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Ashland edges out Cavemen By GREG STILES GRANTS PASS � It was the kind of moment that forever lodges in a youngster�s mind. An instant frozen that the Ashland Grizzlies of 2000 will remember when they�re old and gray. In a matter of 99 seconds, the Grizzlies went from falling to 0-2 in the Southern Oregon Conference to knocking off their second top-10 team in eight days. Senior Ryan Goodman, who seems to have a hand or foot in just about everything the Grizzlies do, capped a frenetic, 10-play drive with a career-best 40-yard field goal in the final 10 seconds Friday night at Mel Ingram Field to lift Ashland to a 16-14 victory over No. 6 Grants Pass before an emotionally drained crowd. Goodman had already converted on fields goals of 22 and 25 yards � the latter coming with 4:19 to play. But this one, on fourth-and-15 with 7.7 seconds showing on the clock, had long-term implications. A miss and the Grizzlies would be 0-2 in the SOC and facing an uphill battle for the playoffs. But the 5-foot-9, 168-pounder didn�t let the gravity of the situation distract him. He didn�t worry whether fill-in long-snapper James MacCormack could put the ball on the money. One thought crossed his mind: "Please don�t miss this one," Goodman admitted later. "I just wanted to meet the ball, keep my leg up and my head down." Grants Pass coach Jeff Weiss, whose team fell to 1-1 in the SOC and 2-1 overall, held out hope something might go askew. "We saw some of the early snaps," Weiss said. "But we didn�t get the break we wanted. (MacCormack) made the best snap all day on that one." Goodman, who has converted on five field goal attempts in the past two games with snaps that left him guessing where to put his foot at times, calmly planted and delivered an end-over-end kick of medium height. At first, a gasp of relief sounded from Grants Pass fans who figured the ball would land shy of its mark. But it fluttered squarely through the uprights. "It cleared by maybe an inch," Weiss estimated. "From my point of view it looked short, but the officials had a better view." Grants Pass, which had done virtually nothing on offense until the middle of the fourth quarter, had one more play. But Nate Olson�s desperation throw was picked off by Goodman at mid-field and the game ended. Less than two minutes earlier, it was the Grizzlies who faced disappointment. The Cavemen, whose only score had come on an 89-yard fumble return by Mike Herdman and had barely 100 yards in offense midway through the fourth quarter, came to life after Goodman made it 13-7 with 4:19 to play. Olson hooked up with Luke Lathen for a 17-yard completion and a first down at the Ashland 49. Then Brandon Hamada, limited to 18 yards in his previous 11 carries, burst 22 yards for a first down at the 27. "I went from thinking we were wearing them down to �Oh, oh, they�re wearing us down,�" Ashland coach Jim Nagel said. "We�re not wrapping up and not getting people to the ball." Three plays later, Hamada broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, then spun away from Mac Contreras at the 5 to pull the Cavemen even at 13-13 on a 12-yard jaunt with 1:47 to play. Bruce Vorges PAT was down the middle and Grants Pass led for the first time, 14-13. "As soon as Hamada crossed the goal line, I said �We�ve got to block the kick.�" Goodman said. "Then when we were down one, I knew we�d still get the ball. Mac made a nice (27-yard return) up the middle and Cameron Voget�s throws were on target to get us down there." Ashland took over at its own 40 with 1:39 to play and managed to run off nine plays before Goodman�s winner. The biggest was a fourth-and 10 conversion from the Grizzlies� 40. Goodman, who had been covered like a valley fog by GP�s Parker Lane, was able to shake free on the sideline and caught a 17-yarder for a first down at the Caveman 43. Contreras picked up eight yards on the next play and then Goodman hauled in another 17-yard reception for a first down at the GP 18. But Jimmy Saegar and Ferron Carlson, who were around the ball all night, sacked Voget for a seven-yard loss. Two plays later, Goodman was looking up at 40-yards of night air. "You�ve got to give Goodman credit," Weiss said. "He was beat up out there tonight. He returned kicks, made the catches and played great at defensive back. We pushed him back farther with a couple of sacks. But he made as good a kick as you�re going to see in high school." And Voget, who led a ground-oriented offense until the final moments, proved he was up to the task as well. "I was ready to go in that last series," said Voget, who had thrown only four passes before the winning drive. "I was warming up when Hamada scored and knew we�d have to go to the air. I wanted to see what we were made of." Contreras, who missed the Grizzlies� 27-12 upset of No. 2 Marshfield last week with a concussion, stormed back with a big night. He packed the ball 29 times for 166 yards, while Voget rushed eight times for 68 yards to go with his 48 yards passing. "Contreras broke a lot of tackles tonight," Weiss said. "He missed last week because of the concussion, but his legs were fresh." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA