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Halpin keys North's 56-35 victory over Colts SOC football SPRINGFIELD -- Ken Halpin already had scored two touchdowns, but it was the senior fullback's third score of the game late in the fourth quarter that sealed North Medford's 56-35 non-conference victory over Thurston Friday at Silke Field. After Thurston cut the Black Tornado lead to 42-35 with less than five minutes remaining in the high-scoring contest, Halpin made a spectacular catch on a short pass in the flat and went untouched down the sideline for the clinching touchdown. Black Tornado coach Rod Rumrey said the play was open on North's previous series but quarterback Nate Mayben got sacked before he could get the pass off. "We came back with the same play," Rumrey said, "and this time Nate got rid of the ball. Kenny went up and made a one-handed catch and took off down the sideline and outran everybody." That play culminated a fabulous game for Halpin, who made eight catches for 186 yards. "They were trying to cover Kenny with a linebacker," said Rumrey. "Kenny was a little bit quicker most of the time." Thurston took the game's initial lead on an 11-play, 76-yard drive. North Medford (5-1, 3-1 SOC) answered with an eight-play scoring drive that covered 72 yards. Phil Oullette completed the march by catching an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mayben. Kelly Brown converted the first of eight extra-point kicks to tie the score at 7. The teams traded another pair of touchdowns before Diego Apodaca blocked a Colt punt that North recovered on the Thurston 12. Two plays later, Oullette went eight yards for the touchdown and the Black Tornado led the rest of the way. Halpin completed a 28-point second quarter for North when he scored on a 51-yard pass play from flanker Tate Mellbye that gave the Black Tornado a 35-21 lead. Thurston cut the margin to 35-28 at halftime. Mayben completed 17 passes for a career-high 334 yards and four touchdowns. "They tried to put a lot of heat on Nate," said Rumrey. "All Nate needed was a little time and he found the open receiver. The only thing that stopped us was a few turnovers." North totalled 504 yards in offense to 357 for Thurston. And the Black Tornado was never forced to punt. ASHLAND 41, REDMOND 40 -- At Ashland, senior Jesse Jones' breakout party was nearly crashed thanks to a second-half rally by Redmond in a non-conference tilt at Walter A. Phillips Field. Jones scored on touchdown passes of 68 and 39 yards from sophomore Mike Allen in helping the Grizzlies manage a 34-8 halftime lead. Jones finished the game with five catches for 142 yards. But an injury that had junior Ryan Goodman taken from the field by ambulance appeared to shake up Ashland (3-3), allowing Redmond a chance to make things interesting over the final two quarters. Goodman's status wasn't available as of press time. Redmond (2-4) scored the game's final 16 points to make it 41-40 but couldn't overtake the Grizz despite outstanding efforts from quarterback Geoff Wagner, tailback Jesse Terrell and receivers Michael Wagner and Chris Bristow. Kris Pavilionis scored one rushing and one receiving TD for Ashland in the first half, while Mac Contreras paced the rushing attack with 89 yards and a TD on 13 carries. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.