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Foreman guides North into fast lane Senior QB has Tornado offense off and running By Don Hunt Kevin Foreman is the first to admit that his job as the North Medford High quarterback has been made almost effortless this season thanks to a strong running game and dominant line play. Still, the triggerman of the Black Tornado offense is putting up numbers that would make a perfectionist proud. Heading into Friday night�s showdown at Roseburg, Foreman has completed 23 of 35 passes for 461 yards, eight TDs and no interceptions. He is far and away the top-ranked passer in the Southern Oregon Conference for the 4-0, No. 5-ranked Tornado. He�s also the No. 6 rusher in the SOC with 288 yards on 28 carries, and the No. 3 scorer with seven touchdowns and 42 points. Not too shabby for a first-year starting QB at the varsity level. "I�ve been waiting for this moment since my sophomore year," Foreman says. "I�ve played behind some great quarterbacks the past three years and now it�s my turn." Foreman�s predecessors were K.C. Rumrey and Nate Mayben, two of the better signal callers North Medford coach Rod Rumrey has had in his 13 seasons with the Black Tornado. But neither of them was able to register Foreman�s 66 percent completion ratio, 749 yards of total offense and 15 touchdowns running and passing through the first four games of a season. "The thing that impresses me the most is the fact that he hasn�t turned the ball over," coach Rumrey says. "He�s making a lot of good decisions out there. "There was one play in our game against South (Medford) where the defense stunted while Kevin was running the option. A lot of quarterbacks would have tried to pitch the ball, but Kevin kept it and took the loss. "That�s the sign of a pretty mature kid." What makes Foreman�s hot start a little surprising is that he took only a handful of snaps last season while Mayben was at the helm. Rumrey would have liked Foreman to serve as the JV quarterback � he led that squad to an 8-1 record as a sophomore � but Foreman earned a starting spot in the defensive backfield on varsity. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior has been productive from the get-go this season, however. And while his passing touch has made North Medford�s high-octane offense all the more explosive, his ability to pick up huge chunks of yardage on the ground has been an added bonus. His teammates refer to Foreman as "Crazy Legs" because of his unorthodox running style. "I don�t know what I�m doing when I�m running other than trying to gain yards and make people miss," says Foreman, who has been clocked in 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash. "I don�t see myself as a great runner but if other teams forget about me then I can be a threat. I�ve just kind of been slipping through the cracks." Foreman was virtually flawless in North Medford�s 54-14 romp over Eureka last week. He completed all six of his passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns and ran 59 yards for another score before sitting out the final 1� quarters. Such production likely will be much harder to come by Friday when the Tornado tackles the No. 3-ranked Indians, who have won four straight since a season-opening loss to Beaverton. But meeting a tough opponent in a hostile environment is something Foreman looks forward to. "I like pressure situations," he says. "There�s going to be a packed stadium and most of the fans will be against us. It�s not going to be easy, but this is the kind of thing you live for as an athlete. " Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.