singler
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
20
Montana Western UMW 2-2 , 1-2
24
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 1-2 , 1-1
Montana Western UMW
2-2 , 1-2
20
Final
24
Southern Oregon SOU
1-2 , 1-1
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UMW Montana Western 0 7 0 13 20
SOU Southern Oregon 0 14 3 7 24

Game Recap: Football | | SOU Sports Information

Singler leads SOU on game-winning drive to beat UMW, 24-20

ASHLAND – When the week started, Jack Singler had thrown 14 passes in his three years at Southern Oregon University and all of them were inconsequential. On Saturday afternoon, the 12th-ranked Raiders turned to the redshirt-senior in need of an outing that would help them avoid a 0-3 start and keep their postseason hopes from fading just 15 days into the season.

Singler – starting in place of the injured Tanner Trosin, who led the NAIA in average passing yards through his first two games – answered with a 32-of-49, 387-yard performance that included a game-winning drive capped by his touchdown pass to Zack Davis with 51 seconds left in SOU's 24-20 defeat of No. 22 Montana Western on Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium.

Trailing 20-17 with 2:34 to play, The Raiders (1-2 overall, 1-1 Frontier Conference) faced third-and-20 from their own 17-yard line when Singler fired over the middle for 16 yards to freshman Jason Shelley. A pass-interference call on the play gave them a first down, and Singler's 49-yard pass over the top to Davis – his first deep-ball completion of the day – set up their seven-yard TD connection three plays later on third-and-goal.

The Bulldogs (2-2, 1-2) will be kicking themselves all the way home to Dillon, Mont. In addition to the late defensive lapses, they shot themselves in the foot with a fumble at SOU's 25-yard line in the first quarter; an interception on SOU's six-yard line into the end zone on their first drive of the third; and a fumble at SOU's nine-yard line with 4:11 left in the third.

UMW dominated a majority of the fourth – starting on a 16-play, 88-yard drive that J.D. Ferris finished off with a 10-yard find of tight end Charlie Switzer to cut SOU's lead to 17-14, and ending with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that was aided by two pass-interference calls on SOU. The Bulldogs went ahead for the first time, 20-17, when Ferris hit Tyler Murray for a seven-yard TD with 2:55 left.

That's when Singler led the Raiders downfield, finishing off a day in which he hit 10 different receivers. Matt Retzlaff made nine catches for 100 yards – his fourth 100-plus-yard performances in SOU's last six games dating back to the 2015 playoffs – and a six-yard touchdown with 11:32 left in the second quarter that marked the first score of the game and Singler's first TD pass as a Raider.

Shelley caught six passes for 84 yards, Davis caught three for 69, and Ben Bachman added four for 34. Rey Vegas led the Raiders with 89 rushing yards on 20 carries, and Sean Tow totaled 49 yards on 12 tries with a three-yard score in the second quarter.

Despite two turnovers and a missed field goal in the first half, the Raiders led 14-7 at halftime and went up 17-7 with Montano's 22-yard field goal to start the third quarter.

SOU's defense rendered the UMW rushing game mostly ineffective without All-Frontier running back Sam Rutherford, holding the Bulldogs to an average of 3.2 yards on 29 attempts. Ferris, though, completed 30 of 49 passes for 345 yards and three TDs – his top target was Beau Brekke with six receptions and 118 yards – and has now victimized the Raiders for the top two passing-yardage games of his career. Last year, he amassed 371 in a 37-30 overtime loss to the Raiders.

AJ Cooper had nine tackles, a forced fumble and the lone interception of Ferris on a ball that was initially tipped by Mylz Blake. Julius Rucker led SOU with 12 tackles, while Colin Davis and Keegan Lawrence both forced a fumble and Devvon Gage and Armando Gauger both recovered one.

The Raiders travel next week to 21st-ranked Carroll (Mont.), which fell to 1-2 on Saturday with a shocking 28-14 loss at Montana State-Northern, which hadn't won a game since its 2014 finale.

Notes:
– Nine of SOU's last 10 games against top-25 opponents in conference play have been decided by seven points or less. The Raiders are 6-4 in those games, and they're 12-2 against top-25 opponents since the start of the 2011 season.
– Tow has scored nine touchdowns in his last seven regular-season games and moved into fourth place by himself on SOU's career rushing-TD with his 24th.
– Prior to Saturday, SOU hadn't generated an interception or a sack this season. Cooper claimed the first pick, while Sage Delong and Kalan Hoedl teamed up for the first sack (and SOU's only one of the game) with 10 minutes left in the fourth. Sam Woods and Jacob Proul kept the pressure on with two quarterback-hurries apiece.
– SOU had the advantage in total yardage, 584-437. Jason Ferris was UMW's leading tackler with 15.
– Saturday's scenario should sound somewhat familiar: In danger of dropping to 0-2 in the Frontier and at home for the first time last season, SOU trailed Eastern Oregon 35-14 near the end of the third quarter and came back to win, 38-35, behind Trosin, who was the backup for the last time on that day.
 
Print Friendly Version