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SUNNY Temp: 41 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 28, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend October 1, 2002 Prep Notebook Ashland pulled off some of that old Grizzly magic last Friday By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Ashland High football coach Jim Nagel has had his share of fantastic finishes since taking over the Grizzly program in 1983. But for pure drama, not much can top Friday night’s 28-27 victory over Klamath Union. With the Grizzlies trailing 27-21, quarterback Bryan Clevenger hit wide receiver Nick Palmesano on a 32-yard touchdown pass as time expired, tying the game at 27, and Logan Bishop kicked the extra-point for the clincher as a stunned crowd at Modoc Field in Klamath Falls looked on. "When you win on the last play of the game, it doesn’t get more exciting than that," Nagel said. "We found a way to win." Truth be told, this is not one of Nagel’s better teams. The Grizzlies are weak on defense, they struggle to run the ball effectively and they’ve had a bad habit of shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties. But they’re 2-2, thanks in large part to Clevenger, the Grizzlies’ version of Captain Comeback who has engineered dramatic, last-second victories over Gresham and now Klamath Union. There are some talented quarterbacks in the Southern Oregon Conference this season — South Medford’s Boomer Marshall, North Medford’s Beau Hovland, Eagle Point’s Tyson Nelson and Grants Pass’ Mark Heater have all exhibited strong arms and good passing skills over the first month of the season. But each of those signal-callers is fortified by a good running game and/or a stout defense. Clevenger has neither, and yet the strong-willed senior has led the Grizzlies to a pair of victories in which they’ve trailed by two touchdowns in the second half. Friday’s last-second heroics saw Clevenger hit Palmesano on a post-corner route in which Palmesano caught the ball at the 5-yard line and outsprinted a pair of Klamath Union defensive backs to the corner of the end zone, diving just inside the pylon as time expired. "Clevenger has been the key to our wins, no doubt about that," Nagel said. "He would be the first to admit that he’s missed some open receivers, but he’s played very well in the clutch." Clevenger completed 15 of 20 passes for 151 yards in the second half of Friday’s game, and went 20 of 30 for 214 yards and two touchdowns on the night. Still, the Grizzlies’ plight appeared dim when Klamath Union’s Sean Anderson scored on a 4-yard run with just 1:11 to play that gave the Pelicans a 27-21 lead. Ashland’s Colby Knapp blocked the extra point, but with so little time on the clock the Pels’ six-point lead looked pretty safe. But Clevenger gave Ashland some hope when he scrambled from his own 36 all the way to the Klamath Union 35 on a third-and-10 play after the Grizzlies had regained possession of the ball. A clipping penalty moved the ball back to the 50, but the slippery Clevenger gained seven more yards on a scramble and then hit Riley MacGraw for 11 yards that advanced the ball to the 32. An incomplete pass left only eight seconds on the clock — time for one and possibly two more plays. That’s when Clevenger hooked up with Palmesano, his favorite receiver all season, for the game-winner. Two weeks earlier, Clevenger scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion in the final seconds of play to seal a 35-34 victory over Gresham. "We had run several (passing) plays over the middle because they had been protecting the sideline, but on that last one Palmesano faked to the inside, ran to the outside and Clevenger put the ball on the money," Nagel said. "He (Palmesano) still had two defenders between him and the goal line but he beat them to the pylon." Nagel admits the Grizzlies will have to play considerably better this Friday when they travel to Grants Pass just to stay in the game. But if they’re within a touchdown in the waning minutes, they’ll be right in their comfort zone. WHEN NORTH MEDFORD offensive guard Brandon Weston got hit in the lower right leg in the first period of Friday night’s game against Grants Pass, he thought it was just a bruise. The 6-foot-4, 295-pound senior played into the second half until he finally hobbled off the field in pain. On Monday, Weston was diagnosed with a broken tibia. He’ll be sidelined four to six weeks. "I’m always kidding him how he needs to be tougher, but I never expected him to play on a broken leg," North Medford coach John Beck said. Beck said Weston might be the Black Tornado’s most improved lineman from a year ago. "He was never very motivated in the past but he worked like crazy in the off-season to improve his quickness and endurance," Beck said. "He took every speed and conditioning class he could find, he went out for wrestling last year and he did some other stuff to get in shape. "It’s really ashame (that he got hurt), but hopefully he’ll be back for our playoff run." QUARTERBACK BEAU Hovland showed the value of having a good athlete at punter last Friday. With Grants Pass sending in a wave of players to block the second-period kick, the speedy Hovland took off toward the left sideline and turned a potential disaster into a 48-yard gain. Trailing 6-3 at the time, Hovland’s long run led to a game-tying field goal by Shawn Hale, and the Tornado eventually pulled out a 19-13 victory. "It was a case of a great athlete making a great play," Beck said. "He almost scored." Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S