Box Score

ASHLAND, Ore. – Southern Oregon tallied 540 yards on offense to pick up its third straight win, upsetting No. 17 Eastern Oregon 46-34 in non-conference football action Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium.

With the win, SOU improves to 3-3, while Eastern falls to 4-2 overall. The victory marks the Raiders' second consecutive upset victory over a team ranked in the top 25, after they defeating No. 24 Menlo on the road last weekend. They return to action next Saturday, when they travel to Belton, Tex., to face NCAA Div. III Mary Hardin-Baylor.

The Raider defense held the Mountaineers to a three-and-out on the opening possession, and on SOU's first offensive play Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) hit Patrick Donahue (Los Angeles, Calif./Franklin) for a 79-yard touchdown pass down the left side of the field. A missed point after attempt made it a 6-0 SOU advantage less than two minutes into the game. Southern Oregon followed the score with a surprise onside kick attempt, with kicker Colin Amsler (Stevenson Ranch, Calif./West Ranch) recovering his own attempt to give SOU the possession. Eastern Oregon reclaimed possession on the next play, intercepting Dodge's deep pass down the right side at the EOU 17-yardline.

Southern Oregon's defense again held the Mountaineers to a three-and-out, but the Raider offense fumbled the ball back to EOU on the first play of their drive, giving the visitors possession at the SOU five-yardline. Following an Eastern Oregon penalty, Jake Burroughs rushed 10 yards to pick up the score for the Mountaineers, and Luis Ortiz's kick made it 7-6 EOU.

The next two Southern Oregon drives also ended in fumbles, as the Raiders fumbled the ball away five times. Eastern Oregon scored its second touchdown following a fumble, as Chris Ware's 18-yard pass to Kevin Sampson capped a seven-play, 60-yard drive to put the Mountaineers up 14-6.

The Raiders responded to the eight-point deficit by scoring 26 unanswered points until midway through the third quarter. Southern Oregon's second touchdown run came on a one-yard Manny Barragan (Yreka, Calif./Yreka) rush, with the point after again missing to make it 14-12 EOU late in the first quarter. An eight-play, 65-yard SOU drive in the second quarter ended in a two-yard touchdown run for Dodge to put the Raiders back in the lead at 18-14.

Southern Oregon stretched its lead to 25-14 going into halftime, with Dodge picking up his second rushing score of the game on an eight-yard run with just over two minutes to play in the second quarter. The Raiders added to their lead with a 15-yard touchdown pass to open the third period, driving 72 yards down the field on only five plays. The highlight of the drive was a 66-yard pass to Willy Tiernan (Roseville, Calif./Roseville), picking up a first down at the EOU 15-yardline.

The teams exchanged scores the rest of the way. Eastern used a 13-play, 80-yard drive to pull within 11 at 32-21 on Ware's 13-yard pass to Dillon Bedford. The Raiders followed with an 11-play drive highlighted by Barragan's second touchdown run of the game to push the lead back to 18. Ware again hit Bedford early in the fourth quarter, this time from 20 yards out to make it 39-28. Dodge responded with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Donahue with just over eight minutes left to play.

Defensively, the Raider defense limited Eastern Oregon to short plays for much of the game. Southern Oregon forced the Mountaineers into nine fourth-down attempts and picking up five turnovers on downs in the contest, including twice in the fourth quarter.

The Mountaineers twice converted fourth-down tries on a 15-play drive late in the fourth quarter to score on Ware's third TD pass to Bedford. Eastern Oregon's two-point pass attempt failed, making it 46-34 with about two minutes remaining. Ortiz sent on onside kick attempt into the SOU front line, and after it bounced around several players the Mountaineers came up with the recovery at the EOU 42-yardline. Southern Oregon's defense again held strong, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth-and-four from the SOU 30-yardline to give the Raiders the ball and clinch the victory.

Dodge finished with 405 yards through the air on 20-of-29 pass attempts, with three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. He also rushed for two more touchdowns, giving him five total scores in the game. Donahue led the Raiders with 143 receiving yards and two scores on four receptions, while Justin Otaguro (Honolulu, Hawaii/Roosevelt) caught a team-high five passes for 87 yards and one touchdown. Barragan's 73 yards on 22 rushing attempts and two touchdowns led the team.

For Eastern Oregon, Ware finished with 294 yards and four touchdowns with one pick on 29-of-54 passing. Bedford caught eight passes for 83 yards and three touchdowns, while Sampson finished with 101 yards rushing on 16 attempts.

Defensively, the Raiders sacked Ware eight times, with Heston Altenbach (Coquille, Ore./Coquille) and Daniel Breaux (Greenfield, Calif./Greenfield) each picking up three sacks. Altenbach and Michael Springer (El Dorado, Calif./Union Mine) tied for the team-lead with 11 total tackles, with Springer adding three tackles-for-loss. Marc-Avery Airhart led EOU's defensive effort with 12 tackles, while four different Mountaineers recovered fumbles.