Document text
P/CLOUDY Temp: 48 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 3, 2002 Southern Oregon�s Danny Negra (89) fights for extra yardage in Saturday�s game against Western Oregon as teammate Bobby Poeltl, left, comes in to assist. Negra had eight receptions for 74 yards. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman SOU thrown to the Wolves Big plays help NCAA Division II Western Oregon University pull away from the fifth-ranked Raiders By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune ASHLAND — A season without giving up many big plays came to a head Saturday for fifth-ranked Southern Oregon at Raider Stadium. Western Oregon folded in enough big plays to fill a season in denying the Raiders’ comeback effort for a 34-20 victory in what stands to be the final meeting between the former NAIA rivals. With the Wolves’ move up to NCAA Division II came more money to land a bumper crop of bigger, stronger players than Western Oregon ever could have fielded back in its NAIA heydays. Those players, and a host of momentum-swinging plays, proved to be the determining factors as Western Oregon went up 20-3 and survived SOU’s rally with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away for the final margin. "Our kids showed a lot of character to come back, and we certainly had our chances at the end," said SOU coach Jeff Olson. "There wasn’t any quit in this group." That was much to the dismay of Western Oregon coach Duke Iverson, who had hoped the Raiders would fold with the early deficit. "We couldn’t put them away to make them be discouraged," said Iverson. "We didn’t want that to happen. We wanted to bury them early to get them thinking that they couldn’t win." For a lesser team, that might have happened. "You can’t measure what we have," said SOU free safety Nick Daniken. "We may not have the bigger, stronger guys, but we have determination, we have heart and we have will. We have guys who are willing to sell out. We play as a team, and we play together." The Wolves (4-4) used a 92-yard punt return for a score by Ivan McCrae to take a 6-0 lead, with Gilbert Roman blocking the point-after attempt by Andrew Keippela. On the ensuing series, SOU tailback Dusty McGrorty fumbled the ball on first down, and Western Oregon’s Jimil Wynn pounced on the loose ball at the SOU 29-yard line. Wolves quarterback Denny Bies found Mike Hinshaw in the corner of the end zone on the next play to give WOU a 13-0 lead with only 3:40 off the clock. The Raiders (5-2) answered with a 32-yard field goal by Steve Baker to make it 13-3. But WOU wasted little time regaining the momentum, with Bies hitting Brad Satran for a 52-yard gain to set up an eventual 10-yard scoring connection from Bies to Bret Hughes. That 20-3 lead looked as ominous on the scoreboard as the Wolves did in pinning back their ears for a run at SOU quarterback Dan Woodward. Knowing the Raiders would need to throw the ball in order to get back in the game, WOU sent seemingly everyone at its disposal in Woodward’s direction. Linebackers, safeties, defensive linemen, managers, cheerleaders, ball boys ... it seemed like everyone with ties to WOU became involved in blitz packages. Through it all, Woodward stood firm in guiding scoring drives for a 47-yard field goal by Baker and a momentum-swinging 1-yard plunge by Dusty McGrorty to make it 20-13 with 1:39 to go in the first half. "I was very impressed with their quarterback today," Iverson said of Woodward, who completed 21-of-47 passes for 249 yards. "We were surprised at how well he ran their passing game. "We knew we had to stop McGrorty and thought we would make it easier if we could make them throw. We did that, but they challenged us a little bit better than I thought they would." SOU picked up that momentum in the second half, with Daniken’s punt return giving the Raiders prime field position. Woodward capped the series with a beautiful play-action fake and 3-yard toss to John Conrad for a score four minutes into the third quarter. Baker’s extra-point made it 20-all, breathing second life into a Raider squad that began coming up with big plays of its own. SOU forced a fumble by McCrae on a punt return, but had the ensuing drive fizzle at midfield. Playing with a broken hand, Daniken pulled down an interception on WOU’s next series, but the Raiders could only advance the ball 5 yards and Baker’s 45-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left. Showing its own resolve, Western Oregon answered the lull with a 50-yard TD hookup from Bies to Satran, then sealed the game when a quick flanker screen by Woodward was tipped at the line by Jeff Charleston, caught out of the air by safety Chad Boyd and returned 60 yards for the Wolves’ second score in 2½ minutes. "That took the wind out of our sails a little bit," said Olson. It went from bad to worse a few minutes later when Woodward scrambled up the sideline and was drilled in the left shoulder for a late-hit personal foul on WOU’s Dave Morrill. Woodward remained in the game but, two plays later, was picked off by Boyd to seal the win for the Wolves. In obvious pain following the game, Woodward was whisked away to the hospital for X-rays. Results were unavailable as of press time. Other key players on the injured list following Saturday’s game were Daniken (hand), McGrorty (knee), center Jeremy Chapman (leg) and defensive lineman Gilbert Roman (shoulder). "That’s a concern," Olson said of the injuries. "But our MO has been when a guy gets hurt, the next guy has to step up. These guys have a lot of character, we’ll bounce back." At Raider Stadium Western Oregon 20 0 0 14 —34 Southern Oregon 3 10 7 0 —20 WOU — McCrae 92 punt return (kick blocked) WOU — Hinshaw 29 pass from Bies (Keippela kick) SOU — FG Baker 32 WOU — Hughes 10 pass from Bies (Keippela kick) SOU — FG Baker 47 SOU — McGrorty 1 run (Baker kick) SOU — Conrad 3 pass from Woodward (Baker kick) WOU — Satran 50 pass from Bies (Keippela kick) WOU — Boyd 60 interception return (Keippela kick) TEAM STATISTICS WOU SOU First Downs 14 22 Rushes-yards 24-78 30-73 Passing yards 279 259 Comp-Att-Int 21-31-2 22-48-2 Total yards 357 332 Punts 5-45.8 6-46.2 Fumbles-lost 3-2 3-2 Penalties-yards 16-127 6-58 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Western Oregon — Ramirez 10-44, McCrae 8-26, Bies 2-8, Dreiling 2-2, Baird 2-(-2). Southern Oregon — McGrorty 21-74, Woodward 6-0, White 3-(-1). PASSING Western Oregon — Bies 21-31-1 279, Hughes 1-0-1 0. Southern Oregon — Woodward 21-47-2 249, B. Griffith 1-1-0 10. RECEIVING Western Oregon — Hinshaw 8-74, Satran 7-162, Lulay 2-14, Ramirez 2-12, Hughes 1-10, Dreiling 1-7. Southern Oregon — Negra 8-74, Aouriri 7-105, Poeltl 3-46, Zosel 2-25, Dice 1-10, Conrad 1-3, Woodley 0-(-4). Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S