*Coming later: Week 1 preview, SOU at Simpson

ASHLAND – At this point last August, the Southern Oregon University football team was in the preseason NAIA Top 25 for the first time in six years with eyes on ending a playoff drought that stretched back to 2017.

The Raiders had proven they could build momentum under head coach Berk Brown, winning 12 times in one 14-game stretch across his first two seasons. Entering Saturday's 2026 opener at Simpson (Calif.), their task now is to get it back.

The demoralization brought last fall by early injuries was compounded by inexperience and a 1-4 start that made their aspirations unrecoverable. They'd eventually land on a 3-7 record.

Rebounding won't be easy with a schedule that pits the Raiders against four nationally-ranked opponents over the first month of play. But given who is back, including a former Frontier Conference MVP and 13 more returning starters given time to grow, they're well positioned to turn the page.

"Our locker room is in a really, really good place," said Brown, entering his fourth season with a 17-14 overall record. "I haven't felt this way about a locker room since I came back. I'm excited to see them come together on a gameday and see what it looks and feels like because they're all in right now."

OFFENSIVE GLANCE
A healthy Gunner Yates offers a quicker fix than arguably any player in the country. Anything resembling a return to the form and durability he showed in 2024 – when, as a sophomore, he broke SOU's single-season touchdown record with 29 and led the NAIA with 1,488 rushing yards – would require a complete recalculation of the Raiders' Frontier West Division championship equity. The 6-foot, 215-pound tailback lasted nine rushes over two games before going down with a season-ending injury and ultimately redshirting 2025, but he's back on the field and hopeful for a full junior season.

The Raiders know his load can be lightened, too, thanks to Fresh Ison, who was an All-FC West first-team performer in Yates' absence. After transferring prior to the season from Western Oregon, Ison led the division in yards per rush (5.6) and hit the 100-yard mark in two of the team's final three games.

"If you look at the roster, that's where we have the most confidence," Brown said. "We have an all-conference player in Fresh, we get back the guy who I think might be the best player in the country with Gunner, and there's more behind them that makes us feel like we have a real stable of running backs."

The players next in line referenced by Brown are sophomore Coen Coloma, who averaged 4.8 yards on 53 carries as a redshirt freshman and exploded for a 146-yard performance before an injury that prematurely ended his 2025, and Jamin Miller, a sophomore who redshirted last season and has earned high marks in camp.


Quarterback Dom Montiel's stature as an Oregon State transfer made it easy to forget that last year was his first of collegiate competition. His tools, on display previously when he became one of the state's top preps at Marshfield High, were undeniable when he won the job in camp. They translated to a 62% completion rate and an average of 261.4 passing yards that ranked 11th in the NAIA. He is settled in as the incumbent entering his second year with the team, and command of the game has been at the forefront of his maturation. Brown credits offensive coordinator Tim Souza, who took over play-calling duties for the final three games of last season, with pushing him along.

"Coach Souza has helped Dom tremendously in processing and calming him down in the pocket, just letting the game come to him," Brown said. "I think you're going to see a guy who's really confident in what he's doing. We already know he can make any throw and extend plays with his feet, but he's just operating the system really well."

Souza has a steady backup in junior McCade Long, who has appeared in nine games over the last two seasons at No. 2 on the depth chart. True freshman Tyson Ruggiero, a star last year at Camas High (Wash.), is viewed as the quarterback of the future and will also be in uniform at Simpson.

Added Brown: "They enable us to have an offense that best fits us and the type of players we can recruit. When we've had success here, we did it by finding explosive athletes who can play in space. You'll see more of that than the last two years when we were kind of tight-end, fullback-based, trying to run the football a lot. Not to say we won't run it, but we're not going to try to line everybody up in a phone booth and beat them up. We're going to try to gain numbers with motion and shifts and tempo, and hopefully be more like we were 10 years ago."


By the end of last fall, the Raiders were starting two true freshmen and a redshirt-freshman on the offensive line. The injury bug hit particularly hard within that group, which was already laboring to replace four starters from an especially sturdy 2024 unit.

There is relief in Brown's voice when reflecting on the difference a year has made. Four starters return, and a difference-making newcomer is on board in 6-6, 305-pound left tackle Nate Lynch, an all-conference lineman last season at American River College (Calif.). Junior Hunter Greer is back at left guard after starting every game in 2025, sophomore Reegan Dunten is moving from tackle to center, sophomore Jack Banta will start again at right guard, and Patrick Wooley will move from left to right tackle after starting every game as a redshirt-freshman. Fourth-year tackle Kenan Weinmaster gives the Raiders what Brown believes could be the Frontier's best backup tackle on the left, and freshman Jackson Knittle could be ready to step in on the right. Junior Luke Martindale (another player with starting experience) and redshirt-freshman Jakobi Harper Cole are slotted in as the backup guards.

