GAME 7 – SOU (2-4, 1-1) vs. Eastern Oregon (2-3, 1-0)
1 p.m. Saturday | Ashland, Oregon | Raider Stadium (Laurel Field)
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ASHLAND – New life in the Frontier Conference's West Division is on the table for the Southern Oregon football team as it seeks a second straight win Saturday against rival Eastern Oregon.

The teams' 85th all-time matchup is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Raider Stadium's Laurel Field. It's the fourth of five home games on the regular-season schedule for the Raiders (2-4 overall, 1-1 FC West), who blew out Simpson (Calif.) last week and have a chance to heat up entering the final stretch with a trip to 1-4 Arizona Christian on deck. The Mountaineers (2-3, 1-0) are fresh off a 26-6 victory against ACU, scoring more in that game than in their previous three combined.

THE MATCHUP: The Raiders are 59-22-3 against EOU in a series that dates back to 1930 and have won 14 of 22 Frontier contests. They took last year's matchup, 49-21 on Nov. 9 in Ashland, behind Gunner Yates' 269 rushing yards and Gabe Foster's three sacks. Prior to that outcome, EOU had left victorious in six of its previous eight trips to Raider Stadium.  This year's Mountaineers, on average, are both scoring (13.2) and allowing (12.6) fewer points than any team in the division. Their offense – which graduated a dynamic quarterback and its five leading receivers from 2024 – sputtered out of the gate, losing 3-0 to Valley City State (N.D.) and 23-7 to MSU-Northern in back-to-back weeks at one point. They got some relief last week with the return of running back Brody Macmillan, who marked his season debut with 92 yards and a score on 18 carries as the team attempted 48 running plays compared to just 10 passes.

QUICK HITS:

• Junior quarterback Dom Montiel enjoyed his most efficient day yet as a Raider in last week's 48-17 win, completing 13-of-16 attempts for 213 yards and three touchdowns. He accounted for five total TDs by rushing three times for 43 yards and two scores. Among West Division quarterbacks, he ranks third in yards per game (271.0) and TD passes (12) with a 61.5% completion rate. No Raider QB has averaged 270 or more yards over a full season since Tanner Trosin (347.4) in 2017.
• Senior defensive end Gabe Foster is on the verge of joining some elite company after recording another sack last week. Through just 1 ½ seasons at SOU, he is up to 16 career sacks – four away from becoming the sixth player in program history to reach 20. Only one player in that group, Michael County (1986-87), played fewer than four seasons for the Raiders. Foster is one sack off of the West Division lead with six this season.
• Redshirt-freshman Coen Coloma had a breakout performance last week with 146 rushing yards on 18 attempts. He joined Melvin Mason, Sean Tow and Gunner Yates as the only Raider freshmen to hit triple digits on the ground in the Frontier era. On the season, he is averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
• Brandon Barthel totaled four receptions for 104 yards and three TDs at Simpson, marking his third 100-yard outing of the year. He is second on the West Division leaderboard in both receiving TDs (9) and yards per game (97.3). His teammate, Trevor Jaasko, is seventh in yards per game (60.3).
• On the West's tackles leaderboard, SOU's two first-year starting linebackers, Will Kanavalov Jr. (7.5) and Raiden House (7.3), are both top eight.
• Third-year coach Berk Brown's teams are 16-1 when they score at least 25 points.

AROUND THE FRONTIER: Carroll shook up the West title race last week with a 42-34 upset at favorite Montana Western and led by three touchdowns entering the fourth quarter. As a result, the Saints moved up two spots to No. 12 in the NAIA Top 25 and the Bulldogs fell seven spots to No. 15. College of Idaho, which hosts Montana Western this week, got a two-spot boost to No. 20. Montana Tech is the only ranked East Division team at No. 6.

HOME HISTORY: Berk Brown's teams have won all seven of their home games against unranked teams by an average of 41.7 points. SOU is 117-72 all-time at Raider Stadium and had won eight consecutive games in Ashland before dropping its last two to Montana Tech and Montana Western. The Raiders are 41-18 as the designated home team in Frontier teams, including a 29-4 mark against unranked opponents.

MORE ON EOU:

• Tim Camp, EOU's 18th-year head coach, owns a record of 89-93 in his career with the Mountaineers. Dating back to last season, he has led them to wins in six of their last eight conference games.
• The Mountaineers' opponents are averaging just 2.8 yards per rush, 5.0 yards per pass and 233.4 total yards per game. Dating back to last season, only one of their last 13 opponents – Southern Oregon – has scored 30 points. Led by All-Frontier defensive back Jason Grant (33 tackles, 1 INT) and linebacker Nehemiah Medrano (43 tackles 5 ½ TFL, 2 FR), they've collected 10 takeaways.
• EOU has gone with a couple starters at quarterback – most recently senior Elia Kirisimasi, who is completing 62% of his passes for 95.4 yards per game. He has also been the most prominent running threat with team-highs in rushes (66), yards (222) and TDs (4).