SOU NOTES

ASHLAND – Following a tough loss to end its three-game winning streak, the Southern Oregon football team returns home this weekend to host NCAA Division II Simon Fraser in the SOU Homecoming Game, Saturday at 2 p.m. at Raider Stadium.

The Raiders, 3-4 overall this season, will look to bounce back from a 52-12 loss to No. 4 Mary Hardin-Baylor in Texas last weekend. They will face a 2-5 Clan team that has been outscored 183-69 in its five losses this season.

“Our team ran into a Texas buzz saw,” SOU head coach Craig Howard said of Mary Hardin-Baylor. “They're a top four team and they played like a top-four team, and it was a tough game on the road.”

Howard believes that the difficult loss will continue to provide valuable experience for the Raiders going forward as they enter the final stretch of their schedule. Southern Oregon will travel to Azusa next week to face No. 8 Azusa Pacific before closing out the season at home against Menlo on Nov. 12. But the Raiders are looking forward to another opportunity to play at home in front of a homecoming crowd, according to Howard.

“We learned a lot, we came back this week ready this week for our homecoming game against Simon Fraser,” Howard said. “They're a division II team and will give us a great challenge during homecoming.”

Simon Fraser's offense relies on a running game that averages nearly 200 yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry. Through the air the Clan have not had as much success, averaging 144.6 yards per game and 5.2 per attempt, with six touchdown passes and nine interceptions. Defensively, the passing game has also been a struggle for SFU, as the Clan yield an average of 269.1 yards per game through the air on 60 percent pass completions for 18 touchdowns and only five interceptions.

Bo Palmer leads the SFU rushing attack with 863 yards and six touchdowns on 142 carries for an average of 6.1 yards per attempt. Quarterback Trey Wheeler has compiled a 105.3 efficiency rating on a 57.2 completion percentage with 1,002 yards and six touchdowns and seven interceptions. Bobby Pospischil leads a deep receiving corps with 35 catches for 268 yards, while four other receivers have added double-digit catches and more than 100 yards. Defensively, Kyle Miller's 47 total tackles lead the team, while Justin Capicciotti has wreaked havoc on opposing quarterbacks and running backs with 7.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles-for-loss among his 45 tackles. As a team, SFU has 23 sacks and 50 tackles-for-loss.

For the Raiders, they will look to build on their fourth-best sack total in the NAIA (23), while quarterback Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) will try to take advantage of the struggling SFU pass defense. Dodge leads the SOU offense with 1,327 passing yards while completing 96 of 177 pass attempts with six touchdowns and seven picks. Mike Olson (Colfax, Calif./Colfax) leads the team with 29 receptions for 408 yards and two touchdowns, while Patrick Donahue (Los Angeles, Calif./Franklin) and Cole McKenzie (Red Bluff, Calif./Red Bluff) are tied for the team-lead with three touchdown catches apiece.