Varsity 541

PREP FOOTBALL

No. 2 Jesuit stops South

Speedy Crusaders rush for 413 yards and use quick start to deny Panthers in second round

Using an eye-popping blend of speed and power, second-ranked Jesuit simply proved too much for South Medford to handle Friday night in the second round of the Class 6A football state playoffs.

Junior running back Justin Talley sprinted for 258 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries and senior standout Keanon Lowe added three touchdowns to lead Jesuit to a runaway 41-14 win at Spiegelberg Stadium.

The Crusaders totaled 413 yards on the ground to go with 139 more through the air, and scored twice inside the opening six minutes to take control of the game.

"We weren't quite ready for their speed when the beginning whistle went off and they got the jump on us," said South Medford senior Brett Wallan. "With a team with that much talent, when they get that much confidence they're just hard to stop."

Each team entered the game knowing the key moments of the game would happen early, with Jesuit hoping its long bus ride wouldn't be a factor and South Medford hoping to dictate the contest by taking an early lead.

Obviously only one team got its wish.

"I thought our offensive line kind of wore them down a little bit and we have a couple good backs (in Talley and Lowe)," said Jesuit coach Ken Potter. "South Medford played really hard; they're a good football team. I think we had a little more team speed than they did tonight."

The Crusaders (10-1) converted a fourth-and-one play from their own 29-yard line on the game's first series and then caught the Panthers peeking into the backfield moments later for their first touchdown. Quarterback Jeff Elorriaga sucked in safety Josh Havird by faking a handoff, then sent a deep pass into the empty territory in the middle of the field for a 59-yard TD pass to Lowe.

"We went for it on fourth down because that's just kinda who we are," said Potter. "Then we had a nice play-action pass where Keanon got open and Jeff threw a nice ball."

South Medford (7-4) used a 44-yard kickoff return by Mario Sainez to move into prime position for its opening drive, but things went awry at the Jesuit 39 when quarterback Josh Milhollin dropped back for a pass and Jesuit's Dominique Forrest simply pulled the ball away before Milhollin's arm went forward.

Two plays later, Elorriaga used a pump fake to freeze cornerback Casey Kline and then found Eric Williams streaking down the sideline for a 37-yard score and a 14-0 lead with 6:02 to go in the first quarter.

Jesuit got the ball back two minutes later at its own 4-yard line and, after a 15-yard pass to Jacob Wark, unveiled a running attack that the Panthers simply couldn't quell. Lowe had a 69-yard touchdown run nullified by a holding penalty, but all that did was open the door for Talley, who took a pitch right, stiff-armed Havird and went off to the races for an 80-yard score.

That effort put Jesuit up 21-0 with 2:15 to go in the opening quarter, and foreshadowed the kind of attack the Panthers would be facing for the rest of the night.

"We needed to start out well and couldn't let a team like this jump on us early and they did," said South Medford coach Bill Singler. "They're just so fast and athletic and we just don't have that team speed. Once they get in the creases, they just outran us. We just didn't match up with them in a lot of ways."

The Panthers answered with a drive into Jesuit territory, but Michael Link stepped in front of Milhollin's touch pass down the sideline toward Kevin Gilmore for an interception.

A 41-yard run by Talley on the next play put the Crusaders at South's 37, and Lowe capped the drive moments later with a 28-yard TD run on fourth-and-one. Kline blocked the ensuing extra-point attempt by Ryan Cope, one of two such efforts on the night. Tate Ficek had the other.

South Medford finally got on the board with 3:04 to play in the second quarter, with Milhollin capping a 76-yard drive with a 3-yard pass to Allen Fitzsimmons to make it 27-7.

That score held up at halftime after Gilmore blocked a 37-yard field goal attempt by Cope as time expired in the second quarter.

The teams exchanged turnovers to open the third quarter before Lowe juked his way to a 25-yard TD run three minutes into the second half. Lowe finished with 94 yards on 10 carries and caught five passes for 87 yards.

Corey Kline intercepted Elorriaga to halt another Jesuit drive, but the Crusaders just kept coming with their potent running attack and Talley scored on another fourth-down run from 4 yards out on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Talley later had a 78-yard scoring run called back by another holding penalty before Jesuit pulled its starters with seven minutes to play.

The Panthers scored on their final drive behind three solid runs by Sainez and a 2-for-3 effort by sophomore quarterback Jack Singler. Gilmore capped the drive with a 5-yard run.

South Medford could muster only 28 yards rushing on 20 attempts, while Milhollin was 19-for-32 passing for 163 yards and Singler passed for 36 more yards. Fitzsimmons (70 yards) and Havird (53 yards) led the Panthers with five receptions apiece.

Realizing the Panthers' only option was to drop back and pass, the Crusaders pinned their ears back and came after Milhollin time after time to hinder his cause.

"It was just a different environment," said Milhollin. "They're so fast and so smart and we haven't played that kind of talent before. We moved the ball good in the first half and in the second half they made some good adjustments."

On the flip side, short of the special teams effort, the Panthers simply were overmatched in everything they attempted. Still, South Medford kept plugging away until the final whistle and received some outstanding individual efforts from the likes of Ficek, Nathan Thornton, Dylan Albertson, Matt Retzlaff and Wallan, among others.

"I thought our special teams really played great, but we just didn't play well enough, obviously, offensively or defensively to stay in the game," said Singler.

"They have nothing to hang their head on," added the coach. "We're 7-4, only losing to the best teams in the state and having some great wins along the way."

None of that was lost on the Panther seniors after the game, who took pride in how far they've come since stepping on campus.

"Very few people would've expected this out of this group of seniors," said Wallan. "As freshmen we were 2-7, and to turn around and finish third in our conference and get to the second round of the playoffs was a huge accomplishment for this group. I'm proud of these guys and really glad to have played four years with all of them."

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