Panthers double up Wilson for road win

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PORTLAND — A.J. Palazzolo efficiently ran the offense and D.J. Titus came up with another huge defensive effort as South Medford registered a 28-14 road football victory over Wilson on a rainy Friday night.

The senior quarterback Palazzolo passed for two touchdowns and was completed 17 of 27 passes for 256 yards with no interceptions.

"It was another hard-fought game against a running offense that controls the ball," said South Medford coach Bill Singler. "They minimized our ball possessions."

Titus, a senior linebacker, was making plays all over the field for the Panthers' defense for the second straight week. Titus was credited with being in on 20 tackles the week before against Sunset.

"(Titus) has really come to the forefront for us," said Singler. "It's his moment."

Panther junior running back Patrick Thibeault scored on two short rushing touchdowns in the first half but did not play after intermission.

"Thibeault was feeling the effects of some big hits the week before," said Singler. "Gavin Millette came in and had a couple of timely runs in the second half."

Mitch Singler's 4-yard touchdown reception and Sam McLaughlin's extra-point kick put South Medford ahead 14-0 early in the second quarter. A 62-yard pass play from Palazzolo to Mitch Singler that went to the Wilson 4 set up the TD.

After Matt Meuser scored for the Trojans, South answered with a 94-yard touchdown drive to take a 20-7 lead with just over one minute left before halftime.

Wilson put together a time-consuming 71-yard scoring march to cut the Panther margin to 20-14 in the third quarter.

South (3-1) responded again on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Palazzolo to E.J. Singler as the Panthers went up 28-14 with 7:07 remaining in the game.

"The defense in the fourth quarter made a couple of stops and showed some urgency to put the game away," said the Panthers' coach.

E.J. Singler had five catches for 64 yards and cousin Mitch Singler hauled in four passes for 94 yards.

"All in all it was a workmanlike job," said Bill Singler.

South Medford 7 13 0 8 —28

Wilson 0 7 7 0 —14

SM — Thibeault 2 run (McLaughlin kick)

SM — M. Singler 5 pass from Palazzolo (McLaughlin kick)

W — Meuser 1 run (Morgan kick)

SM — Thibeault 3 run (run failed)

W — Hudson 8 run (Morgan kick)

SM — E.J. Singler 9 pass from Palazzolo (Switzer run)

GRANTS PASS 19, FOREST GROVE 14 — At Grants Pass, Grants Pass enjoyed its best offensive showing with 515 total yards split nearly evenly between rushing and passing, but mistakes kept the nonconference contest close.

Criss Bowen ran for 191 yards and a touchdown, and Zach Morgan passed for 250 yards as the seventh-ranked Cavemen improved to 5-0.

But four turnovers — including three fumbles — combined with two failed fourth-down tries, two missed field goals and 83 yards in penalties kept the Vikings alive.

John Tardieu scored on a pair of 1-yard runs for Grants Pass, helping it to 265 yards on the ground, and Morgan completed 16 of 30 passes and was intercepted once.

BEND 21, ROSEBURG 0 — At Roseburg, Bend's Kyle Brown rushed 24 times for 161 yards and the Lava Bears' stout defense stonewalled Roseburg in a nonconference matchup.

Roseburg quarterback Jake Johnson was 13 of 20 for 122 yards, but was picked off twice and carried 15 times for negative yardage.

Jordan Radford ran 16 times for 84 yards in his return to action for Roseburg (2-2), but the Indians struggled with their tackling and ability to make key stops.

Tony Castro led the Indians with seven tackles and Brandon Belcher chipped in with six.

Bend's Beau Walker hooked up with Kyle Westerman on a 39-yard touchdown pass to put the Lava Bears up 14-0 in the third quarter. Walker finished 6 of 8 for 162 yards.

Bend 7 0 7 7 —21

Roseburg 0 0 0 0 —0

B — Brown 4 run (Fowlds kick)

B — Westerman 39 pass from Walker (Fowlds kick)

B — Brown 20 run (Fowlds kick)

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