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Singler: South shall rise again By DON HUNT When you're building a football program from the ground up, success must be gauged in ways other than winning and losing. But ultimately, the only measuring stick people pay any attention to is winning. South Medford coach Bill Singler is fully aware of the situation, and while his team is still a year away from beating the better teams in the Southern Oregon Conference, he knows Friday night's game against Klamath Union must go into the win column if the Panthers are going to gather credibility and gain momentum heading into the final two weeks of this season. The Panthers and the Pelicans, both winless at 0-5, square off at Spiegelberg Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. "A win would do a lot for our moral," Singler says. "It would put a bounce in our step and allow us to feel better about ourselves." Singler admits he thought the Panthers would have a victory or two by now, but mistakes and a lack of speed at the skill positions have proved lethal. Still, he points to last week's 32-12 loss to defending state champion Ashland as another step in the right direction. The Panthers led the Grizzlies 12-8 midway through the second period and could have drawn within 18-15 in the second half had it not been for a turnover deep in Ashland territory. The Panthers had their moments on offense and defense against the Grizzlies. Tailback Jeremy Boyd rushed for more than 100 yards for the second straight week, while South applied heavy pressure to Ashland quarterbacks Zach Hassell and Mike Allen and made them hurry their throws. "The kids have really held together," Singler says. "They're committed to turning this thing around and I really believe the wins will come. We just have to be patient and not lose sight of the big picture." Part of that picture, Singler says, is perceptible improvement at the lower levels. The South Medford JVs, who went 1-8 a year ago, are 3-2. The freshmen are 4-1 and never lost a game in middle school. Just as importantly, the numbers are up. The Panthers have only six seniors, but 25 juniors and an equal number of sophomores dot the roster. Singler is also getting players out who probably wouldn't have played in the past. Two examples are 6-foot-2, 194-pound tight end David Burnett and 6-4, 185-pound wide receiver Jared Mulhollen. Both have size, speed and athleticism and are just now getting the hang of the game. Mulhollen has just recently taken over the placekicking duties. "Both of those kids are getting more and more snaps and there's no question they're really going to help us next year," Singler says. "Right now they're rough around the edges and they're not as fundamentally sound as we'd like, but they're good athletes. They're the kind of kids we need in our program." Singler says there are couple of freshmen who could probably help the varsity, but he wants them to have success as a group. "We're not looking for a quick fix," Singler says. "We want to build from the bottom up and do it right." In Klamath Union, the Panthers will be facing a team with its own set of problems. Not only have the Pelicans lost most of their games by wide margins, but quarterback Dylan Woodrum was suspended for two games for disciplinary reasons. "We've been getting dominated at the line of scrimmage," Klamath Union coach Wayne Amos says. "We've been having a hard time running the ball or stopping the run, and when you can't do either of those things then it's real tough to win ballgames." The Pelicans are allowing nearly 300 yards per game on the ground, 432 yards per game overall and they're yielding 44 points per contest. Amos says the Pels will get "a big dose of that Boyd kid Friday night, and if we can't stop him he'll run for 250 yards." The Pelicans do have some weapons of their own, namely Woodrum and a bevy of talented wide receivers. Despite missing the two games, Woodrum has completed 35 of 85 passes for 440 yards and two touchdowns. "He's a tall kid with a good arm, and if we give him time to throw then he can hurt us," Singler says of Woodrum. In other SOC games Friday, Crater (1-4, 1-2 SOC) travels to Grants Pass (4-1, 3-1) and Roseburg (4-0, 5-1) journeys to Eagle Point (2-2, 2-3). Also, it's North Medford (4-1, 3-1) at Thurston (3-2) and Redmond at (2-3) Ashland (2-3, 2-2) in non-league games. CRATER AT GRANTS PASS _ Crater must stop GP running back Brandon Hamada to have any chance of upsetting the Cavemen. Hamada is the leading rusher in the SOC with 641 yards and eight touchdowns. "He's a quick little back with good moves and he's not afraid of contact," Crater coach Randy Heath says of Hamada. "We've definitely got to keep him under wraps and make someone else beat us." The Comets, who have lost three in a row since a 23-10 victory over South Medford, have been plagued by turnovers. Quarterback P.J. Price has been intercepted 11 times and the Comets have coughed the ball up two other times on fumbles. "Turnovers have been a huge key in all of our losses," Heath says. "We've gotten better offensively each week, but we get down close and turn the ball over." ROSEBURG AT EAGLE POINT _The Eagles will be a big underdog against No. 3-ranked Roseburg, which steamrolled North Medford 28-14 last week for its fifth straight win. The Eagles showed resilience in last week's loss to Grants Pass. Trailing 24-0 in the second half, they scored 14 straight points, executed a successful onside kick and had another drive going when their momentum stalled. NORTH MEDFORD AT THURSTON _ The Black Tornado faces a credible non-conference opponent in Thurston, which is in the hunt for a playoff berth in the Midwestern League. The Colts are led by quarterback Rhett Green, a 6-2, 180-pound junior, running back Tim Frieh and wide receivers Jacob Sisler and James Wilson. "They're a team that likes to spread you out," North Medford coach Rod Rumrey says. "They'll go with three and even four wideouts, and they're in a single-back set most of the time. "They've got some awfully good skill players." Ditto for the Tornado, which expects to have speedy wide receiver Mike Olson back in the lineup. Olson missed the Roseburg game with a concussion. REDMOND AT ASHLAND _ Ashland shoots for its third straight victory following an 0-3 start, and should have the edge over a Redmond team decimated by injury. Considered one of the favorites in the Intermountain Conference, Redmond lost standout quarterback Justin Pratt to a season-ending knee injury in a 34-13 loss to Roseburg on Sept. 17 and then lost star running back Reagan Gilbertson the following week in a 43-0 loss to Hermiston. Backup quarterback Geoff Wagner has also missed a couple of games with a deep thigh bruise, although he's expected to be in the lineup against the Grizzlies. Ashland QB Zach Hassell, meanwhile, is expected to make his second straight start. Hassell, who sat out the Grizzlies' first four games with an ankle sprain, threw for 195 yards and two TDs in the Grizzlies' win over South Medford last week. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.