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South rises again South Medford junior wide receiver Chase Cota goes up for a 17-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to cap the Panthers' 31-21 Southwestern Conference victory over North Medford Friday at Spiegelberg Stadium. PHOTO BY ANDY ATKINSON Saturday Oct 1, 2016 at 12:09 AM Oct 1, 2016 at 3:59 PM Kris Henry Mail Tribune @Kris_Henry South Medford head coach Bill Singler has seen his fair share of Black and Blue Game battles in his 19 years and he assured his sixth-ranked Panthers one thing heading into Friday’s matchup against North Medford: winning won’t come easy. And, boy, was he correct. South Medford led from start to finish but still needed to withstand a fourth-quarter rally by the Black Tornado to secure a 31-21 triumph in front of a raucous crowd at Spiegelberg Stadium. “It was a great team effort, we just had to grind it out to the end,” said Panthers junior Jaylin Parnell, who earned MVP honors as part of the Great American Rivalry Series. “They really came back and battled with us after I thought we were going to pull away, but everyone did their part to take this to the end.” The win snapped a three-game losing streak in the crosstown rivalry for the Panthers, who improved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in Southwest Conference play. North Medford, which now owns a 17-14 series advantage, moved to 3-2 and 1-2. “It means everything to me,” said South Medford junior Kaleb Franklin of the victory. “I’ve lost in this game the last two years and I just needed to get that taste out of my mouth for sure.” Franklin played a vital role in helping the Panthers build a 17-7 lead by halftime, hauling in eight passes for 118 yards. After South quarterback Robbie Patterson pushed through the pile for a 1-yard touchdown run, Franklin angled his way into the end zone for a 4-yard TD reception and a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Franklin added an 11-yard reception on South Medford’s first drive of the third quarter to set a new Black and Blue Game record with nine receptions, breaking a three-way tie of eight receptions by North Medford’s Isaac Silafau (2007) and Jared Evans (2013) and South Medford’s Josh Havird (2009). That record, like South Medford’s advantage, didn’t hold up thanks to a second-half surge sparked by North Medford senior A.J. Raye. When the Panthers built a 24-7 cushion on a dynamic scrambling effort by Patterson that resulted in a 21-yard TD pass to Parnell, the Black Tornado went into catchup mode, emptying the backfield and leaning on the passing of junior QB Javan Gail and Raye. The tight end routinely found a way to keep the chains moving and ultimately finished with nine receptions of his own (for 73 yards) to share the receiving record with Franklin. “It felt like at the end our offense picked up the way we should’ve started,” said Raye, who also had a pass deflection that resulted in an interception by fellow defensive lineman Tre Holmes. “I had high hopes for our offense coming into this game because I thought we were working like a well-oiled machine but we just didn’t come out as fast as I had hoped.” Whatever wasn’t working early — South outgained North 235 yards to 75 in the first half — came around in a last-ditch effort in the fourth quarter as the Black Tornado marched 80 yards for a score in a drive capped by a nice leaping grab by Vicente Borja on a 26-yard TD pass by Gail. The Black Tornado really began to feel it moments later after Eli Spence recovered an onside kick. Gail again guided his team to paydirt, finishing with a 7-yard scoring strike to Raye, and a two-point conversion run by Praise Viliamu drew North to its closest margin at 24-21 with nine minutes to play. With fans on both sides at full throat, it was Parnell and Patterson who ultimately took over from there. Parnell accounted for the first 50 yards on the Panthers’ answering drive, dragging defenders on runs and having Patterson find him on perfectly timed passes to counter Tornado blitzes. “At 24-21 we needed to get a stop but Parnell, what do you say, he ran right through us,” said North Medford head coach Mike Mitchell. “Our tackling wasn’t real good on him but he’s a helluva running back. I was really impressed with him.” As all eyes drew to Parnell, Patterson then lofted a 17-yard TD pass to Chase Cota, who rose above three defenders for the game-clinching score with 6:23 to play. “That was a prototypical drive by Robbie with the offense to score there to put us up 10,” said Singler. “Under duress when they had seized the momentum and we drive down the field and score, that showed a lot of character and we really needed that.” Patterson finished 21-for-39 passing for 251 yards, three TDs and one interception. Parnell later ended North’s final drive with a fourth-down sack of Gail after the Tornado had moved to the South 10-yard line. Parnell rushed 18 times for 96 yards and caught five passes for 57 yards. “He didn’t want to lose this game,” Singler said of Parnell. “You could just see it in his eyes, and all those kids made plays when we had to.” The same could be said for the Tornado as Gail finished 20-for-34 passing for 208 yards and three TDs and North’s stout defensive line led by Holmes, Daniel Ibarra, Raye and Nicholas Winetrout made things difficult for South’s offensive rhythm. “We just never really gave up, we fought through the whole thing,” said Gail, “but it’s tough to lose one like that though.” Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry