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SOU football recruits delight coach Strong local contingent is among the highlights By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN ASHLAND -- Southern Oregon University football coach Jeff Olson hopes he struck it rich this spring with what he's calling his best recruiting class. "Only time will tell, but I'm excited about it," says Olson, the fourth-year SOU head coach. He's received written, but non-binding, commitments from 24 high school seniors and 12 college transfers to play for the Raiders. All 36 are eligible to play next fall, Olson says. "The best thing about a lot of these kids is that they come here with winning attitudes," says Olson. "We need to try to improve our confidence level, especially in close games. "I've felt in the past that we've played too much not to lose instead of playing to win late in games. Instead of being as confident as I would like, the kids were nervous and trying not to lose instead of going out and winning. "A lot of these kids we recruited are from successful programs that win, and we feel this will help our overall team outlook." Heading the list of high school seniors is Roseburg's Byron Rinaker, a 6-foot, 240-pound tackle who was named Southern Oregon Conference defensive player of the year last fall and helped the Indians into the state championship game against Ashland High. "He's a big, physical lineman and a winner," says Olson, adding that the last SOC defensive player of the year to attend SOU was R.J. Josephson of Eagle Point. "He became an All-American in our program (1998). We think that's a good sign." Two SOC all-stars from Ashland, interior linemen Eli Perkins and Ryan Schorovsky, went head-to-head against Rinaker in the state title game and will be his teammates at SOU. Perkins and Schorovsky will also be united with former Ashland teammate Elijah Jordan, a quarterback and linebacker for the Grizzlies in 1996 and '97. Jordan attended College of the Siskiyous in Weed, Calif., last year and played basketball for part of the season before dropping from the team for personal reasons. "I wanted to come home," said Jordan. "I never appreciated Ashland as much as I do now ... I missed my friends, my family and Southern Oregon." Jordan, who will be a redshirt freshman in the fall, says he plans to play quarterback for SOU. "I think I can be a leader here and do some good things," says Jordan, who is participating in spring workouts. "The coaches have already told me they like my work ethic in practice. I plan to give it everything I have in terms of effort, and I hope it might be noticed by the coaches and some players." Jordan and Danny Osterkamp of Willamette High of Eugene are expected to battle incumbent junior starter Dan Walters, Eagle Point's Dan Woodward and former Marshfield star Aaron Stiegeler at quarterback. Stiegeler, who led Marshfield to the 1994 state championship, will be a redshirt sophomore. Olson says Walters will have a definite edge entering fall camp. "Danny played real well at the end of the season, and part of the reason was that he knew he would be the starter, no matter what happened," says Olson. "He deserves to have that opportunity again. "But he will definitely have some competition, and I'm not going to say somebody can't come in and beat him out. Osterkamp comes from a very sophisticated passing game, and he has a lot of ability. He's got a strong arm and he's got size (6-4, 190 pounds)." Jordan also has good size at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds. "He brings some nice things to the table for us," says Olson. "He has size, athletic ability and a strong arm. Plus, he comes from that winning attitude at Ashland High, which won't hurt." SOU has recruited three other conference players of the year from Oregon. They are tailback Adam Fletcher, a 5-11, 180-pounder from Lakeridge High, and co-Mount Hood League defensive players of the year Mark Maehara (linebacker) of Gresham and Brandon Pitts (lineman) of Sandy. In addition, the Raiders have signed Dusty McGrorty, a 5-11, 200-pound running back and linebacker from Warrenton High. McGrorty was the Class 2A offensive and defensive player of the year. The Raiders loaded up on offensive linemen out of the junior college and small college ranks by getting commitments from Russell Hayter (6-3, 265 pounds, from College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif.); Eric Anderson (6-2, 285-pound transfer from Carroll College); Roland Hobson (5-11, 295, from Milwaukie) and tight end Josh White (6-2, 235, of College of the Redwoods). Olson says former Ashland High player Devin Mahoney is expected to join the team for spring drills. Mahoney, a former quarterback and tight end for the Grizzlies, is expected to enter the quarterback derby. SOU FOOTBALL RECRUITS High school Brian Allen, P, 6-1, 180, fr., Seaside. Brigham Baker, QB/P, 5-10, 185, fr., Tigard. Kevin Bendaw, RB, 5-10, 180, fr., Ashland. James Bowen, OT, 6-3, 275, fr. Florence (Siuslaw). Adam Clinton, TE, (6-0, 215, fr.), Puyallup, Wash. Adam Fletcher, RB, 5-11, 180, fr. Lakeridge. Marc Garcia, OL, 6-3, 285, fr., Gardnerville, Nev. Corey Grohs, DB, 6-0, 180, fr., Beaverton. W.C. Harbert, LB, 6-4, 210, fr. Eugene (Marist). Thomas Hunt, LB, 6-0, 230, fr., Tualatin. Mark Machara, LB, 6-1, 210, fr., Gresham. Dusty McGrorty, RB, 5-11, 200, Warrenton. Vaughn Morris, DB, 6-2, 190, fr., Tacoma, Wash. Danny Osterkamp, QB, 6-4, 190, fr. Eugene (Willamette). Eli Perkins, OL, 6-2, 220, fr., Ashland. Brandon Pitts, DL, 6-3, 240, fr., Sandy. Byron Rinaker, DL, 6-0, 240, fr., Roseburg. Ryhan Schorovsky, OL, 6-1, 220, Ashland. Wes Tankersley, OL, 6-4, 245, fr. Ontario. Dannon Verkerk, LB, 6-1, 220, fr. Sandy. Adam Walker, LB, 5-10, 205, fr. Eugene (Sheldon). Paul Walters, LB, 5-10, 210, fr. Corvallis. Don White, TE, 6-4, 235, fr., Eagle Point. Chris Witt, OL, 6-4, 260, Brookings. College transfers Eric Anderson, OL, 6-2, 285, so., Milwaukie. Jim Bazor, LB, 6-0, 235, jr., College of the Redwoods. Russell Hayter, OL, 6-3, 265, College of the Redwoods. Roland Hobson, OL, 5-11, 295, jr., Milwaukie. Elijah Jordan, QB, 6-3, 200, fr., Ashland. Andy Kiesel, LB, 6-1, 222, so., LaSalle. Wade McCulloch, WR, 6-0, 160, Ashland. David Mueller, WR, 6-3, 215, so., Milwaukie. Ryan Potter, WR, 5-10, 175, so., Western Oregon State. Kevin Price, LB, 6-4, 210, fr., Lake Oswego. Mike Robinson, LB, 5-11, 240, jr., Solano Junior College. Terry Snyder, fb, 5-11, 220, jr., Butte Junior College. Josh White, TE, 6-2, 235, jr., College of the Redwoods. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.