Nov. 12: Raiders earn NAIA berth

By Bobby Heiken

Ashland Daily Tidings

After a pair of near-misses, the Southern Oregon University football program has made it to the big dance.

The No. 7-ranked Raiders (8-1) knocked off Eastern Oregon 38-24 Saturday in La Grande and found out Sunday that they will host 16th-ranked McKendree (Ill.) College Saturday at Raider Stadium in the opening round of the NAIA playoffs.

"It's a sense of relief," Raider head coach Jeff Olson said. "But our goal wasn't just to be here. Now we've got to go out and prove that we belong."

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

McKendree (8-2), a private college of 2,000 students located in Lebanon, Ill., finished second in the Mid-State Football Association and heads to Ashland after falling Saturday to No. 13 St. Ambrose and slipping eight spots in the poll.

"They appear to be a really physical team," Olson said. "They have about 2,200 yards rushing this year and only 500 passing so they are going to try and win the line of scrimmage."

The defense of the Bearcats is quite impressive as well, leading the NAIA in scoring defense at 10.1 per game.

"We know very little about each other and we won't until we get to see each other on tape later in the week," Olson said. "All we can do now is look at their stats and see the number of points they've given up and scored. But they do look very good on defense."

That defense will be trying to stop a Raider team that is outscoring its foe by a 45-18 average this season.

But SOU's trip to the postseason didn't come without a mighty test from Eastern Oregon Saturday.

The Mounties (1-8) controlled the line of scrimmage and jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first quarter.

The Raiders took over the lead in the second quarter as sophomore running back Dusty McGrorty scored from two yards out and senior Jason Manning nailed a 23-yard field goal for a 10-6 halftime edge.

SOU took a 24-6 lead into the fourth quarter after touchdowns by Bill Jolin and Adam Clinton and after Eastern closed the lead to 24-12 with 12:53 to play, junior Nick

See SOU, Page 7

Daniken put the game away with a kickoff return of 91 yards for a score.

"We did a nice job of capitalizing of Eastern's mistakes," Olson said. "After we went up 10-6 the floodgates opened up and the guys did a nice job of taking advantage of opportunities."

McGrorty finished with 103 yards rushing, his 11th career 100-yard day. Mari went 9-for-20 for 146 yards and two scores.

Toby Walker led the Raider defense with a career-high 10 tackles.

"I'm so proud of our players," Olson said. "They came up with a lot of big plays to overcome a slow start."

With the regular season out of the way, all eyes now turn to the postseason - SOU's first trip since 1987.

"This is something the guys have been working on since last winter," Olson said. "Now that hard work and commitment has paid off. Now we need to go out and take care of business on the field."

Tickets for Saturday's game will be available at the SOU athletic offices starting Monday afternoon.

The prices are $10 for reserved grandstand, $7 for grandstand general admission, $5 for uncovered seating and $4 for students. All tickets bought the day of the game will be $10.

Group discounts are available by contacting SOU athletic director Phil Pifer at 552-6727.