ASHLAND – A 92-minute lightning delay proved disadvantageous to the Southern Oregon University football team in a 42-24 Frontier Conference loss to No. 17-ranked College of Idaho on Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium.
Moments before the first strike hit,
Cesar Ruiz's 28-yard field goal gave the Raiders (1-2) a 17-14 lead over the unbeaten Coyotes (3-0) with 4 minutes 38 seconds left in the third quarter. But coming out of the delay, C of I scored touchdowns on every remaining possession – piling up 184 rushing yards on 22 attempts over the final 19 minutes on the soaked turf.
Hunter Gilbert netted 153 yards and three touchdowns on 21 rushes, and Allamar Alexander added 77 yards on 16 tries.
On their first post-delay drive, the Yotes finished off an 80-yard march with Gilbert's 30-yard escape to the end zone. The Raiders promptly regained the lead when
Stokes Botelho got loose for a 95-yard kickoff return, putting them up 28-24 going into the fourth quarter, but it was all C of I from there.
Yotes quarterback Andy Peters, who completed 15-of-23 passes for 199 yards, put his team back in front with a 10-yard TD pass to Jon Schofield to complete a five-minute possession. The dagger was delivered less than a minute later, when Keagan Croteau intercepted SOU quarterback
Blake Asciutto's pass and returned it 24 yards for a TD to put the Yotes ahead 35-24.
Asciutto completed 12-of-27 passes for 176 yards, connecting with both
Christian Graney and
Imarion Kelly for first-half scores. Raider running back
Christian Quirarte added a career-high 85 rushing yards on 14 carries.
The loss also spoiled a career day for linebacker
Jake Regino, who totaled eight solo tackles and 15 total.
Nolan Rinefort had nine tackles, and
DeShawn Craig contributed eight with three pass break-ups.
The Yotes finished with 487 total yards – including 288 on the ground – to SOU's 348. They're the only remaining unbeaten team in the Frontier and have won 28 of their last 32 conference games dating back to 2018.
The Raiders play four of their next five on the road. They travel next week to Carroll (Mont.), which will enter the matchup with a 2-1 record.
