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North notches bittersweet win over Roseburg By Danny Penza Updated: Oct 07, 2022 11:58 PM A A 9 View all photos Black Tornado QB Lacey taken off on stretcher in first quarter of North’s fourth straight win It only took a few short minutes for North Medford’s first home game in October to take a turn for the scary. A boisterous Spiegelberg Stadium fell silent in a hurry when North Medford quarterback Caiden Lacey was injured on a hard hit on his team’s first play from scrimmage and taken off the field on a stretcher early in the first quarter of the Black Tornado’s 42-6 win over Roseburg on Friday night. The win was North’s fourth in a row — all coming to begin South/Central Football Conference play — allowing the Black Tornado (4-2, 4-0 SCFC) to remain in a first-place tie with top-ranked Sheldon (6-0, 4-0), which won 49-0 over No. 8 South Medford (5-1, 3-1) in Eugene. According to North head coach Nathan Chin, Lacey suffered “a combination concussion and neck injury.” “They’ll still go through some additional testing, but he did call us and he’s in good spirits,” said Chin, whose team hosts Sheldon next Friday. “Obviously with anything that is neck-related, every precautionary piece is going to get taken care of. That was the big thing that happened in that fashion. We’re thinking of him.” Lacey’s injury came on a first-down play from the Indians’ 20-yard line after Nolan Kelly’s 35-yard punt return put the Black Tornado in the red zone right off the bat. The senior quarterback rolled to his left after faking a handoff to running back Ty Pugliano, but was hit hard at the 25 by Roseburg’s Nick Parish, immediately sending Lacey down and causing the ball to come loose. As three Roseburg players raced to pick up the ball, Lacey laid flat on his back with the collision with Parish causing his helmet to come off even before he hit the turf. Recognition to tend to Lacey was immediate by on-rushing medical staff. Lacey remained on the ground for nearly 15 minutes — much of the time motionless — while being treated by trainers from both teams before leaving the field on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. Chin said that Lacey “was pretty responsive” while down on the field. “He was having feeling everywhere and everything like that, but I think it was similar to a whiplash type of deal,” said Chin. “He was having feeling and a little bit of tingling in one side, but he was having feeling in everything and all of his limbs. We weren’t going to let him move, but he could move his legs and hands and he was responsive in that way.” “It wasn’t one of those blackout kind of hits based on the information given and how he was responding,” continued Chin, “but definitely on the verge of the concussion piece and then the neck. He was definitely feeling it in his neck.” On the play, Lacey could be seen with his eyes focused downfield for passing options and did not recognize Parish closing in and therefore was also unable to brace for the impact. In total, the injury delay lasted 20 minutes. “Our coaches kind of rallied the kids and obviously they were rattled with it,” said Chin, who spent much of the delay on the field alongside Lacey. “Anything like that, that’s a rattle for you and your kids. It took a few minutes to rally them together but they did a pretty good job from that standpoint.” JT Knobloch-Scott, North’s kicker who transferred from Cascade Christian for his senior season, took over under center just as he did when Lacey injured his knee in the Black Tornado’s loss to Bend on Sept. 9. His first pass of the night gave the Black Tornado a 7-0 lead, as he connected with Connor Cesaro for a 15-yard touchdown pass. North doubled its lead early in the second quarter on a 38-yard touchdown run from Kilohana Wailehua, who got a pair of huge blocks from the right side of the Black Tornado offensive line to go in virtually untouched. The Knobloch-Scott and Cesaro connection was at it again for North’s third TD of the game, with the two hooking up for a 34-yard pass to make it 21-0 midway through the second quarter. Knobloch-Scott added a third touchdown pass right before the end of the first half, as DeAndre Card used every bit of his 6-foot-1 frame to out-leap his defender on a high-arcing 19-yard pass into the front-right corner of the end zone. Despite being thrust into duty due to Lacey’s injury, Knobloch-Scott finished 8-of-12 for 145 yards and four touchdown passes, the last of which going to AJ Pugliano in the third quarter. “I don’t want to say he’s care-free because he cares and is competitive, but he has that about him that he can be pretty successful doing stuff like that and go in the moment and go play,” Chin said of Knobloch-Scott. “He’s an athletic kid, he’s never really played quarterback — he was a soccer player who decided to play football and kick the ball. He’s just kind of become our backup quarterback with some other guys being moved to other positions and he did a really good job.” Ty Pugliano carried the ball 13 times for 93 yards, spearheading a Black Tornado rushing attack that finished with 259 yards on the night. Cesaro finished with two receptions for 49 yards and two TDs, while AJ Pugliano had three receptions for 53 yards and a TD. It was a completely different story on offense for Roseburg (0-5, 0-4 SCFC), which entered Friday night’s game having scored just 17 points in its first four games of the season, all coming in a 56-17 loss to Sprague on Sept. 23. On their first four drives of the game, the Indians punted the ball three times and turned it over on downs once. Roseburg finished with 107 yards of total offense, with 87 of those coming on the ground. “Our defense does such a great job,” said Chin. “When you have those two defensive ends with Easton Abbott and AJ Pugliano on each side, they do a lot to funnel things inside. Then we’re stout inside with Jeremiah Robbins and Cameron Nix and all the interior linemen. Our defense is playing well all season long, to be honest.” Roseburg0006—6 North Medford72177—42 NM — Cesaro 15 pass from Knobloch-Scott (Knobloch-Scott kick) NM — Wailehua 38 run (Knobloch-Scott kick) NM — Cesaro 34 pass from Knobloch-Scott (Knobloch-Scott kick) NM — Card 19 pass from Knobloch-Scott (Knobloch-Scott kick) NM — AJ Pugliano 5 pass from Knobloch-Scott (Knobloch-Scott kick) NM — Robbins 14 run (Knobloch-Scott kick) R — Eckel 15 run (kick failed) Reach reporter Danny Penza at 541-776-4469 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @penzatopaper. North Medford's defense stops Roseburg's Cayden Eckel for a loss during the 1st half at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] North Medford's Caiden Lacey is surrounded by coaches and teammates at he left the game on a stretcher at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] North Medford's JT Knobloch-Scott takes the snap after stepping in as quarterback during the 1st half against Roseburg at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] North Medford's Jeremiah Robbins and Easton Abbott stop Roseburg's Cayden Eckel during the 1st half against Roseburg at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] North Medford's Easton Abbott and Aj Pugliano stop Roseburg's Jayce Wilder during the 1st half against Roseburg at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] North Medford's Connor Cesaro pushes in for a score during the 1st half against Roseburg at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] North Medford's AJ Pugliano secures the ball over Roseburg's Byron Irvin for a score during the 2nd half against Roseburg at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] North Medford's Kilohana Wallehua breaks to the endzone for a score during the 1st half against Roseburg at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] North Medford's DeAndre Card makes a catch for a score during the 1st half against Roseburg at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford Friday night. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]