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SOU crushed, awaits playoffs By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN MONMOUTH -- Southern Oregon's NAIA football national playoff hopes took a big hit Saturday. The Raiders can only hope that Western Oregon's 52-17 pounding of them wasn't a knockout blow. The Wolves tortured SOU's defense with a 527-yard explosion in concluding their season with the dominating win and a 5-5 record. SOU (7-2), ranked No. 5 in the NAIA poll this week, hopes to be in a national playoff game next Saturday. The Raiders hope the loss won't be too damaging to their postseason aspirations. Western Oregon, once an NAIA school, is in the process of becoming an NCAA Division II scholarship program. That could soften the NAIA selection committee's view of the defeat when it meets today to determine the playoff teams. "I don't know what to expect," said SOU coach Jeff Olson. "When the No. 5 team in the country gets beat 52-17, that's a big loss. "I don't know how they (the committee members) will look at us. I think based on who we've played and beaten, we deserve a chance." As the Raiders took a pounding at the hands of their in-state rivals, All-American senior tailback Griff Yates walked the sidelines with a look of disgust on his face. Yates missed his second consecutive game due to a wrist injury that required surgery two weeks ago. Yates said if the Raiders get a berth in playoffs, he wants to play. "I'll give it a shot and see how it feels," he said. "I want to be out there." While the Raiders lose most of their big-play capability without Yates on offense, it was the demise of their defense that troubled Olson. "I told the kids before the game that Western Oregon may be the best team we've faced," said Olson. "They have some real weapons on offense." Most notable were tailback Jason Taroli, who rushed for 157 yards on 19 carries and scored a touchdown on a 58-yard run, and quarterback Erik Davis, who completed 12-of-25 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns. Backup quarterback Ryan Ivanhoff torched the overmatched SOU secondary with two more touchdown passes when Davis left the game temporarily with an injury. The Wolves passed for 357 yards and added 170 more on the ground. The Raiders jumped to a 10-0 lead six minutes into the game with a 20-yard field goal by Jason McGregor and an 8-yard touchdown run by Aaron Rudishauser, SOU's regular fullback who played tailback in Yates' absence. But after that quick flurry of points, the Raider offense went dormant. And Western Oregon's went crazy. "I really wasn't too worried when we fell behind," said Western Oregon coach Blaine Bennett. "I certainly wasn't happy with our four turnovers in the first half, but I knew we could complete the deep ball on them. "Beating Southern Oregon is always big. They're a huge rival of ours." At times, Davis and Ivanoff made throwing over the SOU secondary look like child's play. "I got great protection from my line and I have some great receivers," said Davis. "It's not easy to cover them." Davis, who lost feeling in his upper body temporarily in the first quarter after a hit to his tailbone, watched Ivanhoff ignite the Wolves' passing offense in a hurry. Ivanhoff hit Nick Frankus with an 18-yard touchdown pass and Taroli followed with his 58-yard dash for a touchdown on a blast play off tackle. "The blocking was there," said Taroli, son of former Oregon State running back Ray Taroli. "Matter of fact, I didn't see anybody (tacklers) on that one." Ivanhoff then hit Derrick Miles with a 45-yard touchdown pass to give Western Oregon a 21-10 lead. The Wolves made it 28-10 at halftime when defensive back Corey Sutton intercepted a pass from SOU quarterback Dan Walters and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. The Wolves kept the offensive fireworks coming early in the third quarter when Chris Doran caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from Davis. The same combination clicked again for another touchdown seven minutes later, this one from 13 yards out. Davis, who threw and threw and never stopped until the final minute despite the big lead, completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Miles for a 49-10 Wolves lead with 13:54 left in the game. Davis set school records for single-season passing yards (2,628 yards) and attempts (328). Travis Johnson scored SOU's final touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Walters with 5:35 left. Walters competed 25-of-40 passes for 249 yards. Rudishauser led the Raiders in rushing with 101 yards on 35 carries. "I'm frustrated," said Rudishauser. "We got a nice lead early, and then one play hurt us on each drive during the rest of the first half. "We had some missed assignments and we weren't as sharp as we should have been." Former South Medford linebacker Jim Burnett made two tackles for the Wolves. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.