ASHLAND – Cole Schmidt's defensive heroics sealed a 17-15 win for No. 25-ranked College of Idaho on an afternoon full of missed opportunities for Southern Oregon on Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium.

Schmidt, a redshirt-freshman defensive end, blocked a punt with 10:54 remaining in the fourth quarter, recovered it, and returned it four yards for a touchdown that extended the Yotes' one-point lead to 17-9. With 2:24 left to play, he came up with an interception that was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Dylan Martinez, ruining SOU's last chance.

The Yotes (6-2) moved into a first-place tie with Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in the Frontier Conference standings after the Battlin' Bears went down at Montana Tech. SOU, which missed on a two-point conversion try that could have tied the game in the final minutes, dropped to 3-5 and sits in sixth place.

After lightning strikes delayed the opening kickoff 1 hour 37 minutes, the Raiders built a 9-0 advantage to take into halftime on Cesar Ruiz field goals from 41, 26 and 25 yards deep. They also left some crucial points behind. Stokes Botelho returned two interceptions for touchdowns, but the first was called back because of an illegal block, and the second was called back after he transferred the ball to a teammate without any Yotes in the picture a few yards from the end zone and was flagged for a forward handoff.

The Yotes finally broke through thanks to another SOU mistake, a muffed punt that they recovered at the Raider 19-yard line midway through the third quarter. Cameron Simons took advantage with a 31-yard field goal.

With 12:40 left in the fourth, Nick Calzaretta's third straight rush turned into his 12th TD of the season after a Raider unsportsmanlike conduct penalty set the Yotes up with a short field. Simons' ensuing point-after kick gave them their first lead at 10-9.

Their momentum continued to build minutes later with Schmidt's blocked punt and touchdown, but SOU responded.

Facing fourth-and-33 from C of I's 36-yard line with 4:43 left, Blake Asciutto hit Bryce Goggin over the middle and Goggin maneuvered to the outside – speeding past the Yotes defense and extending into the corner of the end zone. The Raiders needed two more points to tie it; Asciutto's attempted pass to Christian Graney fell incomplete.

Asciutto, making his first start for injured quarterback Matt Struck, completed 21-of-38 passes for 219 yards. Graney caught eight of them for 65 yards.

Defensively, Botelho became just the third Raider in the last five years to pick off two passes in a game. He's up to four interceptions on the season. Jared Smith added another on his senior day.

Drew Schuler led the Raiders with nine tackles. Bryce Kasch had six, with two for losses.

SOU will play its last two games on the road, at Carroll (Mont.) and Eastern Oregon.