SOU NOTES

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon football team will face its fourth ranked opponent of the season Saturday night when the Raiders visit No. 11 Azusa Pacific for a nonconference contest scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

The Raiders, 4-4 this season, are 2-1 in their previous three games against ranked teams with a pair of home wins over No. 24 Menlo and No. 17 Eastern Oregon and a road loss to No. 4 Mary Hardin-Baylor a couple weeks ago. Southern Oregon has won four of its last five games after opening the season 0-3, and the Raiders' four wins are the most since the 2007 team won five games.

“I'm really proud of the team, the way they've shown resiliency and fought back,” SOU head coach Craig Howard said. “Even last week against a tough Simon Fraser team, we fell behind 21-3 in front of a homecoming crowd and the 2001 alumni football team, we fought back and won the football game.”

Through eight games, Southern Oregon has averaged 23.9 points per game while yielding an average of 34.2. The Raiders have picked up 1,987 passing yards while opponents have gained 1,844 yards through the air. On the ground the Raiders have totaled 1,025 yards, while SOU has yielded 1,406 yards for an average of 175.8 per game.

Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) leads the Raider offense with 1,641 yards passing while completing 129 of 233 pass attempts with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Patrick Donahue (Los Angeles, Calif./Franklin) leads the team with 35 receptions for 436 yards and five touchdowns, while Mike Olson (Colfax, Calif./Colfax) has grabbed 31 passes for 423 yards and two scores. Manny Barragan (Yreka, Calif./Yreka) has rushed for 501 yards on 128 attempts with five touchdowns. Michael Springer (El Dorado, Calif./Union Mine) leads the team with 63 tackles, including a team-high 15.5 for-loss. Daniel Breaux (Greenfield, Calif./Greenfield)'s 4.5 sacks lead the team, and Josh Leff (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) and James Antaplyan (Los Angeles, Calif./Burbank) have each grabbed two interceptions for the Raiders.

“We travel to Los Angeles to play a really good football team in Azusa Pacific,” Howard said. “Their quarterback is one of the finest quarterbacks in the country, and we're going to have our hands full defending him. They also play great defense down at Azusa Pacific, and they've been ranked in the top 10 most of the season.”

Azusa Pacific enters Saturday's contest with a 6-2 record. The Cougars dropped out of the NAIA top 10 this week after losing a close road game last weekend at Lindenwood (Mo.). They have scored at least 31 points in every game, with 40 or more seven times and 50 or more four times. The Cougars are averaging 48 points per game, while limiting opponents to 20.9. They have gained 2,663 total rushing yards, for an average of 332.9 per game, while limiting opponents to less than 100 rushing yards per contest (92.4).

Six different runners have gained at least 100 yards and scored multiple touchdowns for the Cougars, led by quarterback John van den Raadt's 799 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns and a 9.6 yards-per-carry average. He has also connected on 54.4 percent of his passes for 1,194 yards with 14 touchdowns and five interceptions. Defensively, the Cougars boast an aggressive group that boasts 66 tackles-for-loss and 27 sacks this season. Jake Jones' 5.5 sacks lead the team, and six different players have intercepted at least one pass for the Cougars.

Southern Oregon has faced APU 12 times, with the teams meeting every year since 1999. The Raiders own an 8-4 record against the Cougars, with their last win coming in 2009 when they won 20-13 down in California. Azusa Pacific won last year's contest 38-13 at Raider Stadium.

The 2011 Raiders have already out-produced several recent SOU teams, and they are on pace to finish with their highest yardage totals since the 2003 team and their highest passing yardage marks since 2001. Already 3-0 at home, SOU will have a chance in a couple weeks to finish the season undefeated at home for the first time since 1999.

“We want to finish with a bang,” Howard said. “We've been practicing hard. These seniors are a great group of guys, and I want to see them go out with a winning record, 6-4. That's right in front of us; we just have to play well on the road and one more home game.”