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Varsity 541 NEWS NOW Growers whose pot plants span Layton Ditch in Williams say they'll work with forest group ... Man sentenced after bullet strikes Medford garage ... Suit says sleeping Ashland woman killed when Murphy bed collapses ... Growers whose pot plants span Layton Ditch in Williams say they'll work with forest group ... Man sentenced after bullet strikes Medford garage ... Suit says sleeping Ashland woman killed when Murphy bed collapses ... PREP FOOTBALL GP eases by South Cavemen tally 35 straight points to pull away from Panthers Comment By Kris Henry Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 3, 2015 at 12:23 AM Updated Oct 3, 2015 at 12:41 AM By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 3, 2015 at 12:23 AM Updated Oct 3, 2015 at 12:41 AM --> Grants Pass 42, South Medford 21 RECAP: South Medford loses two-way starters Makai Manuwai and Cedrick Mobley for the season in the first quarter and Grants Pass tailback Jake Stoffel runs fo... » Read more X Grants Pass 42, South Medford 21 RECAP: South Medford loses two-way starters Makai Manuwai and Cedrick Mobley for the season in the first quarter and Grants Pass tailback Jake Stoffel runs for four touchdowns in the SWC contest. UP NEXT: Next Friday, South Medford at Roseburg; Grants Pass at North Medford. » Social News Within the first five minutes of Friday’s Southwest Conference clash, South Medford experienced a roller-coaster ride of emotions against visiting Grants Pass at Spiegelberg Stadium. On one hand, the Panthers held the Cavemen without a first down on the game’s first possession and then marched 58 yards on nine plays to open the scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Robbie Patterson to senior Christian Mahoney. On the flip side, however, South Medford lost senior leader Makai Manuwai and junior cornerback/receiver Cedrick Mobley to season-ending injuries in the same span. Manuwai, a defensive end/running back with Division I offers, suffered a broken arm on the first play from scrimmage and Mobley broke his collarbone for the second straight year shortly before South went up 7-0. While the young Panthers continued to play hard, Grants Pass continued to chip away at their armour with a methodical running game that took South Medford out of rhythm and ultimately wore the Panthers down. The Cavemen scored 35 straight points over the second and third quarters to pull away for a 42-21 victory — their third straight in the series after losing 12 of the previous 13 matchups against South Medford. “We competed early, we just didn’t get enough points and Grants Pass wore us down,” said South Medford head coach Bill Singler, whose team dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in SWC play. “In the third quarter we bogged down a little bit offensively and they seemed to find their stride.” Grants Pass senior tailback Jake Stoffel tucked in behind a stout offensive line that averages 275 pounds — and that doesn’t include 261-pound tight end Cody Ekwall and 256-pound fullback Andrew Aguilar — to regularly move the chains for the Cavemen (3-2, 2-1). Stoffel carried a career-high 36 times for 161 yards and touchdown runs of 4, 16, 3 and 2 yards. “Jake’s as fierce of a competitor as there is in this league,” said Grants Pass head coach John Musser of the 6-foot, 175-pounder. “He’s not real flashy and not real pretty but man he gets the job done. He’s an old-school tailback, just tougher than nails.” “We haven’t run a back like that since probably the Criss Bowen-Craig Dolmage days,” added the coach. “By design our offense isn’t supposed to look like that but we’ll take it.” The Panthers withstood the initial shock of losing Manuwai and Mobley and, when Skyler Loogman recovered a Stoffel fumble at the South Medford 42-yard line, had an opportunity to build on their 7-0 lead but were turned away thanks to good Grants Pass defense and a costly personal foul on a peel-back block rule that changed for 2015. After that, the Cavemen slowly but surely pulled away for the victory. Grants Pass used an 18-play drive built off three fourth-down conversions to chew seven minutes off the clock and ultimately tie the contest at 7-all with Stoffel’s first score. When the Panthers went three-and-out on their next possession on three straight incompletions by Patterson, the Cavemen churned out 58 more yards on 10 plays to go up 14-7 with 69 seconds left in the first half on Stoffel’s 16-yard scamper. “With (leading receiver) Kadin Lopez out with an ankle injury and (quarterback Dylan Hanley) still not at full speed, that’s kind of what we have to do,” said Musser. “We certainly had an obvious size advantage and we’re going to take advantage of that when we can, and that’s exactly the way it was tonight.” Grants Pass ran 59 times for 289 yards, rarely breaking off a long run against the Panthers but doing just enough to keep the chains moving time after time. Hanley carried eight times for 64 yards and opened the third quarter with a 3-yard score. The senior only completed four passes, but one was a 30-yard scoring strike to Jeret Musser on a fourth-down play that resulted in a 35-7 lead with 56 seconds to go in the third quarter. For South Medford, some of its ability to counter was lost before some even settled into their seats at Spiegelberg. “Losing those two kids early really hurt us,” said Singler. “Those are two of our best players that go both ways with Makai and Cedrick. You just can’t lose guys like that, and they’re season-ending injuries for both of them.” That said, the Panthers certainly didn’t back down and earned Musser’s praise following the contest for their defensive efforts. “That’s a young, scrappy defense that’s going to be really good for the next couple of years,” he said. Offensively, South Medford’s run game was nonexistent against the Cavemen to continue an alarming trend. The Panthers netted 23 yards on 19 carries and were forced into having Patterson put up 37 passes, of which he completed 20 for 212 yards and two TDs but was also intercepted twice. He hit Christian Vieira for an 11-yard score in the final minute. “It’s baptism under fire as I call it,” said Singler of the sophomore. “But you know what, he’s a warrior. Quarterbacks go through growing pains, and he was a little rattled there in the second and third quarter, but I thought he showed some composure. He just has to settle down and play football and understand it’s not all perfect. Our whole team has to figure that out, it’s not a perfect science. You’ve just got to keep playing football and you’ve got to make plays.” Panthers sophomore Kaleb Franklin picked up the bulk of the offensive production with 10 catches for 132 yards to go with two carries for 24 yards. Cristian Ibarra also ran for a 1-yard TD. “It’s hard when you’re doubling Chase (Cota) and the screen game is the only thing that’s working,” said Franklin. “It’s just a learning process for us and hopefully we’ll get through it and come back next week strong.” Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry By Kris Henry Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 3, 2015 at 12:23 AM Updated Oct 3, 2015 at 12:41 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction Schedules & Events --> Recent Scores --> Prep Notebook Kris Henry South’s Cota broke Retzlaff’s school record All apologies to former South Medford standout Matt Retzlaff, who failed to get the recognition he was due last week after it was, in fact, his... 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