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Versatile Rouhier lifts Eagles by Crater By DON HUNT CENTRAL POINT -- The Eagle Point High football coaches moved Nick Rouhier to quarterback for three reasons: he's a good athlete, he's got a strong arm and he's not afraid to be on center stage. But prior to this season, Rouhier hadn't taken a snap from center since the seventh grade, and his passing statistics through three games were downright awful: 11 of 44 for 161 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He ranked next-to-last in the Southern Oregon Conference quarterback ratings. But Rouhier came of age Friday night as he ran and passed the Eagles to a 26-7 victory over Crater before a big crowd at Dutch Meyer Field. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior completed 8 of 17 passes for 124 yards and ran the ball nine times for 104 yards and three touchdowns as Eagle Point improved to 2-1 in the Southern Oregon Conference and 2-2 overall. Crater fell to 1-2 in the SOC and 1-4 overall. "The first couple of games, I was struggling and getting down on myself," said Rouhier, who played wide receiver two years ago before sitting out last season with a knee injury. "I was beginning to think that maybe I wasn't the right man for the job. "But all of my coaches and teammates stuck with me and tonight -- finally -- I had a breakout game. It feels great." Rouhier led Eagle Point on a 67-yard, 9-play touchdown drive the first time the Eagles had the ball. Senior tailback Evan Pogue, who had a big night with 106 yards rushing on 25 carries, had runs of 12, 6 and 20 yards on the drive before Rouhier scooted 13 yards around right for the touchdown. Crater came back to tie the score at 7-7 at the 5:18 mark of the second period when quarterback P.J. Price hit P.J. Pardee on a 13-yard touchdown pass. But just seconds later, Rouhier showcased his athleticism when he raced 69 yards to paydirt on an option play, giving Eagle Point the lead for good. "I faked the ball to Evan (Pogue), the end closed down and I got to the perimeter with no one around me," Rouhier said. "From there it was just a footrace to the end zone." Leading 14-7 at the half, Eagle Point quickly drove 70 yards with the second-half kickoff, and it was a confident Rouhier leading the way. He started off with a 14-yard screen pass to Kirk Roberts, hit him again for 21 yards on a curl pattern one play later, and hooked up with his favorite receiver a third time for 24 yards that carried the ball to the Crater 2-yard line. One play later, Pogue plowed into the end zone from the 3 and, despite a bad snap from center on the PAT attempt, the Eagles had a 20-7 lead at the 8:32 mark of the third period. Roberts finished with five catches for 83 yards. "He's one of the best receivers in the conference but I haven't been getting him the ball," said Rouhier of Roberts. "I've been overthrowing him, underthrowing him, getting the ball to him late. That guy can win games for us if I can just get him the ball." Crater put together a well-executed drive of its own in the third period, marching from its own 20 to the Eagle Point 7. But on a first-and-goal play from that spot, Price bobbled the snap and then fumbled the ball away as he tried to pitch it to tailback Scott Toney. Eagle Point's James Mannenbach pounced on the loose ball. Crater amassed 315 yards in total offense, compared to 349 by the Eagles, but slit its throat with four turnovers -- the lost fumble and three interceptions by Price. "We'd get a drive going, pick up three or four first downs, and then throw the interception," Crater coach Randy Heath said. "We moved the ball most of the night but kept turning it over." The Eagles put the game out of reach late in the third period when Rouhier hit a wide-open fullback Andy Jacoby for a 31-yard gain to the Crater 6 and then scored his third touchdown on the following play. Eagle Point coach Mike Johnston was thrilled to see Rouhier settle in at QB. "We've running the ball pretty well, but we were starting to see some eight- and nine-man fronts," Johnston said. "You've got to be able to throw the ball in this league if you want to move it up and down the field. You can't be one-dimensional. "Nick has looked good in practice the past couple of weeks. I knew he was going to have a breakout game at some point, and he picked a good night to do it." On this same field two years ago, Rouhier caught a touchdown pass in the waning seconds that tied the game, then booted through the extra point that enabled the Eagles to sneak off with a 21-20 victory. As he headed to the showers, Rouhier's teammates tagged him with a new nickname: Crater Killer. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.