Retz
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
26
MidAmerica Nazarene MNU 9-2
44
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 10-2
MidAmerica Nazarene MNU
9-2
26
Final
44
Southern Oregon SOU
10-2
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
MNU MidAmerica Nazarene 3 14 3 6 26
SOU Southern Oregon 17 3 7 17 44

Game Recap: Football | | SOU Sports Information

SOU moves on to quarterfinals with 44-26 upending of MidAmerica Nazarene

Complete NAIA Championship Series first-round recap

ASHLAND – Southern Oregon University remained untouchable in first-round NAIA Football Championship Series games Saturday, surging past ninth-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene with a big second half in a 44-26 win at Raider Stadium.

The evening saw the eighth-ranked Raiders add some new notches to the program's proverbial belt – improving to 5-0 in first-round games, collecting a school-record 10th win, getting quarterback Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) another NAIA record, this one for career completions, and pushing Dylan Young (Salem, Ore./North Salem) to the top of SOU's career TD catch list by himself.

And yet, to truly take the next step, they learned shortly after the game that they'd have to face some old demons. Next Saturday's NAIA quarterfinals will send them back to top-ranked Carroll, which contributed to SOU's 0-4 all-time quarterfinal record with a couple classic (and utterly heartbreaking) defeats of the Raiders in 2001 and 2002. The teams split two Frontier games this year, with the Raiders winning their home game 38-35 and the Saints winning theirs 42-40.

The Raiders, however, had another league champ to take out on Saturday, this one of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The Pioneers finished their season with a record of 9-2.

While the SOU offense labored to get in rhythm during the first half, JJ Latu (Hawthorne, Calif./Ladybird Johnson) bought it some time with an 85-yard kickoff return that he busted open up the middle, the team's first in two years. That, a 17-yard bullet from Dodge to Ryan Retzlaff (Medford, Ore./South Medford) in the first quarter and Aldrick Rosas (Orland, Calif./Orland)' last-second field goal from 32 yards out sent the Raiders into halftime up 20-17.

Dodge, who went 23-for-35 with 311 yards and three TD passes, got going in the second half and the Pioneers lost their grip on the game in a hurry.

Matt Retzlaff (Medford, Ore./South Medford) took his pass near the line of scrimmage, broke one tackle and leapt over two other pursuers and into the end zone on the Raiders' first possession of the third for a nine-yard score. As it turned out, MNU's last chance may have been on the ensuing possession. With first-and-goal from eight yards out, the Pioneers were held by SOU's defense to a field goal, cutting the lead to 27-20.

Then, after 27 yards worth of two Sean Tow (Diamond Springs, Calif./Union Mine) rushes, Dodge got over the top of the MNU defense for the first time all night with a 47-yard TD strike to Young that made it 34-20. Rosas next made a 21-yard field goal, and the Pioneers botched a snap when they tried to punt away the next possession to set up Dodge's three-yard TD run. SOU's lead had suddenly ballooned to 44-20 with 9:26 left.

Dodge – who broke the completions record with his fifth of the night and is up to 1,169 – hit Ryan Retzlaff (Medford, Ore./South Medford) eight times for 137 yards and Matt Retzlaff (Medford, Ore./South Medford) six times for 63 yards. Tow was electric on the ground, rushing 13 times for 124 yards – his second time over 120 in the last four weeks.

The Raider defense stepped up late, too. MNU's Javon Taylor totaled 126 yards rushing but recorded only three of those in the second half, and Trent Hedlund was 7-for-15 passing after halftime.

Laurence Calcagno (Canby, Ore./Canby) was all over the place with 15 tackles and half a sack, Heston Altenbach (Coquille, Ore./Coquille) added 13 tackles, and Daniel Breaux (Greenfield, Calif./Greenfield) had two sacks. Kalan Hoedl (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) was credited with a sack and a fumble recovery.

The Pioneers did score on a couple non-quarterback passes. Wesley Foryoh caught a backwards pass and fired it 25 yards to tie the game at 17-all with 30 seconds left in the second quarter before a couple Dodge completions set up the Rosas field goal. Deron Kirkwood took a reverse and tossed it 17 yards to Foryoh with seven minutes left.

That would be the final score. The Pioneers had just 342 yards to SOU's 540.

Young's three catches were a season-low, but the TD catch was the 29th of his career to break a tie with Martin Turner, who previously established the career Raider record in 1983.

None of the home teams were upset in the first round.  SOU is 4-1 all-time at home in the NAIA FCS.
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