Game 1 – #2 Southern Oregon at Eastern Oregon
6 p.m. Saturday | Community Stadium | La Grande, Ore. | Live Stats/Stream
SOU Previews: Offense | Defense | Special Teams | Two-Deep Depth Chart

ASHLAND – Compared to the meetings that led up to it, the 2015 regular-season finale between the Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon football teams, a 48-37 SOU win in La Grande, was a major letdown.

On one hand, it guaranteed the Raiders a postseason berth and started a four-game winning streak they rode to Daytona, Fla., for their second straight appearance in the NAIA title game. On the other, the previous four matchups had all been decided by four points or less, with both teams taking two and the winning score being recorded within the final four minutes in each of them.

At 6 p.m. Saturday, the Raiders and Mountaineers can make things right in the 2016 and Frontier opener for both teams and the first night game at Community Stadium in series history. SOU comes into the matchup ranked No. 2 and EOU, picked to finish fourth in the conference and coming off a 4-7 campaign, is the first team out of the NAIA Top 25 in the "receiving votes" category.

Series Overview:
– Saturday will mark the 71st game in the series between the teams, which SOU started with a triumph in 1930 and leads 51-16-3. The only team the Raiders have faced more is Western Oregon, which they met most recently in 2010 for the 76th time.
– The Raiders have won five straight at Community Stadium and are 23-10-2 all-time on EOU's home field.  Their last loss was by 27-10 decision on Nov. 15, 2008.
– EOU and SOU have both posted four Frontier records over the .500 mark. EOU joined the conference in 2006, and SOU joined in 2012.
– Tim Camp, starting his ninth year as EOU's head coach, has a 3-9 mark against the Raiders. Craig Howard, SOU's sixth-year head coach, is 7-2 against the Mountaineers and 3-1 against their ranked squads.
– On Sept. 12 last year in Ashland, the Raiders trailed 35-14 in the final minute of the third quarter and rallied for a 38-35 win. On Nov. 14 in La Grande, they were up 31-10 by halftime and coasted to a 48-37 victory.
– The last time SOU started a season against EOU was a 34-30 Raiders win that was clinched by a JaRod Hill touchdown reception from Mike McDonald with 41 seconds remaining on Aug. 28, 2010 in La Grande.

The Frontier Gap: Since shedding its NAIA Independent status and becoming a Frontier Conference member for football only in 2012, SOU has more conference wins than anyone in the circuit with a record of 31-9, including a 14-6 mark on the road. Carroll is next at 29-11, and behind the Saints are EOU, Montana Tech and Montana Western with matching 21-19 records. The Raiders – who are the favorite to win this year's title – shared a title with Montana Tech in 2012 and haven't won it since, but they've played deeper into the postseason than any Frontier team in three of their first four seasons.

Nighttime Maneuvers: While the Raiders have never played a night game at EOU, the Mountaineers didn't play a home night game against anyone from 1988 to 2015, according to longtime EOU stat guru Sam Ghrist.

The Raiders haven't played a night game on the road against another NAIA school since a 14-13 win at Azusa Pacific on Oct. 5, 2007. This year, they've scheduled a regular-season game under the Raider Stadium lights for the first time since 2010: Oct. 15 against Eastern Oregon.

The Howard Files: Craig Howard enters his sixth season with a record of 45-17 (including 8-2 in the postseason) at SOU, giving him the top win percentage (.726) in Raider football history. He's three wins behind Chuck Mills (48-40-1) for third and five behind Jeff Olson (50-36) for second on SOU's wins list. Combined with his eight wins as head coach at Oregon Tech in 1991-92, Howard has the 19th most (53) among all active NAIA coaches, and he's coached fewer seasons than anyone in the top 25.

Retzlaff-ing at Your Plans: Redshirt-senior receiver Matt Retzlaff has enjoyed torching many teams in his time at SOU, but none more than Eastern Oregon. In six games against the Mountaineers, he's caught 31 passes for 410 yards and seven touchdowns. During his freshman season in 2013, he stole the show in a 73-20 rout with 10 catches for a career-high 141 yards and four TDs, and one goal-line rush for a score. His five total TDs tied an SOU single-game record co-held by Griff Yates (in 1998) and Dusty McGrorty (2001).

Retzlaff, an All-Frontier selection the last three years, comes into the season with 2,403 receiving yards, 27 receiving TDs and 166 total receptions. He needs 424 more receiving yards, six more receiving TDs and 24 more receptions to match the Raider career records.

Briefly:
– Including the 2015 postseason, Southern Oregon's active six-game road win streak is the longest in team history.
– The Raiders, of course, ended last year with a loss to Marian (Ind.) in the national championship game, but they haven't lost consecutive games since the end of 2013. Their average margin of victory following losses since then has been 20.6 points in five games.
– SOU quarterback Tanner Trosin's breakout performance was off the bench last year in the second week against the Mountaineers. On that day, he completed 17 of 20 passes for 173 yards, and he also became the first Raider QB to rush for 100-plus yards since David Searle did it on Oct. 12, 1991, with 14 rushes for a net gain of 116. In the second meeting with EOU, Trosin took off 11 times for 82 yards and a score.
– The Raiders cashed in all 13 times they got into the red zone against EOU last year with 10 TDs and three Marcus Montano field goals. On the season, they scored on 56 of 69 red zone appearances with 47 TDs.
– James Gravelle will be making his debut as defensive coordinator for the Raiders with a starting unit that includes seven starters from last year's team. Additionally, Nathan Chin will be coaching for the first time with the title of assistant head coach. Chin has been on staff for more postseason wins (10) than anyone in SOU history.

About Eastern Oregon: Attempting to put together a campaign worthy of an NAIA Championship Series appearance for the first time, the Mountaineers return six starters on defense, first-team All-Frontier senior quarterback Zach Bartlow and first-team junior receiver/return specialist Calvin Connors. Bartlow completed 60 percent of his passes last year for 2,498 yards, 23 TDs and eight interceptions, and he rushed for 734 yards and nine TDs. He and Connors – who amassed 1,522 all-purpose yards and nine TDs, including three against SOU – helped EOU to 401 yards per game, the 29th most in the NAIA, but this year will have to do without former Raider killer Jace Billingsley, who is currently on the verge of making the Detroit Lions roster.

The Mountaineers ranked seventh in the conference in scoring defense (32.5 points) and last in average rushing defense (234 yards) last season. They have six starters back, and among them is all-conference defensive lineman Kyle Lanoue. Last year, Lanoue had just three tackles in the first meeting with SOU and was out with an injury for the second. At linebacker, Tucker Stanley is back after registering 70 tackles and five sacks in 2015. And at cornerback, EOU will rely on seniors Kalliy Ceesay and John Payne.