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49 °F 5 Day Forecast Sunday, November 30, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend November 7, 2003 North�s David Faaeteete (57) will be looking to wreak havoc against Glencoe tonight when the teams meet in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. North prepares for Air Ainge set for takeoff Highly-recruited Glencoe QB to test arm against Tornado By DON HUNT Mail Tribune He stands 6-foot-6, weighs 200 pounds and he can launch a football 65 yards in the air. He is Erik Ainge, the top high school quarterback recruit in the state and a nephew of former NBA great Danny Ainge. The younger Ainge will showcase his talents tonight at Spiegelberg Stadium when his Glencoe Crimson Tide take on third-ranked North Medford in a first- round state playoff game. Advertisement Kickoff is 7 o’clock. "I’ve never seen a quarterback in this state possess his arm strength," North Medford coach John Beck says. "I saw Cade McNown and Joey Harrington (play high school football) and they had good arms, but this kid (Ainge) has a laser. And the scariest part is, he’s accurate." Ainge has completed 183 of 302 passes (60.6 percent) for a state-leading 2,717 yards and 22 touchdowns. He has been offered full scholarships by Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Tennessee and UCLA, and has official visits planned to Arizona State and Tennessee. As good as he is now, college scouts believe Ainge, who stood 6-1 and weighed 130 pounds as a freshman, is going to get much better. "He’s still growing," Glencoe coach Craig Ruecker says. "His best days are definitely ahead of him." Like his uncle, Danny, and his father, Doug, Erik Ainge is also a standout basketball and baseball player, not to mention an excellent student who carries a 3.96 GPA. The older Ainges graduated from North Eugene High and played basketball at Brigham Young University. Erik Ainge’s future is probably in football, and he could add to his reputation if he can fuel Glencoe to an upset victory tonight. But Ainge will have two huge obstacles to overcome — a North Medford defense that ranks among the best in the state and a Glencoe defense that’s among the worst. The Crimson Tide is averaging 39.5 points per game but is yielding 36, and gave up 50-plus points in losses to Sunset (55-34), Beaverton (52-33) and Jesuit (52-21) — the other three playoff teams in the Metro League. In its last outing, Glencoe needed nearly all of its offensive firepower to pin a 62-40 loss on Aloha, a team that hasn’t won a Metro League game in three years. Glencoe, the No. 4 representative from the Metro, enters tonight’s game with a 6-3 record compared to North Medford’s 8-1 mark. "It’s not a secret — we probably have the worst defense in school history," says Ruecker, who has produced 17 playoff teams in 23 seasons at Glencoe, with state championships in 1986 and ‘94. "We’ve not very big and we’re not very fast, and that’s a bad combination. "We’ve had a terrible time slowing anyone down." North Medford’s plan will be to control the ball behind the running of senior tailback Rob Folsom, who has rushed for 904 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Beau Hovland also figures to enter the act. Hovland has thrown for 1,435 yards and 17 TDs, and he’s run for 377 yards and eight scores. Hovland had perhaps his best game of the season last Friday when he completed 8 of 14 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the first half of the Tornado’s 57-6 victory over Grants Pass. Hovland then fired a 46-yard touchdown pass to Ben Running on the first play of the second half and called it a night. Ruecker is impressed with North Medford on both sides of the ball. "On film, they’re one of the finest teams I’ve seen in quite a few years," he says. "They have tremendous offensive and defensive linemen. I didn’t see anyone block that number 57 (David Faaeteete) and they’ve got some other good kids up front. "They fly to the ball on defense and they’ve got a lot of playmakers on offense." Ruecker says the Crimson Tide’s only chance "is to score 100 points and hold them to 99." He was joking, but not by much. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times