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CLEAR Temp: 55 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 21, 2002 Panthers rumble past Ashland By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune ASHLAND — For the first time this season, the overshadowed components of the South Medford football team took center stage Friday night at Walter A. Phillips Field. An anemic rushing attack that had a combined 151 yards rushing in two games this season finally broke loose, and the Panthers’ apparent pushover defense bowed its back in leading South to a 34-20 victory over Ashland. Playing without all-star tailback Andres Reed, who was sidelined by a slight knee sprain, the rest of the Panthers more than picked up the slack as South rumbled to 235 yards on 45 carries against the Grizzlies. Sophomore Logan Boyd benefited the most from an outstanding line surge by the Panthers, rushing 23 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Bruising senior Josh Gandee, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 200 pounds, added 64 hard-fought yards on 11 carries. "We wanted to run the ball tonight and we had to run the ball because we hadn’t run it all year," said South coach Bill Singler. "Andres Reed didn’t play but that didn’t matter, we really needed to get something going in the run game." If the running game could be considered slow to produce prior to Friday, the defense was practically at a crawl. The Panthers entered the night ranked last in the Southern Oregon Conference in total defense, allowing an average of 482.5 yards per game, and second-to-last in scoring defense, giving up an average of 31.5 points per game. Those numbers were totally turned around against Ashland as South grounded the Grizzlies’ air attack for the most part and completely denied any semblance of a rushing game. Ashland managed 297 yards of total offense, the brunt coming on a handful of big gainers. The Grizzlies didn’t have much of a rushing attack to begin with, and managed only 27 yards on 20 attempts Friday. The biggest numbers provided by the defense were five sacks and countless hurries of Ashland quarterback Bryan Clevenger, as well as three second-half interceptions. "We practiced all week on our passing ‘D’ but we also wanted to keep pressure on him so we added a couple blitzes that really paid off tonight," said senior linebacker Ryan Benson, who had 1½ sacks and one interception. Benson and crew were seemingly in Ashland’s backfield more than Clevenger himself, forcing the third-year starter to make snap decisions or suffer a sack. "It was a rough night," said Clevenger, who was 18-for-34 passing for 270 yards. "I’ll wake up a little stiff tomorrow morning." Both teams went through a feeling-out period for most of the first quarter before action finally got intense behind the power running of South’s Boyd and Gandee and the precision passing of Boomer Marshall. Marshall connected with Benson for a 6-yard score with 1:11 to go in the first quarter, then added a 24-yarder to Benson with only 2 minutes gone in the second. South scored for a third straight possession when Boyd took an inside handoff, lowered his head through two arm tackles and looked up to find only green grass ahead of him during a 37-yard score. Things went from bad to worse for the Grizzlies moments later when South senior defensive lineman John Swanson blasted Chase Cook on a fly sweep, forcing a fumble that was scooped up by Eric Fischer and returned 25 yards for a TD that made it 28-0 with just over 6 minutes to play in the first half. A fake punt on Ashland’s own 39 brought life back to the Grizzlies when Clevenger received the ball on a direct snap as the up-back and slipped a pass to David Morris for a 37-yard gain. Two plays later, Clevenger hit Nick Palmesano for a 19-yard TD. After the Grizzlies forced a punt, they benefited further from a 15-yard personal foul penalty when Morris went to his knees to field the punt but was still hit by a surging Thom Whiteaker. Back-to-back screen passes to Cook put Ashland at South’s 31. On the ensuing play, Clevenger dropped back and lofted a deep pass toward Palmesano that never found its mark as the Grizz receiver clipped feet with South defensive backs Ryan Alvis and Elliott Meyerding and fell to the ground. Although the back judge remained silent on the play, a late flag was thrown from the side judge that breathed new life into the Grizzlies and set up a first down on South’s 16. Clevenger scrambled in on the next play to cut Ashland’s deficit to 28-14. "We had complete faith that we could come back and take the game," Clevenger said of the Grizzlies’ mood at halftime. "We had our opportunities. Take away some mental mistakes and we’re right back in that ballgame." South’s defense turned it up a notch to force those mistakes in the second half, dropping back five and six players in coverage to offset Clevenger’s playmaking abilities. "They did a good job of running some stunts, putting on some pressure and just beating our guys," said Ashland coach Jim Nagel. "They just overpowered us up front. "Bryan made some mistakes, but it’s hard to fault him for throwing the ball with the pressure he was seeing. ... They were taking away what we wanted to do. When we had some little seams, we just couldn’t make the big play." Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S