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L/RAIN Temp: 43 °F Wind: N at 4 mph Wednesday, December 11, 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 November 24, 2002 Southern Oregon�s Dusty McGrorty (25) runs against the Montana-Western defense in Saturday�s game. Photo by Chris Miller Raiders rumble past Montana-Western Defense plays a key role as SOU advances into NAIA quarterfinals By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune ASHLAND — With the weight of a second straight run to the NAIA playoffs off Southern Oregon’s shoulders, the ninth-ranked Raiders finally were able to do what they do best Saturday at a fog-filled Raider Stadium. Led by an in-your-face defense and a punishing running game, Southern Oregon had surprisingly little trouble clipping 15th-ranked Montana-Western, 30-12, in the first round of the 16-team NAIA Championship Series. The win moves Southern Oregon (8-2) into the quarterfinals for the second straight season, and third time in three NAIA playoff appearances. The Raiders have put in a bid for another home game, and will learn today who and where they will play next Saturday. "We didn’t feel pressure today," said seventh-year SOU coach Jeff Olson. "We felt we could just let go and go play and have fun." That’s precisely what the Raiders did from the opening kickoff through the game’s final play. "It took a lot to get here," said SOU senior defensive lineman Gilbert Roman, "today was all about having fun." Roman and fellow lineman Garret Gelker had the most fun, sacking Montana-Western quarterback Travis Kirby on three occasions and hurrying his release on countless others. For their efforts, the duo were named co-defensive players of the game. "We just kept going up the field as hard as we could and didn’t quit," said Gelker, a senior who had two sacks and seven tackles. "It didn’t matter if he got some yards on us, we just kept getting after him and getting after him for four quarters." Roman and Gelker were just a part of a furious SOU attack built to break the rhythm of Kirby, the nation’s third-ranked passer. "It all just caused confusion for him and he didn’t know what to do sometimes or where we were going to come from," said Roman, who had one sack and four tackles. On the flip side, the Raiders made no bones about the direction their offense would take. The Bobcats (9-3) headed into Saturday’s game knowing they would get a healthy dose of running back Dusty McGrorty, and it still didn’t matter as the offensive player of the game rumbled for 164 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries. "He’s the best back we’ve seen," said second-year Montana-Western coach Tommy Lee. "He’s powerful, has good quickness and is an explosive kid. And obviously his offensive line did a good job blocking for him." McGrorty’s touchdown came on a 10-play drive all his own, with the junior showing the kind of drive and commitment that has led him to No. 2 in the school’s record books for running backs. "I was hurting," admitted McGrorty, "but I’m not going to let down those offensive linemen. I wanted to stay out there and finish what we started." That touchdown gave SOU a 23-6 lead with 2:10 remaining in the game, forcing the Bobcats to even more reliance on its passing game. "When we got the lead on them," said Olson, "it turned them into more of a one-dimensional team and allowed our guys to tee off on them up front." On Montana-Western’s series following McGrorty’s touchdown, Kirby was sacked by Gelker, forced into an incompletion by a blitzing Ryan Gilmore and finally intercepted on a deep pass by cornerback Sedrick Ashley. Junior Brandon White, in for a hobbled McGrorty, capped a seven-play, 41-yard drive moments later with a 4-yard scamper into the end zone with 12:28 to play. Kirby spearheaded a 12-play scoring drive of his own, but it was too little, too late for the Bobcats. Kirby, who came into Saturday’s contest averaging 305.6 yards per game, finished with 264 yards and an interception on 26-of-48 passing. While the Bobcats were able to move the ball at times, they were continually denied the end zone until Kirby’s 5-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter. Montana-Western settled for two field goals in the first half, with a third attempt blocked by Roman. "That red zone killed us," said Lee. "Give them credit. They did a nice job of coming with pressure and, at times, we couldn’t handle it." Another huge blow to the Bobcats came seconds after cutting SOU’s lead to 7-3 early in the first quarter. Already with an out-of-bounds kickoff to his credit, Montana-Western’s Eric Zahler once again tried to keep the ball out of Nick Daniken’s hands with a high, short kickoff. Unfortunately for Zahler and crew, the kick was a little farther than planned. It took one hop in front of a charging Daniken, whose broken right hand is taped in club form for protection. After scooping up the ball with his free left hand, Daniken then spirited away for a momentum-changing, 86-yard score. The senior’s fifth career kickoff return for a TD appeared to be halted on the Bobcats’ 40, but the one-armed bandit shed a tackle, reversed field and found another convoy of blockers to pave his way into the end zone. "Nobody stopped," said Daniken, who now owns the Northwest small-college TD record for kickoffs and is two off the NAIA standard. "That was the great thing about that, everybody kept going. We all know anything can happen at any given moment." Lee and his team knew that, too. But just like in containing McGrorty, knowing and doing were two different things. "That was a huge play," said Lee. "We knew (Daniken) was dangerous so we were kicking the ball away from him. We didn’t want to kick it deep, we just wanted to get it down there, even to the point where we would have taken the ball on the 35 by kicking it out of bounds. Sure enough, one kick gets too deep and the guy runs it back. He’s just a heckuva weapon." One of many ready to reload for another Saturday of fun. At Raider Stadium Montana-Western 3 3 0 6 —12 Southern Oregon 13 3 7 7 —30 SOU — Negra 7 pass from Woodward (Baker kick) UMW — FG Zahler 22 SOU — Daniken 86 kickoff return (kick failed) SOU — FG Baker 40 UMW — FG Zahler 35 SOU — McGrorty 1 run (Baker kick) SOU — White 4 run (Baker kick) UMW — Kirby 5 run (pass failed) TEAM STATISTICS UMW SOU First Downs 20 20 Rushes-yards 13-40 51-214 Passing yards 282 105 Comp-Att-Int 28-51-2 12-17-1 Total yards 322 319 Punts 4-41.0 3-43.0 Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1 Penalties-yards 3-77 6-59 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Montana-Western — Agbalog 3-21, Dipwek 1-12, Glessner 3-11, Flatow 1-10, Shrum 1-9, Kirby 4-(-23). Southern Oregon — McGrorty 35-164, White 12-69, Woodward 4-(-19). PASSING Montana-Western — Kirby 26-48-1 264, Flatow 2-3-1 18. Southern Oregon — Woodward 12-17-1 105. RECEIVING Montana-Western — Mock 10-122, deLeon 5-26, Bothelo 5-26, Bowman 2-46, Agbalog 2-36, Shrum 1-8, Dipwek 1-8, Creighton 1-6, Illig 1-4. Southern Oregon — Negra 6-55, McGrorty 2-(-6), Poeltl 1-33, Robinson 1-12, Aouriri 1-6, Conrad 1-5. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, 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