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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels October 2, 2004 Grizzlies can't parlay strong first half into win By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings ROSEBURG - The Sam Littleton to Jeff Skinner big-play connection was at it again Friday night. It was the plays in between that Ashland had trouble with. Robert Petetit | For the Tidings Ashland Senior Fullback David Jacobson-Fried gets tackled by Roseburg senior linebacker Andrew Edwards during Friday night's Southern Oregon Conference football game. The Indians outscored Ashland 17-0 in the second half for the 24-7 win. Roseburg scored on its first two possessions in the second half and wore Ashland down as the game went on in a 24-7 Southern Oregon Conference win at Finlay Field. Littleton and Skinner hooked up four times for 153 yards, but the Grizzlies struggled to keep drives going after tying the game at 7 late in the first quarter. "Roseburg's a big team physically and that gets hard on you after a while," Ashland head coach Dave Coldiron said. "But we had our opportunities to put points on the board and we didn't do it. We didn't take the momentum away from them." The win improved Roseburg to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the SOC, while Ashland fell to 1-3 and 0-2. The Grizzlies host Grants Pass next week, while the Indians have a bye. In other SOC games Friday night, North Medford creamed Crater 42-6 and Eagle Point shut out Grants Pass 26-0. Long ball The Grizzlies flashed their ability to go deep on Skinner's 80-yard reception in the first quarter - a play that set up David Jacobson-Fried's 3-yard touchdown run. But after tying the game, Ashland mostly struggled on offense and hurt itself with costly penalties. Roseburg tailback Aaron Buxton (10 carries, 100 yards) scored on a 27-yard sweep around the right end to cap a four-play, 80-yard drive that gave the Indians the lead for good with 9:09 to go in the third quarter. Ashland went three-and-out on its next possession - a false start backed them up five yards on first down - and Skinner's short punt gave the Indians the ball at the 50. Five plays later Roseburg capitalized when wide receiver Ben Sharp caught a 13-yard pass that was deflected into the air by the primary receiver. Operating out of the shotgun most of the night, Roseburg quarterback Brett Stephens completed 15 of 20 passes for 189 yards, one touchdown and no picks. Down 21-7, Ashland marched 70 yards on 10 plays, including a 44-yard pass play to Skinner on fourth-and-one. But on fourth-and-six from the Roseburg 10, Sam Littleton's pass, intended for Josh Cornelius in the back of the end zone, was underthrown and fell incomplete. "I'm sure there was someone that was open � I think I also kind of didn't make a good read and get the right guy the ball," Littleton said. "I also kind of rushed the throw. You gotta make a good, sharp throw." Littleton completed 15 of 31 passes for 255 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. Roseburg took over with 9:12 left in the game and promptly marched 71 yards in eight plays to set up Kyle Loomis' 36-yard field goal. A drive, anyone? Ashland slightly outgained Roseburg in total offense (333 yards to 322) and enjoyed its first successful running game (25 rushes, 83 yards), but gained just 13 first downs to Roseburg's 19. That helped the Indians control the clock and wear down the Grizzlies. Fatigue became noticeable in the fourth quarter, when Roseburg sweeps that were contained in the first half suddenly became big gainers. "We wanted it more, but the scoreboard didn't reflect that," Ashland senior linebacker Alex Aleccia said. "They had some big pulling guards and tackles so that was a big issue for us, but that wasn't our main problem - offense was. We need to step up on offense a lot more." Roseburg fired up its homecoming crowd right from the start when James Snyder returned Ashland's opening kickoff up the middle 85 yards for a touchdown. He was untouched. Ashland's defense bended but didn't break the rest of the first half. The Indians did set up two field goal attempts, but both were unsuccessful - the first was short and the second was blocked by a mob of Grizzlies. Fighting back Ashland made its presence felt on its second drive of the game. Backed up to their own 4-yard line, the Grizzlies marched 96 yards in eight plays, overcoming a 15-yard holding penalty that gave them a second-and-30. On the sixth play of the drive, Littleton hit Skinner in stride on a post 15 yards up field and the 6-foot-3, 215-pound tight end rumbled all the way to the Roseburg 12. "We were right there in the first half," Littleton said. "Tough loss. Tough loss." Ashland picked up three straight first downs, including two on the ground, on its opening drive of the second half before stalling at the Roseburg 47. The Tribe offense took the game over the rest of the way, scoring on three of its next four possessions. "We though we had a very good chance," Grizzly senior linebacker Morgan Mason said. "We came out hard, we knew what we were in for - just tried to give it our all. The offense just couldn't pull it together." Grizz notes: Jacobson-Fried had 91 yards of total offense (50 rushing, 41 receiving) in his most complete game of the season, and also played well on defense. � Steve Jorgensen's fumble at the end of a 12-yard reception for the Grizzlies was the only turnover of the day for either team. � Skinner had to leave the game and never returned after hitting his head hard on the big fourth-down catch. Coldiron did not know Skinner's status for the Grants Pass game. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams