Varsity 541

PREP FOOTBALL

Roseburg denies upset bid

North Medford settles for fourth place in the SWC

Ninth-ranked Roseburg left the door wide open for a potential upset Friday night at Spiegelberg Stadium, but North Medford simply couldn't capitalize in the regular-season finale for both playoff-bound football teams.

The Indians used a stout defense to withstand three lost fumbles — all inside their own 35-yard line — and scored on five of their final six drives to deny the Black Tornado, 33-17, in a penalty-filled Southwest Conference affair.

Featuring a return to the smashmouth attack preferred by Roseburg head coach Thurman Bell during his near four decades at the school, the Indians rolled up 218 yards on the ground and used three 2-yard touchdown runs from fullback Lucas Corder to pull away.

"You've got to hand it to Roseburg, they came down and did what they wanted to do," said North Medford head coach Jeff Olson. "I'm proud of our kids; we played our hearts out. That's a tough, physical team that Thurman's got. They're going to make a deep playoff run."

Friday's victory allowed Roseburg (7-2, 4-1 SWC) to finish second in the conference and earn a home playoff game against Barlow, while North Medford (5-4, 2-3) was forced to settle for fourth place and a trip to Canby next Friday.

"We've just got to learn from this," Olson added. "We played a very physical team and I thought we hung with them for the most part tonight, we just couldn't sustain any continuity on the offensive side. But we get another game, and that's the most important thing."

Any notion that the Black Tornado was satisfied with merely securing its first trip to the state playoffs since 2005 was quickly dispelled as North traded blows with one of the state's hottest teams for the better part of the first half.

The Indians hadn't turned the ball over once in the past three games but fumbled on their first possession on a botched punt attempt. Jordan Frost swooped in to claim the ball at the Roseburg 22 less than two minutes into the action.

North essentially went backwards from there, however, with a false start penalty on first down and three straight plays that went nowhere. Faced with a 45-yard field goal attempt to break the ice, senior placekicker Scott Higgins hit the right upright.

"Good football teams have to finish when you've got a short field like that," said Olson. "We've done a pretty good job this year but not enough tonight."

Roseburg turned the ball over on downs after a lengthy drive at the North 25, but the Tornado failed to reach a first down and was forced to punt. Jakob Altamirano's lofting kick bounced off the helmet of return man Derek Priestley and right to North senior Cory Haggans at the Roseburg 35.

After the ensuing drive stalled at the 4, Higgins converted a 21-yard field goal to give North a 3-0 lead with 9:48 to go in the second quarter.

"It's their senior night and just like our senior night you saw last week (against South Medford), people come to play," said Corder of the Tornado. "I sure as heck don't think we underestimated them, but we definitely made some mistakes there at the start and then came back out and got them."

Corder's first TD run capped a 78-yard drive that chewed seven minutes off the clock, and then Roseburg caught a break when Brian Reese's pass sailed right to Darin Nelson and he returned the interception 19 yards to the Tornado 33 with 54 seconds until halftime.

A pass interference penalty and a quick pass from Thaddeus Davis to Priestley put the Indians on the doorstep moments later, and Corder capped it off with his second 2-yard surge with 22 seconds left in the first half for a 13-3 lead.

Michael Sutton streaked in to block the extra-point attempt by Lucas Walker, one of two blocks by the Tornado on the night. Jeremy Scottow blocked a PAT in the fourth quarter.

North Medford opened the third quarter with a drive deep in Roseburg territory, but turned the ball over on a fumble by Hector Alvarez at the 27. The Indians responded with a scoring drive capped by Davis' 12-yard TD pass to Priestley. Corder then hauled in a two-point conversion pass from Davis when Roseburg correctly predicted North would sell out in an attempt to block another Walker kick.

The Tornado's next play finished like its last, with Scottow catching a pass from Reese but fumbling the ball into the waiting arms of Dylan Fors at the North 32. Four plays later, Josh Weaver burst in from the 6 and the Roseburg lead ballooned to 27-3 with 1:20 to go in the third quarter.

"When they made mistakes, we cashed it in and that was the difference," said Bell.

North did get a measure of revenge in the turnover game a little later in the contest, with Corder fumbling a handoff right to Derek Major, who raced 28 yards for a score to make it 27-10 with 9:10 to play.

"It just bounced off his knee and I picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown," said Major. "I just happened to be right there coming through the hole and the ball was right there."

Roseburg answered with a 60-yard scoring drive that whittled almost 61/2 minutes off the clock, with Corder again doing the scoring honors with his 17th TD run of the season. The senior finished with 63 yards rushing, with Weaver adding 80 yards and Davis another 58.

"We're back to the power game and that's our style," said Corder, who also was a key player on defense. "That's the way Roseburg's always won, and we've got the players to do it."

North closed the scoring with a 3-yard scoring strike from Reese to Altamirano with 25 seconds to play. Altamirano finished with five receptions for 90 yards, while Scottow had seven catches for 77 yards. Reese completed 19 of 32 passes for 233 yards.

"Compliments to North," said Bell. "The kids came and played hard. They weren't just satisfied to just get into the playoffs. They had a lot of emotion going in and they came after us and we just weathered the storm."

The down side of the night involved the teams combining for 20 accepted penalties for 192 yards, with North Medford tagged for most of the penalties with 14 for 132 yards.

The Tornado also lost the services of its top defensive back in Steven Petersen, who suffered a broken clavicle on the opening kickoff, and Haggans, who injured his collarbone in the first quarter and exited in the second. North was already playing without standout linebacker/tailback Colin Sowers.

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