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Fiery Roseburg stymies Grizz Linderman recalls pain of title setback By DON HUNT ROSEBURG -- No one was more motivated to beat the Ashland Grizzlies Friday night than Roseburg quarterback Kevin Linderman. Nine months earlier, Linderman was in tears at Autzen Stadium in Eugene after the Indians had squandered a 23-10 lead and lost 29-23 in overtime to the Grizzlies in the Class 4A state championship game. "That game had been on my mind all year," Linderman said. "A lot of us seniors had felt the hurt for a long time." Most of the anguish vanished in a sea of celebration Friday night as the Indians ambushed the No. 2-ranked Grizzlies 28-0 before a standing-room-only crowd of about 5,000 at Finlay Field. And it was Linderman engineering the Southern Oregon Conference onslaught as he passed for 110 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 40 yards and another score. "I didn't want to end my career never having beaten Ashland," said Linderman, a three-year starter who had been 0-3 against the Grizzlies prior to Friday night. "Words can't really describe how much I wanted to win tonight." While Linderman guided the Indians to 302 yards in total offense, the Roseburg defense was equally impressive. Led by end Matt Brock, tackle Matt Ledbetter and linebacker Steve Bennett, Roseburg held Ashland to just 30 yards rushing and 97 yards passing. Sophomore quarterback Mike Allen, running for his life much of the night, completed just 10 of 28 passes and was sacked three times. "We knew he (Allen) was a young kid and so we came after him as hard as we could," Brock said. "We wanted to ramble his brain and mess him up." On a night when nothing went right for the Grizzlies, Allen's 38-yard touchdown pass to Kris Pavilionis late in the third period was called back by a holding penalty. Thus, the Grizzlies went home with a zero on their side of the scoreboard for the first time since a 14-0 loss to Tigard in a 1987 playoff game. "Linderman made some super plays and we just couldn't get anything going offensively," Ashland coach Jim Nagel said. "This was a tough situation for Mike (Allen) to be in -- against a good team in a hostile environment. And we didn't give him a solid pocket to throw from the whole night." The Grizzlies' other quarterback -- senior Zach Hassell -- watched the game in street clothes from the bench after spraining his ankle during last week's game against the Japanese All-Stars. Several other skill position players were hobbling with leg injuries: Pavilionis, fullback Mac Contreras and wide receivers Jesse Jones, Ben Thurman and Ryan Goodman. "We're not going to make excuses but none of those guys was healthy," Nagel said. "It just made a bad situation worse." The bad situation for Ashland started early as Roseburg took the opening kickoff and marched 73 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead. With the Grizzlies stacked in an eight- and nine- an front, Linderman hooked up with 6-foot-7 sophomore tight end Joe Newton three times for 52 yards on the drive, including a 13-yard pass for the touchdown. The score came at the 7:37 mark of the first period. "He's a big target and he's got big, soft hands," said Linderman of Newton. "Tonight was Joe's coming-out party. You'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future." Ashland held Roseburg on its next possession, but then the Indians went on another long drive, marching 74 yards on 13 plays to take a 14-0 lead with 5:50 remaining in the first half. Linderman took the scoring honors as he raced untouched on an option play 9 yards. "It was sure nice to be up 14-0 in the first half," Roseburg coach Thurman Bell said. "We did a good job of mixing the run with the pass and Kevin Linderman) just had a great ball game." Whatever chance the Grizzlies had of mounting a comeback was crippled in the early moments of the third period when Allen fumbled the snap from center and Roseburg's Derek Decker pounced on the loose ball at the Ashland 18. One play later, Roseburg fullback Matt Manser burst through a gaping hole over right guard and ran 14 yards to the end zone. Ryan Holt hammered through the third of his four extra points and suddenly, the Indians owned a 21-0 lead. "I think it was just our turn to beat them," said Bell, whose team lost to No. 1-ranked Beaverton 35-14 last week. Roseburg's final score came with 6:59 to play when the lanky Newton snared a 12-yard pass in the back of the end zone from Linderman. "I saw him in the back of the end zone with a bunch of small guys around him," Linderman said. "I threw the ball up high and he just went up and got it." Added Bell: "He's got a couple of rebounds and basketball season hasn't started yet." Although the Grizzlies were manhandled for one of the few times in Nagel's 17 years as coach, tackle Tyson George and linebacker Ben Holtey each had outstanding games on defense. "They'll bounce back," Bell said. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.