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North braces for postseason Black Tornado plays Sunset in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs Friday night in Hillsboro By DON HUNT Mail Tribune North Medford heads into the first round of the Class 4A state football playoffs Friday night, but as far as the Black Tornado is concerned, the postseason started five weeks ago. That's because the Tornado has been in a must-win situation since that time, needing five straight wins just to qualify for the playoffs. North Medford meets Sunset of Beaverton at 7 p.m. Friday at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro. "We've had our backs against the wall for five straight weeks and I think that's going to help us in the playoffs," Black Tornado quarterback Travis Poulton says. "We've gotten used to playing under pressure." North Medford, which is coming off a 31-28 victory over cross-town rival South Medford to finish the regular season with a 7-2 record, will likely have to play at a high level to beat Sunset, the runner-up team in the Metro League. The Apollos have posted an 8-1 record under eighth-year coach Floyd Halvorsen. Their only loss was 45-14 to top-ranked Jesuit on Oct. 12. "They're similar to us in that they've got a lot of team speed and some real good skill kids," North Medford coach John Beck says. "Our defense is going to get tested." Sunset's best player might be quarterback Mike Moomaw, a 6-foot, 180-pound senior who has thrown for more than 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns. Moomaw also starts at free safety on defense. "He can run, he can scramble and he's a very accurate thrower," Beck says. "I'm not sure there's a quarterback in our league who has all the skills that he has." Moomaw has also performed well when games have been on the line. He threw a touchdown pass and then ran the ball in for a 2-point conversion in the closing seconds of a 22-21 upset win over Glencoe on Sept. 14. Three weeks later he led Sunset to a touchdown in overtime as the Apollos squeezed out a 28-21 victory over Beaverton. "He's come up big for us on several occasions," Halvorsen says of Moomaw. "He's a play-maker." Sunset's other big threat is slotback Eric Fromhart, a speedster who has racked up more than 600 yards rushing and 800 receiving. "He's so skinny you'd think he'd be a cross country runner," Halvorsen says of the 5-10, 150-pound Fromhart. "But he's got great agility and quickness. We try to get the ball in his hands as much as we can." The Apollos also have a standout tight end in 6-3, 215-pound Garrett Judah, who also plays linebacker on defense. North Medford led the Southern Oregon Conference in total defense, yielding just over 200 yards per game, and may need one of its best efforts to hold the Apollos in check. "We need to play with the same emotion and heart that we played with last week against South," Beck says. "And we can't turn the ball over and beat ourselves." The Tornado's offense has evolved into a ball-control attack over the past month, thanks in part to the hard running of tailback Manny Alegria. The 5-10, 175-pound senior ran for a career-high 229 yards and two touchdowns against South Medford and now has 846 yards and 13 scores since breaking into the starting lineup six games ago. Poulton, who took over at quarterback at the same time Alegria entered the lineup, has thrown sparingly but effectively. He launched a perfectly-placed 29-yard touchdown pass to Brian Weeks to get the Tornado on the board first in last Friday's Black and Blue Game. Speaking of Weeks, the senior wideout has caught 11 passes for 234 yards and two TDs the past two games after catching only eight passes for 98 yards the previous four games. "We moved him from our slot position to split end, and I think it took him awhile to adjust," Beck says, adding that Weeks was also burdened with a sprained ankle earlier this season. "But he's one of the best receivers in our league and we need to get the ball in his hands." North Medford marched all the way to the state championship game last season before suffering a 38-28 loss to Jesuit. Does the Tornado have the talent for another such run? "We're probably not quite as talented," Poulton says. "But we're a hot team right now and we're going to take this as far as we can." Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.