Junior running back Brandon Baldwin (Palo Cedro, Calif./Foothill) went for 181 yards to lead Southern Oregon to a 31-18 victory over Simon Fraser today in Burnaby, B.C.

With the victory, SOU improved to 2-0 on the season for the first time since the 2001 season. The Raiders travel to Willamette next Saturday afternoon. Simon Fraser dropped to 0-2 on the year.

Baldwin rushed 35 times for his 181 yards, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Mike McDonald (Burbank, Calif./Burbank) passed for two scores and 167 yards on 14 of 30 passing. Vance Beach (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) caught six passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

Simon Fraser took advantage of a pair of SOU turnovers in the first half and had a 6-0 lead until late in the second quarter.

The Raiders then took advantage of a bad punt by the Clan to get the ball inside the 50 with 48 seconds to play in the first half.

A 20-yard pass from McDonald to Justin Avriett (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley) set up a first down for the Raiders at the 2-yard-line and after a pair of incomplete passes, McDonald found Beach and with an extra point took a 7-6 lead at the half.

In the second half, the Raiders struck quickly.

A fumble by the Clan on the opening kickoff gave the ball back to the Raiders and Baldwin capped a five-play, 25-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown for a 14-6 lead.

After a SFU punt, McDonald and Beach hooked up again, this time from 35 yards to put the Raiders up 21-6.

The Clan found the end zone again in the third quarter, but the Raiders answered back with a 13-play 78 yard drive that took 7:05 off the clock and ended with a 20-yard field goal by Tyler Crowley (Palo Cedro, Calif./Bishop Quinn) to give the Raiders a 24-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The SOU defense then stepped up late in the game, stopping the Clan on a fourth-and-goal from the SOU 3. Baldwin added another score late in the game.

Defensively for the Raiders, Austin Cantrell (Redding, Calif./Foothill) finished with a game-high nine tackles, while Josh McOmber (Anderson, Calif./West Valley) finished with eight stops. Jake Becker (Springfield, Ore./Springfield) came away with seven tackles and 2.5 tackles-for-loss, while Jarrod Moroni (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) and Juwuan Brown (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly) both had sacks.

Gabriel Ephard had 152 yards rushing to lead the Simon Fraser offense.