Three unanswered fourth-quarter touchdowns made Southern Oregon a lopsided 48-17 winner Saturday in Redding
REDDING, Calif. – Three unanswered fourth-quarter touchdowns made Southern Oregon a lopsided 48-17 winner against Simpson (Calif.) in Frontier West Division play Saturday night at Johnson Community Stadium.
Junior quarterback Dom Montiel accounted for five scores, passing for three and rushing for two more, and redshirt-freshman running back Coen Coloma had a breakout game as the Raiders (2-4 overall) snapped a four-game losing streak and evened their FC West record at 1-1.
Montiel hit senior receiver Brandon Barthel for three TDs, including a 79-yarder to start the final stanza and a 15-yarder a few minutes later. Barthel accumulated 104 yards on four receptions in his third triple-digit performance of the season.
While Montiel completed 13-of-16 passes for 213 yards, the Raiders mounted a yardage advantage of 226-89 on the ground thanks to Coloma’s 146. The Las Vegas product needed only 18 attempts to get there and punched in his first career TD from seven yards out to start the scoring in the first quarter. Montiel gave the Raiders a 13-3 lead with a 22-yard rush midway through the second.
The Redhawks (0-6, 0-2), however, showed growth since their 59-0 loss in Ashland on Aug. 28. They trimmed SOU’s edge to three points on a 50-yard pass from Kaleb Anderson to Talan Ramirez at the 4:28 mark of the second, and the Raiders needed a nifty 13-yard catch by Barthel in the corner of the end zone to go back up by two scores heading into halftime.
Montiel, who netted 43 yards on three rush attempts, tacked on a 20-yard score in the third quarter. After Barthel padded his TD total, Fresh Ison provided the finishing touches on a seven-yard run with 5:08 remaining.
SOU’s defense conceded only 324 total yards. Raiden House made eight tackles, Gabe Foster had six with a sack, and Bryson Kievit forced and recovered a fumble.
Anderson was Simpson’s catalyst with 217 passing yards, completing 15-of-26 attempts.
The Raiders return home next Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup with Eastern Oregon, which won its division opener 26-6 against Arizona Christian.
Of note in the West: No. 17-ranked Carroll (Mont.) became the first team to two division victories, upsetting Montana Western 42-34 on the road.
This story first appeared on the Southern Oregon University Sports Information website, souraiders.com.
