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Photo by Drew Fleming Charlie Jensen (82) of North Medford shakes free of a would-be tackler Jayson Stratton (26) of Crater. North zooms by Crater, 21-0 By DAVID DAUGHERTY For 30 minutes, Crater's defense made North Medford's high-flying offense look mortal. But 30 minutes doesn't make a game, and the Black Tornado used the final 18 minutes to full advantage in a 21-0 victory over the Comets at Spiegelberg Stadium. The victory keeps North's league mark at a perfect 2-0, while Crater fell to 1-1. The contest was a distinct tale of two halves. North's offense, which shined brightly in a 40-6 victory over Eagle point last Friday, sputtered against a fired up Crater defense. But on a night when its offense was out of sync, the North defense was shining as bright as the North Star. "Offensively, this was a total opposite from last week," said North coach Rod Rumrey, whose team racked up more than 500 yards total offense last week but only 275 on Friday. "When we needed a play last week, we got it. But tonight we didn't. They (Comets) had a lot to do with that." The two Comets who had the most to do with it were linebacker Tanner Hillyer and defensive end Scott Toney. Toney and Hillyer wreaked havoc with Black Tornado running backs Ken Halpin and Phil Ouellette and made life miserable for quarterback Nate Mayben whenever he dropped back to pass. "They (Comet defenders) played hard and with a lot of heart," said Crater coach Randy Heath. "They flew around the field and did all we asked them to do." The Comets' defense limited North to 90 yards of total offense in the first half, while their offense churned out 150 total yards behind Toney, who bulled his way to 62 first-half rushing yards. The North defense was solid, too, and sustained it for four quarters. It limited Crater to 148 yards total offense and harassed quarterback P.J. Price into 4-for-19 passing and two interceptions. "We wanted to set a tone," said Rumrey. "The longer we left them (Crater) in it, the better they played. We just made life miserable for ourselves on offense." North had its chances in the first half, but Kelly Brown misfired on a field goal attempt and wide receiver Mike Olson had an apparent touchdown pass from Mayben fall through his hands. "Everything that could have gone wrong for us in the first half did," said Rumrey. "Our players were worried in the first half. The second half, they just went out and played." After a scoreless half, the Black Tornado looked like a completely different unit, resurrecting their big-play ability behind Halpin, who turned in three in a span of five minutes. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.