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SOU, Linfield set to tee off Photo of Jeff Olson by Drew Fleming Ninth-ranked Raiders welcome the second-ranked Wildcats ASHLAND - Phil Pifer isn't a tightrope walker, but these days he might as well be. As director of athletics at Southern Oregon University, Pifer and his peers faced a challenge unlike any other this week after Tuesday's tragedies on the East Coast. While major-college programs sorted through desires to postpone, cancel or carry on with this week's schedule, Pifer and his NAIA colleagues were left with more options than upper-division teams. As all Division I football programs across the nation take the weekend off, activity will be business as usual for Southern Oregon and Linfield College at 6 p.m. Saturday. The main differences? Air travel and program size. "We're not maintaining our schedule without an understanding of what happened Tuesday," says Pifer. "We're doing it given the parameters of what is going on with institutions similar to our size and situation. It appears most of the institutions of our size, unless they have to fly, are continuing on in terms of athletics." Although SOU plays football as an independent program, the rest of the school's fall sports lineup is a member of the NAIA's Cascade Conference. Pifer says the NAIA and its conferences gave each institution responsibility for determining whether to postpone contests. Pifer says his decision for the Raiders to play games as scheduled came after considerable discussion with SOU President Elisabeth Zinser, the school's executive board and Scott Carnahan, director of athletics at Linfield. Pifer also contacted other schools to gauge their plans of action. Carnahan says his school welcomes the notion of maintaining a sense of normalcy during these trying times. "You don't want to be insensitive to the situation, and certainly we're not doing that," says Carnahan. "It's just awful what has been going on. But at the same time, there has to be some sense of normalcy to the public as well, otherwise, what do you do? Everybody's grieving for the people involved, but at the same time it's important you keep your student-athletes occupied." Carnahan says the Linfield community has already had a lot of positive activity in response to Tuesday's tragedy, with prayer vigils and discussion groups providing outlets for students. SOU coach Jeff Olson says he is in full support of the administration's decision to play out its regular schedule. However, Olson says the thought that it may be easier on the Raiders or Linfield to play Saturday than a larger school is a misconception. "It doesn't make the emotions any less because we're a small-college team," he says. A moment of silence followed by the singing of "God Bless America" and the national anthem will precede Saturday's kickoff. Somewhat muted by this week's tragic events, Saturday's game stands to be one for the ages for SOU. Division III powerhouse Linfield (1-0) enters Ashland ranked No. 2 in the nation, while SOU (1-0) is ranked ninth in the NAIA poll. Linfield is on a 10-game regular-season winning streak dating back to 1999, including five straight on the road. Despite the Wildcats' formidable resume, Olson says his team will be up for the challenge. "I know our guys are anxious for this," says the sixth-year coach. "We're taking the stance that if we're going to play it, then let's go out and win it." As with most athletic programs, however, Olson says it's been a tough week around the SOU campus. "We've had some guys preoccupied with what's going on in the East," he says. "But we're doing the best we can to get ready to play one of the bigger games I've been associated with since I've been here." SOU is coming off a 48-6 stomping of Montana State-Northern, which had trouble finding room to move against the Raiders' suffocating defense. In contrast, SOU showed its most balanced attack in Olson's tenure. Sophomore tailback Dusty McGrorty rushed for 178 yards and four touchdowns, while senior quarterback Travis Mari passed for more than 200 yards and two TDs in the first half against the Lights. "I certainly feel a lot more confident about our team going into our second game this year than last year, which also happened to be Linfield," says Olson. "We present more problems than just stopping us at the line of scrimmage as in the past few years." The Wildcats are led by junior running back Marty Williams, the Northwest Conference player of the week for a 111-yard, two-TD effort on 21 carries during last week's 32-13 win over Whittier College. Linfield's quarterback situation is in flux thanks to a nip-and-tuck battle for the starting position by sophomore Tyler Matthews and freshman Blake Kruse. Matthews threw for 173 yards last week, but Kruse engineered two second-half scoring drives. Linfield edged SOU, 23-11, in last season's meeting at McMinnville, when four interceptions and two missed field goals led to the Raiders' demise. The Wildcats hold a 29-8 series lead over SOU, with Linfield posting a 12-5 record at Ashland. Saturday's game marks the most prominent matchup, based on rankings, between the two schools since 1991. In that game, SOU topped fourth-ranked Linfield, 35-10, in front of a capacity crowd during homecoming weekend. The win moved the Raiders to a school-record No. 3 in the rankings. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.