Document text
Raiders hope to be flying high in Montana HAVRE, Mont. �� Southern Oregon�s football team hopes to be flying as high after today�s game as it was before the game. The Raiders flew to Havre, Mont., Friday for their first-ever meeting with the Montana State-Northern University Lights at 1 p.m. At a cost of $40,000 for the 2,000-mile trip, the contest is not only the most expensive football game in school history, but it�s a must-win for Southern Oregon�s playoff hopes. The 3-3 Raiders, who jumped two spots to No. 17 in the all-important NAIA rankings this week, must finish in the top 16 to have a chance to end a 13-year postseason drought. After today�s game against the 2-5 Lights � the last of five regular-season road games � Southern Oregon plays its final two regular-season games at Raider Stadium, where it is 6-1 since 1998. The bulk of this week�s expense stems from air travel, which eliminates a four-day, round-trip bus ride and minimizes the amount of missed class time for 50 players. It�s the football team�s first air travel since 1987. A victory would provide Southern Oregon with its second straight winning road record (3-2). The Lights are just 2-6 at home over the past two seasons. The Raiders are coming off their first win at Simon Fraser in school history, 42-29, and their first win on Canadian soil since 1957. Freshman tailback Dusty McGrorty was named NAIA independent player of the week following his 230-yard, four-touchdown outing. One of the touchdowns was a 97-yard run. For the season, McGrorty accounts for almost half of SOU�s total offensive output with 791 rushing yards, a 131.8 game average that ranks sixth among NAIA ballcarriers. His 11 rushing touchdowns and 11-point scoring average also ranks sixth nationally. The 210-pound tailback needs 209 yards to become only the sixth player in SOU lore to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark in a season. The Raiders had been limited to an average of 16 points in their four previous outings, but against Simon Fraser, they blew the game open early by scoring 21 points in the first quarter alone. In addition to McGrorty�s efforts, quarterbacks Dan Walters and Elijah Jordan went a combined 16-for-20 for 189 yards. Ten receivers caught passes. MSU-Northern, in its second year as a member of the NAIA-affiliated Frontier Conference, is 5-12 since resurrecting its intercollegiate football program from a 19-year hiatus. This year, the Northern Lights have sandwiched a five-game slide between conference victories over Western Montana, including a 28-10 road win last Saturday. "Northern is a team on the rise," said Southern Oregon coach Jeff Olson in a release, "and they play extremely hard. Their coaching staff started a program from scratch and the team improves week after week." Under the guidance of Walt Currie, a former Hermiston High head coach, MSU-Northern features a pass-oriented offense averaging 303 yards per game. Sophomore quarterbacks Brandon Kerkes and Chris Jackson are a combined 112-for-231 for 1,433 yards and eight scores and 19 interceptions with fullback Scott Ramsey (31 catches for 193 yards) and junior wideout Andy Smith (24 for 413 and four TDs) as the favorite targets. "They�re a dangerous team that likes to spread people out and throw the ball," said Olson. "On defense, they bring a lot of pressure in hopes of creating big plays." Sophomore tailback Travis Crawford anchors a relatively meager ground attack with 270 rushing yards on 56 attempts, a 4.8 average. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.