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Wild SOC remains very unsettled Prep Notebook By GREG STILES How often has a seventh-place team in the Southern Oregon Conference fostered hopes of making the state football playoffs with two weeks to play? Roseburg has the No. 1 berth locked up and the winner of Friday night's Grants Pass-North Medford contest at Spiegelberg Stadium is assured of the No. 2 spot in the Class 4A playoffs. But it's possible for the loser of that game to not make the playoffs if it loses the next week as well. At the same time, Klamath Union, possessor of a 1-4 SOC record and 1-6 overall, is still in the running -- on paper. The Pelicans would advance as the No. 4 team if, in the last two weeks: KU beat Crater and Eagle Point, Eagle Point and North Medford beat Ashland and Roseburg beat Crater. This scenario would tie KU with Eagle Point for fourth place, giving the former the nod because of its head-to-head win. Given the way things have gone this season, it's not too far-fetched. However, a more likely scenario has Ashland, Crater and Eagle Point -- all presently 2-3 in conference -- winding up in a three-way tie for fourth. A coin flip would determine which advances. If Ashland fails to make the playoffs, it would be the first Class 4A defending champion to do so since North Medford failed to make it in 1994 after winning the 1993 crown. "We're pretty excited that we're going into Week 8 and our playoff destiny is still in our own hands," Eagle Point coach Mike Johnston says. "It's a little more balanced and everyone is beating each other up." Even though it lost quarterback Nick Rouhier with a broken collarbone the week before, Eagle Point played reasonably well against No. 5 Churchill last Friday. The Lancers won, 28-7, but not before collecting a few bruises. "Their kids told some of our kids we were the most physical team that they had played all year and haven't been hit like that by anyone else," Johnston says. ON THIN ICE? -- A healthy Rogue River girls cross country team is an overwhelming favorite to win its fourth straight Class 3A state championship on Nov. 6. But if any of the Chieftains' top five runners are ill, injured or take an unexpected detour, it will spell trouble with a capital T. Second-year coach Gary Anderson's chief concern is senior Lindsay Clarida, who also plays for Rogue River's soccer team. "Right now, everybody is healthy," Anderson says. "We only have six members on team, so it's a touchy situation -- with Lindsay playing soccer. If she's done, our chance for winning four years in a row are pretty much down the drain. "She asked me in the summertime about playing soccer. I told her I didn't like it, but it was her decision." So, does Anderson close his eyes, cross his fingers and hold his breath as the Rogue River soccer team plays host to Phoenix today and travels to North Valley on Thursday. "It's been this way since August," Anderson says. "I've stopped worrying about it. If she gets injured, I don't have to worry about being four-time state champions -- it won't happen." With a healthy line-up, however, Anderson is just as confident Rogue River will win. "If we were to run today, the way the girls are running, we wouldn't have any competition. They're just that far ahead of most teams out there." Anderson cites last week's Creswell Invitational on the state-meet course at Lane Community College. No. 1 runner senior Selena Harman had a touch of the flu. Anderson played it safe and held her out. "We placed fourth, but if Selena would've been up there, we'd have had half the number of points as the first-place team (Siuslaw)." With two key members graduating next spring, is the Rogue River dynasty at an end? "We've got three really strong eighth-grade girls coming up. They would fit right into the mix," Anderson says. "I'm not saying they would be a shoo-in. But the Chieftains would still be somebody to fear." The caveat? "The top eighth-grader," Anderson says, "is a soccer player, too." INJURY RISK -- According to a recent three-year study by the National Athletic Trainer's Association, 55.5 percent of athletic injuries take place during practice. Only in soccer (59.3 percent boys, 57 percent girls) did more injuries take place in games. The largest proportion of fractures came from baseball (8.8 percent), boys basketball (8.6 percent) and soccer (8.4 percent). The highest frequency of knee injuries were in girls soccer (19.4 percent), while baseball had the fewest (10.5 percent). Nearly three-quarters of the injuries kept athletes out of action eight days or less Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.