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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad September 23, 2005 Raiders look for first win of the season at home against Western Starting QB Despotakis to back up Downey Raider quarterback Justin Despotakis will sit down to give sophomore Dan Downey a shot in the pocket. Southern hopes the change will spark the offense and carry the Raiders past rival Western Oregon. Daily Tidings File Photo Staff and wire reports Oregon's most fervent small-college pigskin rivalry is rekindled Saturday evening in Ashland, after a two-year hiatus, when kindred programs Southern Oregon University and Western Oregon University face off for the 70th time since 1927. In preparation for the contest, SOU has decided to switch starting quarterbacks. Southern will start sophomore quarterback Dan Downey over senior Justin Despotakis. McClure thinks Downey’s physical style goes better with the type of offense the Raiders are playing right now. He emphasized the team is not blaming past losses on Despotakis. “We just think Danny gives us a little bit of a change-up,” McClure said. Although the programs are no longer conference adversaries, emotions still run high when Southern and Western face off in athletics. Besides the typical aspirations for institutional and recruitment bragging rights, each school always expects to emerge victorious, regardless of win-loss records, statistics or historical trends. “They’re a good football team,” Raider interim head coach Shay McClure said. Both rosters are chock-full of Oregon-born players, many of whom are already well-acquainted, are former teammates, were familiar prep foes and/or were recruited by both schools. And the alumni and long-time fans, of course, often have encyclopedic recollections of the cliffhangers, the big plays, all the bad calls, the insults, the slights, the spoilers, and the cheap shots — real or imagined. This year's clash is a battle between rebuilding teams coming off disappointing seasons and unsuccessful weekend outcomes. Off to an 0-2 start, it’s a must-win scenario for NAIA independent Southern Oregon in its quest for a six-win season, which would probably be enough to earn a playoff berth. Routed by Linfield (49-7) and Eastern Washington (48-7) the past two Saturdays, Western Oregon (1-2) hopes to never again to experience the infamy of last year’s 1-9 campaign — the Monmouth school’s worst since its winless 1923 season. “I think it’s a pretty evenly matched game,” McClure said, adding “now, that’s on paper.” Consistent efforts and making fewer mistakes will be key for Southern to notch a win this weekend. The Raiders claimed seven of 10 meetings between 1989 and ‘98, but the NCAA Div. II Wolves have won the past three games dating back to a 52-17 shocker in the 1999 regular-season finale that cost SOU an NAIA playoff bid. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.