cooper
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
31
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 6-0 , 6-0
27
Eastern Oregon EOU 2-4 , 2-4
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
6-0 , 6-0
31
Final
27
Eastern Oregon EOU
2-4 , 2-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
SOU Southern Oregon 0 10 0 21 31
EOU Eastern Oregon 0 17 7 3 27

Game Recap: Football | | SOU Sports Information

Raiders shock EOU, 31-27, with 4th-quarter comeback

LA GRANDE – There is no simple explanation for what saved Southern Oregon's perfect record at Eastern Oregon. The shortest version involves an answered Hail Mary, a couple acts of grace by the Mountaineers that led to the forfeiture of what had been a two-score lead with half a quarter to play, the two most critical interceptions of AJ Cooper's pass-defending life, and another successful stop on Tanner Trosin's All-America campaign trail.

The extent to which these rivals tend to torture each other rarely disappoints, and it certainly did not in Saturday's 31-27 SOU win at Community Stadium. Drifting into letdown territory for most of the night, the seventh-ranked Raiders moved to 6-0 after they outscored their hosts 21-3 in the fourth quarter and flipped the narrative to Mountaineer meltdown.

Trosin, SOU's senior quarterback, completed 26 of 44 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns, including three in the final period. The Raiders took their first lead when he found Matt Boudreaux in the end zone from 35 yards out with 5:02 remaining – and the touchdown stood as the last of the game after EOU running back Victor Dias fumbled at SOU's 5-yard line with 1:31 to go.

By completing the season sweep of the Mountaineers (2-4), the Raiders maintained their one-game lead over Montana Tech atop the Frontier Conference standings. They play their next two at home, starting with College of Idaho next Saturday.

Six of the last eight games between SOU and EOU have been decided by five or fewer points. The chaos that tugged them closer in this one rivaled any of those.

Down 10-0 midway through the second quarter and on the defensive again, Cooper lifted the Raiders for the first time with an interception of Kai Quinn that was parlayed into Marcus Montano's 36-yard field goal. Quinn – EOU's redshirt-freshman quarterback who earlier threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to TJ Hancock – responded with a 66-yard pass to Brenden Kelly that put SOU in a 17-3 hole 1:38 before halftime.

But, as time expired, Trosin launched a 40-yard jump-ball in the direction of about 10 individuals inside the end zone. Jordan Suell, SOU's 6-foot-6 receiver, rose above the crowd to pull it down.

Granted new life, the Raiders failed to tack on in the third quarter. A lost fumble on their second drive gave the Mountaineers a short field, and Quinn took them all 44 yards, finishing with an 8-yard strike to Connor Falk for a 24-10 lead.

Entering desperation mode, Trosin completed five passes for 66 yards on SOU's ensuing drive – which was also helped by an unsportmanlike conduct penalty – and his 12-yard TD pass to Dominic Giampaoli cut the lead in half with 12:04 to play. The Raiders then held EOU to a field goal, and just 53 seconds later Trosin connected with Bronsen Ader for a 66-yard, third-down TD pass that brought SOU within 27-24 with 7:07 left.

Two minutes later, Cooper victimized Quinn again, stepping in front of a receiver for his second interception. On the very next play from scrimmage, Trosin found Boudreaux wide-open for the 35-yard, go-ahead score.

Quinn, however, went back to work. He completed passes of 33 and 10 yards to Brenden Kelly and rushed for 15 of his own. Eventually, from SOU's 22, Dias lost the ball at the end of a 17-yard rush and Raider safety Oshay Dunmore recovered three yards from the end zone. SOU was forced to punt with 38 seconds left, but Quinn threw an incompletion, got sacked by Sean Rogers for the third time, was moved back by a false start, and was ultimately intercepted by Keegan Lawrence 19 yards short of the end zone on the final play of the game.

Despite being outgained 466-411 – the highest yardage total against SOU this year – the Raiders held a sixth straight opponent under 30 points for the first time since 2003.  They were even outgained in the fourth quarter, 173-145, though the stat was negated by EOU's three turnovers in the period. Quinn completed 17 of 30 passes for 307 yards, hitting Kelly nine times for 206.

Tyson Cooper led the Raider defense with 13 tackles and a forced fumble, and Lawrence had 12 tackles to go with his interception. Rogers, meanwhile, joined Tre Holmes as the only Raiders with three sacks in a game this season.

While SOU's rushing attack was quiet – Trosin tried seven times and netted 34 yards, and Rey Vega had 12 rushes for 33 – Ader's return at receiver was marked by a 99-yard performance on seven catches. Suell finished with three catches for 111 yards – his third 100-plus-yard performance – and Boudreaux made three of his four catches in the fourth quarter for 64 yards.

For the first time, the Raiders are perfect through six Frontier games.
 
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