The Mountaineers had a 30-14 lead with 5:30 remaining in
regulation, but SOU would rally with 20 unanswered points over the next five
minutes. After holding the Raiders scoreless in the second and third quarters
and six minutes of the fourth quarter, Eastern couldn't hold on to the lead.
Eastern Oregon's Kevin Sampson finished with 227 yards on
the ground on 31 carries. The junior averaged 7.3 yards per carry. Sampson
finished with 250 all-purpose yards. Chris Ware threw for 178 yards, completing
15 of 34 passes. The Rainier, Ore. native threw three touchdown passes and two
interceptions.
Southern Oregon was led by Mike McDonald, who completed 21
of his 40 passes for 346 yards. He threw four touchdowns and three
interceptions. After running for 195 yards against Eastern last year, Brandon
Baldwin was held to 33 yards on 14 carries. Danny Keenan caught six passes for
110 yards and a touchdown.
The Raiders struck first at the 11:05 mark in the first
quarter. McDonald connected with Vance Beach on a 31-yard strike. Five minutes
later the Mountaineers would answer with a 10-yard pass from Ware to Gary Cole.
Baldwin would close the first quarter scoring with a 15-yard run.
The next three scores would all come from the EOU
placekicker, Nick Knell. The sophomore hit field goals of 37-yards, 26-yards,
and 27-yards in the second and third quarter. With the Mountaineers leading,
16-14, Ware found Dillon Bedford on a 15-yard strike with 2:49 left in the
third quarter.
Two minutes into the final quarter, Kirk Miller broke the
EOU school record for touchdown pass receptions in a career. Ware found Miller
in the corner of the Raider endzone to complete a four-play, 66-yard drive. It
was Miller's 19th career touchdown reception, breaking Kyle
Washburn's record set from 1996 to 1999.
Southern Oregon would complete the scoring with three
touchdowns over the final 5:27. Beach caught a 20-yard pass from McDonald,
Keenan caught a 49-yard touchdown pass with 3:14 remaining, and JaRod Hill
caught a 14-yard pass with 41 seconds left.
The Mountaineers began their final drive at the Southern
41-yard line after a 38-yard kickoff return from Kedrick Starr. Eastern moved
to the Raiders' 23-yard line with 10 seconds left, but Ware's last pass was
intercepted by Randy Fesser.
Eastern Oregon finished with 11 penalties for 140 yards,
while SOU committed 10 penalties for 80 yards. The Mountaineers finished with
434 yards of offense and Southern Oregon had 401 yards. The Raiders gained 55
yards on the ground and EOU finished with 256 rushing yards.
The victory was eerily similar to the Southern's comeback a
year ago in Ashland when the Raiders crawled back from an early 21-6 deficit
and outscored EOU 16-0 over the final 26 minutes, including 13-0 in the fourth
quarter to win, 32-28.
The Mountaineers travel to Butte, Mont. next Saturday to
face Montana Tech. The game will be video streamed on EOUSports.com and will be
broadcast on KCMB 104.7 FM. Montana State-Northern defeated Montana Western on
the road in other Frontier Conference action Saturday, 20-3.
