stadium
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
27
Carroll (Mont.) CC 3-3 , 3-3
28
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 5-1 , 5-1
Carroll (Mont.) CC
3-3 , 3-3
27
Final
28
Southern Oregon SOU
5-1 , 5-1
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT F
CC Carroll (Mont.) 7 0 14 0 6 27
SOU Southern Oregon 7 14 0 0 7 28

Game Recap: Football | | SOU Sports Information

No. 2 Raiders prevail after another dramatic finish against Carroll

ASHLAND – More proof emerged Saturday on an overcast afternoon at Raider Stadium that the Southern Oregon University football team has parlayed its NAIA championship into a charmed existence.

Carroll's magic, on the other hand, is gone at least for now.

Playing their second overtime game in as many weeks, and their first in front of home fans – over 3,500 of them, in fact – since the 1996 season, the second-ranked Raiders came out 28-27 winners over the No. 11 Saints after the teams got one bonus possession apiece.

Ultimately, the game ended when Carroll quarterback Mac Roche's pass to Chase Fossum in the end zone on an attempted two-point conversion was stabbed out of Fossum's hands by Karrington Jones. But, to make that play possible, the Saints had to fail to put SOU away on two other occasions: With 3:41 left in a 21-21 game during regulation, Benton Braesicke's 18-yard field goal was denied by the right upright, and with one second left in regulation, Braesicke lined up for a 28-yard field goal but never got his chance at redemption due to a bungled snap.

The snafu jolted the Raider crowd back to life, and on the first possession of OT it watched Sean Tow rush five times for 15 yards, including a two-yard run that gave SOU its first TD since the two-minute mark in the second quarter and stood as the game-winner.

Thanks to this win – and last week's 37-30 OT job at Montana Western, in which the Raiders made four straight goal-line stops; and, say, that 38-35 win over Eastern Oregon on Sept. 12 in which they overcame a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter – SOU is 5-1 in the Frontier Conference and remains in a first-place tie with Montana Tech. College of Idaho (3-4, 3-3) visits Raider Stadium next week, fresh off a 38-17 dislodging of Rocky Mountain.

At 3-3, Carroll is off to its worst start since 1999 and has watched its chances at a 15th conference title in 16 years fade almost completely. The Saints won the first meeting with SOU, 26-20 on Sept. 5 in Helena, Mont., and have since played just one game that was decided by more than seven points.

In the aforementioned season-opener, SOU went its last 12 offensive possessions without a touchdown. This time, the Raiders were up 21-7 by halftime but went scoreless on all six of their second-half drives – three of which were halted by fumbles with another ending on an interception.

SOU quarterback Tanner Trosin completed 25 of 40 passes for 235 yards and put the Raiders up first with an eight-yard keeper nine minutes into the game. Roche, who went 25 of 41 for 343 yards, promptly tied it with a 22-yard strike to Ryan Walsh.

The Saints were the ones paying for two fumbles in the second quarter – first losing a punt return that was forced out by AJ Cooper and recovered by Nathan Torres-Walker. On the very next play, Kamerun Smith lofted a pass 40 yards to Adonis Griffin, making it 14-7 with 9:42 left in the half.

Griffin, who had a career-high 138 yards in receptions last week, was strong again with eight grabs for 128 yards.

One stop later, the Raiders traveled 87 yards on 12 plays in 5:04 – their longest scoring drive of the season – and were brought home by two Tow rushes that spanned 20 yards. His nine-yard jolt, which was part of a 62-yard afternoon, made it 21-7 at halftime.

The Saints deposited their TDs consecutively to open the second half, taking the first drive 73 yards and punctuating it with Dylan Green's four-yard run, then getting a 57-yard screen pass from Roche to Ryan Walsh.

All was quiet, after that, until the Saints whiffed on the knockout blows. On the final possession of regulation, they got the ball back with 2:13 on the clock and Roche completed six of nine passes to take them 62 yards. Walsh's carry then centered the ball, but it didn't matter.

Green scored the Saints' overtime TD on a one-yard dive after their first three plays took them 24 yards.

SOU was led in tackles by Julius Rucker (13), Oshay Dunmore (9 tackles, 1 rumble recovery), Sam Woods (8) and Mylz Blake. Devvon Gage, Joseph Lealofi and Trevor Jones had a sack apiece.

James Dowgin had nine tackles for Carroll, Beaugh Meyer had eight, and Ryan Gregory intercepted Trosin.

Of the nine games Carroll and SOU have played, seven have been decided by four points or less, and all but one has been within six points. 

Prior to last week, SOU had just two overtime wins in program history.
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