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In war of SOC titans, Roseburg triumphs By DON HUNT ROSEBURG - If this had been a boxing match, it would have been stopped in the third or fourth round. But it was a football game, and so they played all four quarters and all 32 minutes Friday night at Finlay Field. And when it was over, the No. 4-ranked Roseburg Indians had laid a 47-0 whipping on No. 2 North Medford in the Southern Oregon Conference opener for both teams. "They beat us in every phase of the football game," North Medford coach John Beck said. "Offense, defense, special teams, you name it. "I still think we're a good football team. We'll get back to work tomorrow and see what we can do the rest of the season." Operating behind a big and ornery offensive line, senior tailback Rod Cope ran for 154 yards in the first half and 183 on the night as Roseburg surged to a 21-0 lead at the intermission and breezed to its second win in as many games this season. North Medford fell to 2-1. The game was a complete reversal from last season, when North Medford romped to a 31-0 victory over the Indians en route to the SOC title. "We hit as hard tonight as any team I've had," said Roseburg coach Thurman Bell said, now in his 32nd year with the Indians. "We played with intensity and enthusiasm. "And unlike last year, we dominated them up front." North Medford caught an early break when Novie Bier squirted through to block a punt, giving the Tornado the ball on the Roseburg 30-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Brett Timmerman hit Travis Poulton for a 13-yard gain to the 17, and a personal foul penalty on the Indians advanced the ball to the 8. But North Medford went backwards from there, and a 36-yard field goal attempt by Shawn Hale never materialized due to a low snap from center. Holder Beau Hovland tried a desperation pass that fell incomplete. "That was the biggest series in the game as far as I was concerned," Bell said. "They had the ball first-and-goal, and we stopped them cold. That took some wind out of their sails and gave our kids a lift." The game remained scoreless until the 2:10 mark of the first period when Roseburg quarterback Adam Hazel fired a 42-yard touchdown pass up the middle to Cory Whitman. "Their safety (Poulton) shaded towards (tight end Joe) Newton and that left Cory one-on-one with their corner," Hazel said. "And Cory just blew past him. All I had to do was put the ball up and let him run under it." Cope dashed 18 yards to paydirt the next time Roseburg had the ball, making it 14-0, and on the ensuing kickoff, North Medford's Justin MacLauchlan fumbled the ball away at the Tornado 21. Seven plays later Roseburg fullback Matt Manser bulled over the from 1, and suddenly it was 21-0 halfway through the second quarter. The North Medford defense played tough the rest of the half, twice holding Roseburg deep in Tornado territory, once at the 12 and once at the 9. But North's offense managed just two yards rushing and 24 yards in total offense during the first half. "We were still in the game at halftime - we just needed to come out and put together a good drive," Beck said. That drive lasted all but one play as Timmerman fumbled the ball away to Roseburg's Luke Swanson at the North Medford 12. On the following play, Cope made a dazzling run for the touchdown, heading to the right and then reversing his field to the left corner of the end zone. Cody Parker converted his fourth straight extra point, and it was 28-0. A couple of minutes later, James Metcalf blocked a punt and recovered in the end zone for another Indians score. And the rout was on. "We wanted to beat them so bad," Cope said. "They killed us last year, and it left a bitter taste in our mouths. To shut them out makes it all the more sweet." Backup quarterback Asa Yraguen sped 19 yards and Blair Brundige returned an interception 71 yards for Roseburg's final two touchdowns. North Medford's frustration was best exemplified late in the third period when Hale lined up for a 45-yard field goal. The junior kicker made the kick with room to spare, but it was nullified because the Tornado had 12 men on the field. On the next play, Brundige picked off Timmerman and went the distance. If that wasn't enough to make a bad night worse, the Tornado suffered a couple of key injuries. Starting offensive guard Dan Johnson, North Medford's best lineman, suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee on the first play from scrimmage, and MacLauchlan bruised some ribs on the kickoff return in which he fumbled. Neither player returned to the game. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.