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COLLEGE FOOTBALL Raiders hope to turn out the Lights Undefeated SOU faces Northern team winless in Frontier Comment By SOU Sports Information MailTribune.com By SOU Sports Information Posted Sep. 25, 2014 at 7:10 PM By SOU Sports Information Posted Sep. 25, 2014 at 7:10 PM » Social News ASHLAND — The Southern Oregon football team has a chance this week to work on its No. 7 NAIA ranking, maintain control of first place in the Frontier Conference and head into a bye week as the fifth team in Raider history with a 5-0 record. All it will take is defeating the last Frontier team without a conference win Saturday. And it won’t be nearly as easy as one might think. The streaking Raiders (4-0 overall, 3-0 Frontier) will travel to Montana State-Northern (1-3, 0-3) to face a Lights team getting more desperate by the week. The game is at noon Pacific. SOU quarterback Austin Dodge is well within reach of two major NAIA records — needing five more touchdown passes to match the career mark of 120, and 344 more passing yards to match the career mark of 13,388. Last week, in SOU’s 56-28 win against College of Idaho, he went 30-for-42 with 476 yards and five TDs. Fourth-year Raider head coach Craig Howard doesn’t anticipate there will be much time to think about individual accolades, however. “(Northern’s) record is deceiving because they have one of the best running backs in the conference, the leading receiver in the conference and one of the best rush defenses,” Howard said. “They’re a much better team than what they’ve indicated. And we’ve never had a road game just handed to us before.” The Lights peaked at No. 18 last year in the NAIA rankings. That’s where they stood when they got to Ashland on Oct. 19, but SOU’s 55-28 win was the second setback in a five-game slide that pushed them into the offseason with a 4-6 record. On Aug. 14, 16 days before the 2014 season opener, the school forced 10-year coach Mark Samson to resign due to a violation of university policies related to the operation of a football camp. Defensive coordinator Jake Eldridge took over on an interim basis, and he’s helped the Lights remain competitive in every game. They battled 10th-ranked Rocky Mountain at home two weeks ago, eventually losing 32-18, and fell 50-30 last week at Montana Western. “I hated to see them lose coach Samson, and it couldn’t have been easy that close to the season, but coach Eldridge is doing a great job and they keep getting better every week,” Howard said. RALLY RAIDERS: SOU’s second-half antics, on display again last week, are turning into a trend. The Raiders were tied with College of Idaho, 28-all, before Dodge’s TD pass to Keegan Lawrence with 1:15 left in the third quarter triggered a run of 28 straight points to end the game. The defense made that run possible, forcing four turnovers on the afternoon. A week earlier at Eastern Oregon, SOU didn’t allow an offensive touchdown in the second half and took its first lead with 2:11 remaining on Melvin Mason’s TD run. The week before that against Carroll, SOU erased a 35-24 second-half deficit and won 38-35. SOU ranks second in the NAIA at 592.5 yards per game, and its opponents are averaging 396.2. Dodge is completing 67 percent of his passes for 350 yards per game with 13 TDs and three interceptions. Dylan Young leads the team with 98 receiving yards per game and six TDs, Mason averages 99.5 yards on the ground with five TDs and Sean McShane has three scores the last two weeks. “We’re undefeated but we still have great room for improvement because we haven’t been in sync yet offensively,” Howard said. “We haven’t played our best football, but that’s a good thing.” Laurence Calcagno, the reigning Frontier defensive player of the week, has 25 solo tackles and 12 assisted. Daniel Breaux has 22 solo, seven assisted and a pair of sacks. ABOUT THE LIGHTS: Turnovers have kept the Lights down this season, as they have eight and have only forced three. Otherwise, the peripherals look pretty good: They’re posting 480 yards of offense per week compared to opponents’ 314. Despite his six interceptions, senior quarterback Travis Dean completes 64 percent of his attempts and has seven TD strikes on 314 yards per game. Trevor Baum (39 catches, 166 yards/game, five TDS) is the leading receiver in the nation, and tailback Zach McKinley is eighth in rushing yards per game (116) on 6.0 per carry. Pass defense has previously been an issue against SOU. Last year, Dodge lit them up for 469 yards and five TDs — Ryan Retzlaff and Young both exceeded 160 yards and caught two TDs — and the year before Dodge got them for 471 yards and five TDs. MSU-Northern defensive lineman Tyler Craig leads the NAIA with six sacks. “They play sound coverage and don’t blitz as much as some of the teams we’ve played,” Howard said. “They bend but don’t break, try to hang in there with you and stay solid. We have to stay on their defensive line.” SOU has won all seven games in the all-time series between the teams. By SOU Sports Information MailTribune.com By SOU Sports Information Posted Sep. 25, 2014 at 7:10 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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