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Unfinished business MT file photo SOU's Leo Stoddard has hauled in a team-high 57 receptions for 874 yards and four scores this fall. The senior is also among national leaders in kickoff returns. SOU wide receiver Leo Stoddard put his career as a stockbrocker on hold to suit up and star for the Raiders this fall By DON HUNT ASHLAND - In another few weeks, Leo Stoddard will leave his job as a starting wide receiver for Southern Oregon University and take a position as a stockbroker in Portland. He'll trade his red and black Raiders uniform for a white shirt and tie. He'll be in the market for a new car and a new home to go with his new wife (he's getting married in March). Stoddard is about to enter the business world and become a family man, but he's still got a little unfinished business on the football field. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Raider Stadium. This is precisely what Stoddard had envisioned when he returned to school this fall: play on a team that is contending for a national championship. Stoddard graduated from SOU last fall with a degree in business and actually launched his working career earlier this year when he took a job as a financial planner in Portland. But he still had one season of eligibility remaining, along with a burning desire to run through defensive backfields and enemy end zones for one last go-round. And so Stoddard returned to Ashland in August, took the required 12 hours of credits he needed to make himself eligible - he's on his way to a second degree, this one in health, if he's not careful - and hit the practice field with the eagerness of a mouse in a cheese factory. "Football's a lot of fun, and you really can't replace it with anything else," says Stoddard, who grew up in Scappoose, a small town about 25 miles northwest of Portland. "I've worked pretty hard to get where I'm at as a football player, and I didn't want to let my senior year go to waste." It hasn't. Stoddard has been as successful individually as the Raiders have been collectively. His 57 receptions for 874 yards and four touchdowns lead the team and the yardage total ranks him 11th nationally. He is also among the national leaders in kickoff returns with a 23.7-yard average. Although somewhat smallish at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds and not as fast as other players on the team, Stoddard uses his soft hands, precise route-running and a fearless attitude to make one big play after another. "He finds a way to get through defenses - he's very elusive," SOU receivers coach Dan DeLeon says. "And he's a lot stronger than he looks." That strength is partly the result of Stoddard's dedication in the weight room and partly the result of his development as a pole vaulter. Stoddard was a three-time participant at the Class 3A state track meet while competing for Scappoose and vaulted at SOU his first two years in college. His best effort is 14-3. "It probably takes about the same amount of courage to go over that bar at 14 feet and go over the middle of the football field with a linebacker bearing down on you," Stoddard says with a chuckle. "But I'll take the football field. I've missed the pit a few times (in the vault), and that's about as scary as it gets." Stoddard got his chance to become the Raiders' go-to receiver last year when Toby Taylor went down with a season-ending injury. He finished the year with 40 catches for 440 yards and three touchdowns, and a feeling that 2001 could be extra special for both him and the team. What Stoddard couldn't anticipate was the arrival of Travis Mari, a strong-armed quarterback who set several records at Humboldt State but decided to transfer to SOU for his senior year. Mari has thrown for 2,208 yards, 23 touchdowns and just eight interceptions while completing 64 percent of his passes. "I can't give enough credit to that guy," Stoddard says of Mari. "He reads the field so well and he can make something out of nothing. I know a lot more balls have come my way because of him. "It only took about the first week of practice for us to start clicking." The Raiders hope the pair will click for some big numbers today and send the team into the national tournament semifinals. Those other numbers - the ones on the Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P scoreboards - can wait a few weeks. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.