Document text
Churchill double-trouble for Grizz By DON HUNT ON THE AIR When : Tonight, 7:30 Radio : KCMX-AM (580). Anyone who played football in the 1930s or '40s or enjoys watching highlights from that era would appreciate the double-wing offense. It's power football, pure and simple. Snap the ball to a running back and then send every lineman, a couple of blocking backs and the kitchen sink to the point of attack. The idea is to flood one side of the field with a wall of blockers and create a manpower advantage. Ashland High coach Jim Nagel thinks it's a rather tedious offense, but admits it can be enormously successful. He'll get a firsthand look at the offense and a team that runs it to perfection tonight at 7:30 at Walter A. Phillips Field when the Churchill Lancers meet the Grizzlies in the second round of the state playoffs. The matchup is one of the more intriguing in the state this week, if for no other reason than it features a pair of clubs with contrasting styles. "I personally think it's boring, but they've obviously been very effective with it, and their main objective is to win football games," Nagel says. The Eugene-based Lancers crushed Central Catholic 50-20 in the first round of the playoffs, marking the sixth time this season that Churchill has put 50 or more points on the board. The Lancers' only loss was 33-8 to No. 1-ranked Marshfield. While no team other than Marshfield has been able to slow the Churchill attack, Nagel is more concerned about the Lancers' personnel than the offense itself. "We think we can get our guys in position defensively," says Nagel, whose Grizzlies held McKay to 160 yards and one touchdown in last week's 23-7 playoff victory. "But stopping those big backs of theirs is another matter." Indeed, the Lancers just might be the biggest team in the state. Their offensive and defensive lines are bulkier than average, but it's their husky skill position players that leave program-peekers gawking. Seth Lacey, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior running back, is perhaps Churchill's best player. He ran for 178 yards and five touchdowns in last week's romp over Central Catholic and has chalked up a school-record 1,463 yards on the season. Lacey was named the offensive player of the year in the Midwestern League and his regular-season total of 1,285 yards was the fifth-highest in league history. But Lacey is by no means Churchill's only threat. When he needs a break the Lancers shovel the ball to 6-1, 255-pound fullback Lewis Henry, 6-foot, 220-pound Ryan McMillan or the midget of the bunch, 6-1, 170-pound speedster Niles Mittasch. "They're content to get four or five yards a pop but that number 32 (Lacey) and the sophomore (Mittasch) can break the long one,'' Nagel says. "They'll find a little crease and they're gone. "One of the dangers for us is overpursuing. They can cut back against the grain and go the distance." Churchill also has a pair of talented receivers in 6-6, 220-pound tight end Tim Euhus and 6-4, 202-pound wide receiver Mike Litten. Both are college recruits. Passing the ball has been a problem the last four weeks, however, due to a knee injury suffered by starting quarterback Jeff Rhode. Rhode was injured during the Lancers' 58-21 win over Springfield on Oct. 23, and while he made an appearance in the Lancers' two-minute offense last week, he limped noticeably. Rhode's replacement is John Jenkins, a senior who runs better than Rhode but doesn't throw the ball nearly as well. "I think this team would be successful running just about any offense -- the double wing, the single wing, the power-I, the fullhouse-T, you name it," Nagel says. "When you've got athletes like they've got you're going to have success." Ashland's defense has some pretty fair athletes of its won. Tackle Ryan Hansen, end Austin Mason and linebacker Joel Smith were each named first-team all-SOC, and tackle Tyson George and cornerback Kris Pavilionis were chosen to the second team. The Grizzly offense, meanwhile, led by first-team all-SOC linemen Roger Walsh and Ryan Schorovsky, hopes to rekindle a running game that managed only 57 yards on 35 attempts against McKay. The passing game also floundered in the second half but that was mostly due to injuries to wide receivers Jay Kuester, Gabe Stephens and Graham Quandt, along with the suspension of another wideout. All are expected to play against the Lancers. SPRAGUE AT ROSEBURG -- Roseburg (7-2) has won five straight games and with a defense that seems impregnable, the Indians have blossomed into one of the top teams in the state. Roseburg crunched previously unbeaten Gresham 16-0 in the opening round of the playoffs last week and in the process held standout Gophers running back Nathaniel Guard to just 44 yards rushing on 16 carries. Guard went into the game as the state's leading rusher. Sprague romped past Portland Interscholastic League champion Marshall 46-15 last week but the Olympians have won only six of 10 games, emerging from the Valley League as the No. 4 seed. Some high school football fans are already looking forward to the following week when a Roseburg-Marshfield matchup appears imminent. Such talk rankles Roseburg coach Thurman Bell. "That's how you get beat," fusses Bell. Indians quarterback Kevin Linderman, the offensive co-player of the year in the Southern Oregon Conference, hasn't slowed down in the playoffs. The strong-armed junior completed 13 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown against Gresham. Along with its defense and Linderman, Roseburg is also getting huge production from first-team all-conference kicker Ryan Holt. Holt, a soccer player, thumped a 35-yard field goal that gave the Indians a 3-0 halftime lead last week and later booted a 45-yard punt that died at the Gresham 2-yard line. The punt led to Roseburg's first touchdown and in Bell's mind was the biggest play of the game. "In a tight ball game he can be the difference," Bell says. Sprague, meanwhile, has a fine player in Tim Cronin, who scored two TDs last week. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,