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North aims to cage Bulldogs Black Tornado set to reclaim respect By DON HUNT The last time North Medford had a home game in the football playoffs, the Black Tornado went on a five-game roll and won the Class 4A state championship. The year was 1993. Coach Rod Rumrey is hoping his current team can generate a similar hot streak. The Tornado (7-2) hosts North Bend (6-3) Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Spiegelberg Stadium. "This is the most exciting time of the season and this is the game our guys have been waiting for," Rumrey says. "And it's nice to be home to start the playoffs." Since winning the state title, North Medford has dropped first-round games to Marshfield in 1995 and to Westview last season. North is coming off a 33-22 loss to Ashland, but Rumrey doesn't believe any lingering effects will carry over into Friday's contest. "The mindset of our players is that they're pretty upset with their performance last week," Rumrey says. "They felt like they lost some respect and they're out to gain some of it back." North Bend, the No. 3 representative from the Midwestern League, is in the playoffs for the first time since 1989. The advancement to the postseason has been a long and toilsome process for coach Jerry Wolfram, now in his seventh season with the Bulldogs. Wolfram served as defensive coordinator at Ashland before taking on the North Bend job. "We're the second-to-smallest 4A school in the state and there's an awfully good program next door (Marshfield)," Wolfram says. "It's been an uphill battle and a challenge, but we finally turned the corner. This is new territory for our kids." North Bend's strength is up front. Tackles Scott Hunter (6-foot-3, 265 pounds) and Dan Kiewert (5-11, 250) were both named first-team all-conference and center Jake Godley (6-0, 200) was a second-team selection. "We're pretty physical up front," Wolfram says. Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by quarterback Kyle Johnson, a 6-3, 185-pound junior. Johnson was a starting guard in basketball as a junior and finished third at the state golf tournament last spring. "He's a very good athlete who can make big plays," Wolfram says. "He's gotten in trouble trying to force throws upfield, but he's learning to hit his secondary receiver and take what the defense gives him." The Bulldogs don't have any running back with more than 500 yards rushing, but junior fullback Mike Moe has combined for 900 yards rushing and receiving and has scored 10 touchdowns. Moe is also an all-league safety on defense. Fullback David Kent has 490 yards rushing. The Bulldogs run a spread offense, usually lining up in a single-back set with three wide receivers and no tight end. The Bulldogs attracted some attention earlier this season when they suffered an 81-7 loss to Churchill. But since then they've won four of five with their only loss over that span coming last week, 17-8 to Marshfield. "They're a young team that's on the rise," Rumrey says. "They're capable of playing us very tough." North Medford's downfall last week came during a disastrous first half that saw the Tornado turn the ball over five times. When the Tornado takes care of the ball, its offense is among the best in the state. Quarterback Nate Mayben has thrown for 1,796 yards and 16 touchdowns, tops in the Southern Oregon Conference. Fullback Ken Halpin leads the SOC in scoring (19 TDs, 118 points) and receiving yardage (710). And tailback Phil Ouellette has rushed for 652 yards and six scores. "A lot of our seniors didn't get the job done last week and they're very thankful that game wasn't their last," Rumrey says. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.