point employs an aggressive defense that could confuse an inexperienced quarterback playing on the road. That defense is also giving up points in bunches, however, and could be just what Ashland’s offense needs to snap out of its mini slump. “They’re a very physical defense and they like to blitz, especially in the red zone, so my awareness that they’re blitzing and for me to audible out of it definitely is going to be key,” Gaviglio said. Another key will be how Ashland’s defense, which also takes a hit without Littleton (safety) or Steeves (cornerback), handles Eagle Point’s deceptive offense, which resembles the run-dominated Fly offense. The Eagles use motion on nearly every play to confuse the defense and open up running lanes. That didn’t work too well last week, when the Eagles gained just 14 yards on 29 carries in a 36-32 loss to Crater. The Eagles instead relied on their passing attack, which racked up 340 yards. Eagle Point quarterback Brandt Nevin completed 22-of-42 passes, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Eagles also used a no-huddle offense against Crater. “(Eagle Point) will run basically some version of every offense that was ever conceived by modern day football, so we’ve got to expect the unexpected,” Hall said. “Their special teams are also very tricky. They run reverses and fake punts and they go for it on fourth down quite a bit, so they really make you defend the entire width of the field and every down is an adventure.” ASHLAND HIGH FOOTBALL Sept. 2 NORTH SALEM W 24-7 Sept. 9 REX PUTNAM W 29-25 Sept. 16 at Cleveland W 41-13 Sept. 23 at North Medford W 46-42 Sept. 30 ROSEBURG L 20-7 Oct. 7 at Grants Pass L 35-12 Oct. 14 at Eagle Point 7 p.m. Oct. 21 SOUTH MEDFORD 7 p.m. Oct. 28 KLAMATH UNION 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at Crater 7 p.m. TEAM STATISTICS AHS Opp SCORING 159 142 Points per game 26.5 23.7 FIRST DOWNS 98 85 Rushing 49 53 Passing 49 31 Penalty 0 1 RUSHES-YARDS 166-876 215-965 Avg. rush 5.3 4.5 PASSING YARDS 1,145 590 Avg per att 7.2 5.8 Comp-Att-Int 99-158-7 51-101-7 TOTAL OFFENSE 2,021 1,555 Plays-avg 324-6.2 316-4.9 Fumbles-Lost 8-4 9-4 Penalties-Yards 33-237 26-178 Sacks-Yards 9-54 4-23 Punts-avg 13-28.3 21-33.5 Time of Possession avg 22:58 25:02 Third Down Eff 21-59 27-68 Fourth Down Eff 5-16 9-14 INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Top 3) RUSHING Player att yds avg TD Steeves 59 392 6.6 3 Meza 44 279 6.3 1 Littleton 41 152 3.7 4 PASSING Player cmp att yds td-int Littleton 85 138 960 10-6 Gaviglio 14 20 185 3-1 RECEIVING Player rec yds avg td Cornelius 31 511 16.5 9 San Nicholas 17 230 13.5 1 Dodds 17 170 10.0 3 DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Free Music Downloads Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks Online Casinos FREE Entertainment Guide Calenders 2006 Calendar Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products best online casino tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing cortisol; weight loss Diamonds Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Southern Oregon Loans Sportsbook Ztech Media Hosting Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Myspace Layouts Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Student Loans Bonus Casino ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Canadian Pharmacy Casino Gambling Sites Backpacks Click Here .:Advertisements:. 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