"I'm excited about where we're at, we just have to stay healthy," Brown said. "Last year we got beat up there and it just killed us. But it's a luxury most teams at our level don't have anymore to bring back so many big guys with experience."


SOU will also turn to in-house solutions at receiver. That's where the Raiders took their biggest offseason hit, losing three players who accounted for nearly 75% of their total yardage through the air. Junior Crater product Dawson Douglas will take a step up as the lone returning starter in the slot, having accumulated 18 receptions for 253 yards last year. Sophomore Walker Bonar has earned a job on the outside opposite a fellow third-year Raider in senior Sean La Chapelle, the former with a reputation for quality route-running and blocking and the latter representing a big target at 6-4.

"Everyone you'll see has developed with us and been in the program for at least two years," Brown said. "It's just their time now."

Redshirt-freshman Tanner Starbuck will be in the mix at slot. Senior Caden Simmons returns to the rotation at wideout as a possession-type receiver, while Ashland native Caden Negra gives the offense a speedy, deep-ball threat. At tight end, junior Milan Reilly (9 catches, 106 yards) has some of the most capable hands anywhere on the roster and sophomore Luke Newell (4 catches, 28 yards) also appeared at the position a year ago.


DEFENSIVE NOTES
Zak Sauve is the Raiders' new defensive coordinator, arriving in Ashland this summer to work closely alongside Brown following a stint as defensive analyst for University of Texas at San Antonio.

"There'll be some changes, not wholesale by any stretch, but a different systematic approach within the same base structure," Brown said. "We look at last year and explosive plays really hurt us; we were just really feast or famine. We'll try to be more sound while taking some chances when it's time, and Coach Sauve has brought a lot of organization and intelligence to the room."

Helping ease the transition is a wealth of talent and leadership at the heart of the defense with linebackers Raiden House and Will Kanavalov Jr., both of whom started every game in 2025. House, now a junior and one of the Frontier's most explosive athletes, transformed into an All-FC West honoree with 74 tackles and seven for losses. Kanavalov Jr. was right behind him on the tackles leaderboard with 72 and, as a captain, "there's not a guy in the locker room who doesn't like him," according to Brown.

"Both of those guys have come a long way, and to watch the progress from last year to now gives us a lot of confidence," he said. "They know how to play and can go sideline to sideline."


On the line, defensive end Caden McGowan earned the late Raider legend Mike Beagle's No. 47 uniform. His selection marked the start of a new tradition designed to honor Beagle and recognize the player who best embodies his character. The school's revered alumni relations director, an all-conference defender for the Raiders in the 1980s, passed away in February.

McGowan is among eight players Brown plans to use regularly on the line, each of them returners. Senior Bryson Kievit (28 tackles, 2 sacks) was an all-conference honorable mention recipient a year ago, bringing back starting experience at tackle along with senior Brandon Dominguez (22 tackles, 2 sacks) and Josue Santos (22 tackles, 4 ½ TFL). Tackle Danny McDonnell (20 tackles, 5 ½ TFL) is back in the mix with ends Braden Bailey (4 tackles) and Garrett McCray (5 tackles). The only one new to it is Stephen Del Giudice II, who started his SOU career with a traditional redshirt and a medical redshirt.

"It's our most experienced position and we're going to rotate in all of them," Brown said. "It should keep those guys fresh and give us a lot of balance."


The most untested area of the defense is in the secondary, which lost a pair of staples both at safety and on the corners. Da'mon Carter is the lone returning starter at nickelback, set to follow up on a stellar sophomore season in which he posted 26 tackles, including 2 ½ for losses, and an interception while appearing in every game. Redshirt-freshman Trayton Futi will back him up after debuting late last season and proving immediately impactful.

Junior Andreas Villanueva (8 tackles), a backup corner each of the last two seasons, will open his fourth season on the team with a starting role. So will senior Jimmy Fomby, a late addition and FCS transfer from school Murray State (Ky.). Sophomore Antonio Vasquez Williams and freshman Carlton Whitted III are behind them on the two-deep.

Junior Isaiah Griffin (14 tackles) has moved from backup corner to become the starting strong safety in his second season at SOU, while fourth-year Raider Brady Eaton (11 tackles) will take over at field safety with a handful of career starts under his belt. Joining them in the rotation are newcomers Jude Mendoza, a junior transfer who had an impressive stay at Butte College (Calif.) with 74 tackles, and freshman Hidden Valley High product Presley Noga.

"Athletically, we're super excited about this group," Brown said. "They're dynamic playmakers, but with them working together for the first time in a few days – we'll find out a lot."