ASHLAND – College of Idaho coach Mike Moroski seemed unsure what to make of his team's first meeting with Southern Oregon, a 42-27 Raiders win on Sept. 19, telling hometown broadcasters during the aftermath, "[either] they're not that good or we're getting close."
Anxious to clear up any confusion, the second-ranked Raiders gave Moroski and the Coyotes a better show with ample bells and whistles Saturday at Raider Stadium and sent them back to Caldwell 63-21 losers.
The Raiders (6-1 Frontier Conference), winners of six straight, had highlights from all over: Three different players (including receiver Jeremy Scottow) threw touchdown passes, three rushed into the end zone, and defenders Julius Rucker and Kevin Blueford combined to total 137 yards and two TDs worth of fumble-recovery returns.
C of I, which was down 28-0 less than 10 minutes into the second quarter, dropped to 3-5 overall and 3-4 in the Frontier.
Junior quarterback Tanner Trosin completed 15 of 20 passes for 168 yards and two scores and ran 11 times for 83 yards with an 11-yard touchdown. He connected with Teran Togia for TD passes of 27 and 11 yards.
Togia, who amassed a career-high 105 receiving yards, was also found in the end zone by Scottow on a 39-yard bomb of a receiver-pass that put SOU up 21-0 with 6:38 left in the first quarter. Scottow caught the other Raider touchdown pass, a 32-yarder from Kamerun Smith.
Sean Tow chipped in 37 yards and a 10-yard score to a rushing game that produced 5.1 yards per carry on 36 tries. Melvin Mason wrestled in for a five-yard TD on SOU's first possession of the game.
SOU totaled 499 yards on the day and has averaged 590 yards and 56.8 points in four matchups with C of I since the Yotes resurrected their program before last season. The Yotes have lost all four by an average margin of 33.7.
Rucker – who along with Oshay Dunmore and Devvon Gage made a team-high eight tackles – returned a fumble that Gage forced out of quarterback Teejay Gordon's hands for a 94-yard TD, a record for a Coyote opponent, early in the fourth. Later in the fourth, it was Blueford's 43-yard touchdown return of quarterback A.J. Martin's fumble forced by Sam Woods that provided the final exclamation point.
Gordon completed 11 of 19 passes for 113 yards and rushed 16 times for 103 yards. The Yotes had 369 yards in all, the second-lowest total for an SOU opponent this season. They fumbled four times; Austin Schmidt and Keegan Lawrence forced the others, while Dunmore and Karrington Jones had the recoveries.
The performance will likely make SOU No. 1 in the NAIA come Monday for the first time since the preseason. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), which has had the top spot four weeks in a row, was a 42-24 loser Saturday at No. 8 Reinhardt (Ga.).
No. 12 Montana Tech is primed to move up, too, and still in a first-place tie with SOU after a dominant 42-7 win Saturday at No. 18 Carroll. Montana Western, ranked 17th, remained a game back with a 28-27 win against Rocky Mountain.
The Raiders visit Rocky next week in Billings, Mont., for an 11 a.m. Pacific Time kickoff. After that, SOU's last home game of the regular season is a noon tilt on Nov. 7 against Montana Tech in what will be a battle for first place regardless of next week's outcomes.
