Document text
Prep Notebook Talk of demise was way off target The script is beginning to look familiar. By GREG STILES The Southern Oregon Conference has two teams in the Class 4A state football semifinals for the fourth time in the 1990s and the fifth time in the past 10 years. SOC squads barged through the playoffs with numbing regularity in the early 1990s, punctuated by the 1993 campaign, when Ashland, Grants Pass and North Medford reached the semis. This, however, was supposed to be a year when the SOC wasn't supposed to scare the living daylights out of playoff foes. The Oregonian, in an October article, noted the SOC was down this season, pointing to its less than glittering non-conference record. Quite frankly, the view from this end of the state didn't portend great things, either. When Ashland had trouble with the likes of Hermiston and Thurston and when North Medford got whacked by Marshfield, it seemed to confirm the notion the SOC wasn't what it had been. But the SOC's six state championships and five runner-up finishes in the 10 previous years count for something. "Having some experience in the playoffs helps a coaching staff," says Ashland coach Jim Nagel, whose team is in the playoffs for the 14th straight year. "Some experience in the playoffs and just having the tradition helps the kids." Ashland and Roseburg have plenty of experience and tradition. But after being ranked No. 1 most of last year, the Grizzlies fell by the wayside early in the playoffs. Roseburg was a late bloomer. "I thought Roseburg was going to be head and shoulders above the rest of us and that a group of four or five of us were going to scramble for the other two spots," Nagel says. "But North knocking off Roseburg early changed the whole picture." Heading into daily doubles, Roseburg looked like the cream of the crop, not just in the SOC but perhaps the whole state. However, injuries, a scheduling conflict which cost Roseburg a playing date and a season-opening loss to North Medford staggered the Indians. Thurman Bell's Roseburg teams always get better as the season progresses and this one turned the corner in a big way down the stretch. "You lose key kids at different times or don't play well on a Friday night and the other team does, you can see why upsets happen," Nagel says. The Grizzlies found out a team on a roll can cause all sorts of trouble last Saturday when they eked out a 24-19 win over Sunset. "We were worried as a coaching staff and went so far as to have one of our coaches put together a highlight video of Sunset's big plays to show what they were capable of," Nagel says. "At the end of the first quarter when it was 17-0 the players were going `Yeah, you coaches, what do you know? We knew it was going to be an easy game all along, look at the scoreboard.' "Suddenly Sunset got a spark and went ahead and our players decided they'd better get with it." Still, you have to figure Jesuit's coaching staff was licking its chops watching Ashland labor against Sunset after the Crusaders defeated the Apollos 34-17 on Oct. 2. "I think there are years when there is a dominant team or two and then there are years when eight or 10 teams are good enough, with the right breaks and the right focus, to go all the way." ARTIFICIAL TURF : When Oregon and Oregon State installed artificial turf at their football venues in 1969, Autzen and Parker stadiums became a magnet for high schools playoffs. Since the playoffs began expanding in 1977, doubleheaders, tripleheaders and even quadrupleheaders have been common postseason fare. This Saturday at Autzen Stadium, Powers and Crane play for the Class 1A championship at noon followed by the Class 4A semifinals (Ashland-Jesuit at 3 p.m. and Roseburg-Tualatin at 6 p.m.). Now, OSU is tearing out its Parker Stadium carpet and Oregon will follow suit at the end of the 1999 season. So what does that mean for the playoffs come 2000? "You're not going to see double and tripleheaders when the Ducks and Beavers are trying to make it into the Rose Bowl," says Medford school district athletic coordinator Bruce Howell. The last Class 4A football final not played on an artificial surface was in 1968 when Jesuit and Marshfield played in the Autzen Stadium mud. If the present policy remains, virtually all the later rounds would be played in the greater Portland area. "I know they're not going to let us play two games on a grass turf at Oregon or Oregon State," Ediger says. "I don't think we can predict, nor dictate, what's going to happen. If we get rid of all the artificial turfs, as late as our season goes, then we have problems. "We try to play games where the field condition doesn't determine the outcome. Artificial turf is a good thing for high school football." Ediger says Hare Field will probably see more use. He also notes that Lake Oswego, Lakeridge, Oregon City and another Washington County school plan fields similar to soccer fields at Portland's Delta Park, where the turf is placed over ground-up rubber, rather than asphalt. "From a distance it looks like grass and it plays like grass," Ediger says. Hare Field was given an artificial carpet largely through the largess of Coca-Cola. Howell isn't so sure that he could find someone willing to shell out $1 million to carpet Spiegelberg Stadium. But he has given artificial turf some thought. "Five years ago I approached the OSAA about a partnership," Howell recalls. "When you're renting Autzen or Parker, you're spending a lot of money. If a partnership were created, there would've been a place in Southern Oregon where you could have playoff games at all levels in lots of different sports." The OSAA declined Howell's offer. But he thinks economics could gain the OSAA's interest. He recalls one of the OSAA biggest paydays was on Nov. 27, 1993 when Ashland, Grants Pass and North Medford all had home quarterfinal games. "Most high school stadiums don't seat 7,000 under cover, like Spiegelberg does," Howell says. "You go to some of the fields where there are 5,000 or 6,000 people, a whole lot of them are standing around the perimeter." NO LONGER A VOLUNTEER : Phoenix High's swimming team made a big splash in its district meet last year, winning a district championship. Now the swim team has been upgraded from club status to an official part of the Pirate athletic department. Jim Heath, a volunteer coach the past two winters, is now a paid head coach. CLASSIFICATION : Hidden Valley is among the state's biggest Class 3A schools -- in fact the Mustangs are beyond the 4A threshold with nearly 850 students. However, the Murphy school's enrollment will likely decline in the next few years. The Skyline Conference school that figures to keep growing for a while is Phoenix. The Orchard Hill area in southeast Medford, part of the Phoenix-Talent district, is growing and Talent is booming as well. Talent Elementary, built for 300 students, has about 500, reports Phoenix athletic director Pat Halpin. Once the moratorium on building in Talent is lifted, enrollment is expected to rise again. Phoenix High has roughly 750 students and figures to keep growing. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Phoenix in the SOC within 10 years. (Greg Stiles is a Mail Tribune sports writer. He can be reached at 776-4483) Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,