Southern Oregon head football coach Steve Helminiak has a smile when talking about his special teams unit following last Saturday's 32-28 victory over Eastern Oregon.

“When you have a unit that you can count on that can come out and make plays, that's a huge lift for the entire team,” Helminiak said.

Junior kicker Tyler Crowley (Palo Cedro, Calif./Bishop Quinn) had four field goals and two extra points to account for 14 of SOU's 32 points. The Raiders also had a pair of blocked punts, including one to set up the game-winning touchdown.

Crowley, seeing his first action in an SOU uniform, connected on field goals of 20, 43, 37 and 21 yards and also averaged 41.2 yards per punt.

Crowley spent his freshman and sophomore years at Shasta Junior College and then red-shirted last year at SOU. As a prep, Crowley was an all-conference football and soccer player at Bishop Quinn High School in Redding, Calif.

“Tyler was behind a pair of seniors last year and he's been waiting for his chance to show what he can do,” Helminiak said. “ To be able to have a reliable and consistent kicker and punter is huge.”

The Raiders are in the middle of two weeks of preparation for the Sept. 12 battle against NCAA Division I FCS (formally I-AA) Portland State.

While SOU has a bye this week, Portland State opens up at Oregon State on Saturday.

After the Portland State game, SOU returns home for two straight against Willamette (Sept. 19) and Linfield (Sept. 26).