ASHLAND – No matter the path or the quality of the opponent, the Southern Oregon football team can't stop landing itself in last-minute, game-deciding moments week after week.
On Saturday night at Raider Stadium, the drama only sweetened the celebration after SOU's 21-14 win against Rocky Mountain (Mont.), which was decided when
Hykeem Massey ran in the go-ahead touchdown with 1:12 left on the clock and sealed when
Noah Johnson broke up the Battlin' Bears' final play 20 yards away from the end zone as time expired.
With their second win in a row, the Raiders bumped their record to 2-4 overall and 2-3 in the Frontier Conference. Rocky fell to 2-4 and 1-4, losing its fourth straight.
Massey, a junior from Seattle, became SOU's first triple-digit rusher of the season, netting 120 yards on 21 attempts and the five-yarder to win it. Quarterback
Wyatt Hutchinson went 12-of-23 for 177 yards and touchdown passes of 28 yards to
Parker Randle and 31 to
Christian Graney in the first quarter, but the Raiders didn't generate any offense after that until their final drive.
Though they surrendered all of a 14-0 lead, defense kept them in it. Rocky's only offensive touchdown was a second-quarter, six-yard reception by Josh Kraft from Drew Korf, who completed half of his 44 attempts for 218 yards.
Korf was picked off twice, by junior
Michael Chisley Jr. and freshman
DeShawn Craig. Chisley's interception was his fourth of 2019, tying him for the third-most in the NAIA, and Craig's marked the first of his career.
Another freshman,
Marve Nyembo, blocked Rocky's 23-yard field goal attempt, which initially appeared to be returned by Chisley for a score before it was ruled that he stepped out of bounds on the way.
SOU's special teams also put the defense in a few precarious spots, as three punts totaling 21 yards landed Rocky at the Raiders' 34-yard line twice and their 35 on another occasion. The Bears didn't score on any of the three chances.
They did, however, tie the game when Devonte Woods blocked a field goal and John Tia brought it back 62 yards for a touchdown with 9:03 left. Kraft scored on a reverse for the two-point conversion, making it 14-14.
Three drives later, SOU took the lead back. Hutchinson's 20-yard completion to Graney put the Raiders at Rocky's 29-yard line with 2:48 to play, and his third-and-9 completion to
Jason Shelley for 16 yards required a circus catch after it was tipped, but put the Raiders at Rocky's 12.
Massey then took advantage on third down. Three completions put Rocky in position to answer on their final chance, but the Bears ran out of time.
Graney finished with a career-high 103 yards and six catches.
The Raiders had six sacks, with
Collin Crown and
James Porter getting in on two apiece.
They'll be back on the road next Saturday at Eastern Oregon for a 1 p.m. kickoff, attempting to avenge a 24-21 loss to the Mountaineers on Sept. 6 at Raider Stadium. For the first time since 1974, they've played five straight games decided by seven points or fewer.