Big second half lifts SOU over Lumberjacks – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

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Big second half lifts SOU over Lumberjacks Nov 04, 2007 12:00 AM A A ARCATA, Calif. — Southern Oregon's defense came up big all night Saturday en route to a hard-fought 31-16 football victory over Humboldt State at the Redwood Bowl. With the win, SOU evened its season record at 4-4 and set up the possibility of a winning season for coach Steve Helminiak in his second season. The Raiders host NCAA Division II Dixie State at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Raider Stadium. Field goals provided the lone scoring in the first half for SOU and Humboldt State as the teams entered the break tied at 3-all. Humboldt State scored first after Marlon Rosales fumbled on the first offensive play by the Raiders. The drive stalled and Lumberjacks kicker Nichola Nelson hit a 23-yard field goal. Corey O'Neill got the Raiders even with a 28-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3 just before halftime. But the fireworks were just beginning. Brandon Beatty started a second-half, 28-point explosion for the Raiders with a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown just a 11/2 minutes into the third quarter for a 10-3 SOU lead. Humboldt State (2-7) answered with a 1-yard scoring run by Bobby Thomas to tie the game at 10-10, but it took the Raiders just 8 seconds to take the lead back when Darrell Hutsona took the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and a 17-10 SOU lead. In the fourth quarter, SOU took control of the game when quarterback Bryan Lee-Lauduski led the Raiders on a pair of drives to seal the win. The first was an 81-yard, five-play drive capped by Kevin Holtzman's 8-yard touchdown reception from Lee-Lauduski. Following a Lumberjack turnover, Lee-Lauduski came right back with an 18-yard TD pass to Tim Greenidge to give the Raiders their biggest lead of the game at 31-10 with 7:48 to play. Humboldt State scored with 37 seconds remaining to make the final 31-16. SOU amassed 317 yards of offense with a balanced attack (158 rushing, 159 passing). Southern Oregon 0 3 14 14 —31 Humboldt State 3 0 7 6 —16 HSU — FG Nelson 23 SOU — FG O'Neill 28 SOU — Beatty 52 interception return (O'Neill kick) HSU — Thomas 1 run (Nelson kick) SOU — Hutsona 94 kickoff return (O'Neill kick) SOU — Holtzman 8 pass from Lee-Lauduski (run failed) SOU — Greenidge 18 pass from Lee-Lauduski (Price pass from Lee-Lauduski) HSU — Thomas 4 run (kick failed) SOU HSU First Downs 14 15 Rushes-Yards 38-158 35-98 Passing Yards 159 168 Comp-Att-Int 17-26-2 24-46-4 Total Yards 317 266 Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0 Penalties-yards 10-92 5-69 Punts 6-38.0 7-41.0