Varsity 541

PREP FOOTBALL

South too potent for GP

Fourth-ranked South Medford coasts to eighth win in last nine games against No. 5 Grants Pass

It was pick your poison night for fifth-ranked Grants Pass on Friday at Spiegelberg Stadium, and No. 4-ranked South Medford made sure no choice paid off for the Cavemen.

Grants Pass came into the Southwest Conference football opener determined to deny a big game by Panther tailback Patrick Thibeault, and all that did was open up another avenue for South Medford as it cruised to a 28-7 victory.

Junior quarterback Josh Milhollin found wide-open space in which to operate thanks to GP's key on Thibeault and completed 16 of 24 passes for 162 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

E.J. Singler was the main beneficiary of the defensive scheme, hauling in nine passes for 102 yards and a TD while his cousin Mitch Singler pulled in five passes for 48 yards.

The win was South Medford's eighth in the last nine meetings with the rival Cavemen.

"We knew going in that's kinda what we opened ourselves up to, but we had to make a decision," said Grants Pass coach John Musser of the defensive game plan. "That's why I think South Medford has a legitimate shot to be a state championship team because they're so balanced on offense and they have so many weapons."

And to add salt to the wound, the focus on Thibeault didn't really pan out, either.

The senior, who rushed for a school-record 292 yards last year against GP, didn't quite have the same room to roam on Friday but made his efforts count as he rushed for three touchdowns and 89 yards on 19 carries.

Thibeault had touchdown runs of 6 and 7 yards in the second quarter as South Medford (5-1) took a 21-0 lead into halftime. He added a beautiful 26-yard cutback run for a score with 4:38 to go in the third quarter for a 28-0 lead on a GP team allowing only 4.3 points per game entering the contest.

"I think they were a little bit overanxious to get to me and I took that to my advantage and cut back on those touchdowns," said the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder.

South Medford finished with 268 yards of total offense — 100 more than the SWC's top-ranked defense had been allowing.

"We knew that by loading up the box and keying on Thibeault you're leaving some pretty darn good athletes running around out there," added Musser. "I was more impressed with their quarterback than I was watching him against Lincoln and stuff. He's got a real pocket presence and is able to stand in there no matter what kind of pressure he's got in his face."

Whatever pressure Milhollin might have faced, it was nothing compared to what the Panthers doled out against GP's quarterback rotation of Jordy Romick and Justin Hoy. South Medford continually found their way to the quarterback and pressured the duo into a combined five interceptions — with all three of Hoy's first attempts finding Panther defenders.

Josh Havird and Casey Kline each picked off a pair of passes, while Brett Wallan's interception deep in Grants Pass territory proved to be the only turnover that led directly to points.

Two plays after Wallan made an athletic tip of a Hoy pass to himself at the line of scrimmage, Milhollin found E.J. Singler for a 13-yard scoring strike as time expired in the first quarter.

"I can't speak enough about our defense," said E.J. Singler, who also finished with double-digit tackles at safety. "We're just players who love to run around the field and hit people. We've got speed and smart players, which is key, and we've got depth and heart. I think that's our biggest key right now. We have a lot of confidence in our defense."

Romick was limited to 5-for-17 passing for 28 yards and two interceptions, while Hoy was 4-for-15 for 44 yards and three interceptions. Hoy also fumbled once but it was recovered by one of his linemen.

"They just came out and played a better game today," said Romick. "They took it to us and we've got to take that into next week and prepare for Sheldon."

Overall, the Cavemen (4-1) could only muster 162 yards of offense. Senior tailback Criss Bowen finished with 86 yards rushing on 16 carries and scored GP's lone touchdown on a 5-yard scamper with 9:22 to go in the fourth quarter.

Of Bowen's yardage, however, 45 came after his team went down 28-0.

"Our defense has really played well all year, so why shouldn't we play well against Grants Pass? That was kind of the challenge to the kids," said South coach Bill Singler. "We had to stop the run and, by and large, we stopped the run."

The loss was especially discouraging to Bowen, who had hoped to finally break South's grip on the rivalry.

"I don't know what it was," he said. "We came in with so much intensity this week from practice, we were so fired up to come play these guys from last year but we just beat ourselves."

The dominating win by South Medford sets up what should be another interesting Black and Blue Bowl next Friday against cross-town rival North Medford. The Black Tornado edged South Eugene 28-21 in its SWC opener, providing North with a lot of confidence heading into the annual battle.

"We're looking forward to next week," said coach Singler. "North's going to be sky-high coming in this game being 4-1 so we know it's going to be a donnybrook, it always is. It's just going to be yet another big game for us. We've had six big ones in a row and now it's going to be seven."

Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail khenry@mailtribune.com