SOU-EOU Boxscore 

The Southern Oregon football team turned the ball over four times and fell to Eastern Oregon 27-10 this afternoon in La Grande in the season finale for both teams.

Eastern Oregon finishes the season 5-6 overall. Southern Oregon finishes 2008 with a 3-7 record.

"The season didn't end up like we thought it would," SOU Head Coach Steve Helminiak said. "But I'm proud of one thing, this group never quit. They played to the final whistle in every game. I'm very proud of that."

Against Eastern, the Raiders had trouble holding onto the ball, something that plagued the Raiders in all seven losses. SOU fumbled the ball twice and also threw two interceptions.

Eastern jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead on touchdown runs by Jake Hartley and CJ Taylor.

The Raiders got on the board in the second quarter as senior Corey O'Neill (Medford, Ore./South Medford) nailed a 37-yard field goal and the Mountaineers had a 14-3 halftime lead.

Taylor found the end zone again for Eastern in the third quarter to push the lead to 20-3.

The Raiders answered with a 3-yard touchdown pass from J.C. Hunsaker (Adin, Cailf./Big Valley) to Drew Dukeshire (Portland, Ore./Benson), but a turnover on their next possession led to Taylor's third touchdown of the game and the 27-10 final score.

Senior running back Marlon Rosales (San Jose, Calif./Santa Teresa) finished to 115 yards on the day to become the first Raider since Dusty McGrorty in 2003 to go over 1,000 yards. Rosales finished with 1,007 yards.

Dukeshire led all SOU receivers with five catches and 61 yards.

Defensively, Kevin Harrell (Napa, Calif./Vintage) finished with 18 tackles, which ranks as the third most in school history.