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Photos by Drew Fleming/Mail Tribune South Medford quarterback John McKay is grabbed by a Klamath Union tackler in the first half. Second-half letdown keeps South winless By DON HUNT Give a strong-armed quarterback and a couple of athletic receivers room to operate, and they can quickly change the complexion of a football game. Just ask the shell-shocked South Medford Panthers. The Panthers were seemingly on their way to their first victory of the season Friday night at Spiegelberg Stadium when they built a 17-0 halftime lead over Klamath Union. But quarterback Dylan Woodrum guided the Pelicans to three straight touchdowns in the third period and they walked off with a stunning 18-17 victory. South Medford's Jimmie Maddox (23) and David Sumpter (52) tackle Klamath's Trevor Harris (1). "We really didn't do anything differently in the second half, as far as strategy goes," said Woodrum, who passed for 214 yards and three touchdowns in the second half and 249 yards on the night to spoil South Medford's Homecoming. "We just made positive yardage on most of our plays and got the momentum. "It feels great to finally get a win." The victory was the first for the Pelicans since a 28-14 win over Mazama to start the 1998 season. And it stuck a dagger in the heart of a South Medford team that remains winless at 0-6. "This was a step backward," Panthers coach Bill Singler said. "To have the lead like we did and let it slip away is something we're not going to get over right away. "But we can't lose sight of the big picture because regardless of what happened tonight, this program is moving forward." The Panthers were clearly the better team in the first half Friday night. Jeremy Boyd scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, Chris McQuillian made a spectacular diving catch of an 8-yard pass from John McKay for another score and Jared Mulhollen thumped a 27-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to give South Medford a 17-0 lead. About all that remained in doubt, it seemed, was the Panthers' final margin of victory. But the second half was a complete turnaround. Woodrum led Klamath on a well-executed 81-yard, nine-play drive the first time the Pels had the ball in the third period. Woodrum was 4-for-4 for 56 yards on the march, including a 36-yarder to L.J. Newsom for the touchdown, a play in which Newsom outfought South Medford defensive back Jimmie Maddox for the ball. The Pels botched the snap on the PAT attempt, leaving the score 17-6. "Anytime I can get Newsom one-on-one with a defensive back, I'll roll the dice," Woodrum said. "He's got great hands and if it's a jump ball, he's going to go up and win it 90 percent of the time." Woodrum rolled his dice again three minutes later when he lobbed another pass Newsom's way. The senior wide receiver again beat Maddox to the ball and turned that play into a 36-yard dash to the end zone, completing a 71-yard, eight-play drive. Suddenly, it was 17-12 at the 2:46 mark of the third period. Never mind that Klamath failed on another extra-point attempt. "That second touchdown really took the wind out of our sails," Singler said. "You could see it on our sideline. You could see it in our faces." Following the kickoff, the Panthers' offense went three-and-out for the second straight time and the Pelicans were right back in business. This time they started from their own 38 and quickly drove to the South Medford 30 before Woodrum hit Jason Mortenson on a short sideline pass that Mortenson turned into a touchdown and an 18-17 Pelicans lead. Mortenson broke a tackle and then did a nifty balancing act along the right sideline the final 15 yards to the end zone. "It was just a 5-yard curl pattern," Mortenson said. "After I caught the ball I faked a guy to the inside and broke to the outside, and then I beat their safety to the end zone." Newsom finished with seven catches for 133 yards and Mortenson had six catches for 85 yards. Klamath Union tailback Trevor Harris chipped in with 97 yards rushing as the Pels amassed 349 yards in total offense. "We talked about opening up our offense at halftime and the kids just went out and executed it," Klamath Union coach Wayne Amos said. "We kept shooting ourselves in the foot in the first half, but in the second half everything seemed to click. "The football gods were watching over us for a change." Almost lost in the Pels' offensive blitz was a defense that held South Medford to just 49 yards and two first downs in the second half. The Panthers managed 228 yards on the night. "We just haven't learned how to win yet," said Singler, whose team has the unenviable task of playing Roseburg next week. "We did some good things in the first half but should have scored at least one more touchdown. Had we done that I'm not sure they would have come back. "But give them credit. They stayed aggressive throwing the football and once they got it rolling we couldn't stop them." Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.