10/22/2009 8:29:05 AM
Last year the Southern Oregon football team jumped out early and never looked back as they shocked NCAA Division III third-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor in Ashland.
Southern Oregon will be looking to do the same thing, this time to eighth-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor and this time in Belton, Texas.
The Raiders (2-5) and Crusaders (5-1) are slated to kickoff at 1 p.m. (CST) Saturday.
Mary Hardin-Baylor is coming off a 17-14 setback at Mississippi College last week, a loss that snapped a 33-game American Southwest Conference winning streak.
Last year in Ashland, the Raiders jumped out to a 21-7 lead and scored a 40-28 victory and gave the Crusaders their first setback of the year.
“Coach (Pete) Fredenburg has done a terrific job with that program and built it into a contender in a short amount of time,” SOU head coach Steve Helminiak said. “They are physical and want to run the ball. Last year we were able to control the time of possession and field position and took them out of their element. They want to grind it out, get the lead and play in front and we can’t let that happen.”
Even with the setback last week, the Crusaders are putting up very impressive numbers. The Crusaders are averaging 38.8 points, 311.2 yards rushing, 140.8 yards passing and 452 yards of total offense per game this season. Defensively, the Crusaders is giving up an average of 11.0 points, 58.3 yards rushing, 178.3 yards passing and 236.7 yards of total offense per game. At home, the Crusaders have won 17 of the last 18 games.
Southern Oregon will look to bounce back after last week’s 34-3 setback to NCAA Division II Humboldt State.
“Our inconsistent passing game is still hurting us offensively,” Helminiak said. “The defense is playing good, but they are spending way too much time on the field.”
Sophomore running back Brandon Baldwin will look to follow his impressive offensive line over the 1,000 plateau this week. Baldwin needs 69 yards to reach 1,000 for the season.
Turnovers continue to plaque the Raiders after throwing three interceptions last week.
On defense, the Raiders have come up with 44 tackles-for-loss as a team. Senior Will Watson leads the way with 8.5 tfl’s and Sunni Ali had 7 tfl’s.
Watson also has 3.5 sacks.