Southern Oregon wins 23-5 in Billings, Montana
Senior running back Avery McCuaig scored three first half touchdowns and the Raider defense allowed only a field goal to lead Southern Oregon to a 23-5 victory over Rocky Mountain today in Billings, Montana.
The Raiders improved to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in Frontier Conference play and will return home next Saturday to face Frontier Conference newcomer Arizona Christian in its annual Homecoming game. The Bears, who were receiving votes in this week’s NAIA Top 25 poll, dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in conference.
McCuaig finished the game with 132 yards on 18 carries and now has eight touchdowns on the year. Junior Isaiah Hidalgo led the SOU offense with 146 yards on 14 carries. SOU finished with 418 yards of offense, while the defense limited Rocky to just 288 yards — including just 10 rushing yards.
McCuaig got the Raiders on the board with a 2-yard touchdown with 4:19 to play in the first half and a 6-0 lead.
After the Bears cut the lead to 6-3 early in the second quarter, McCuaig added touchdown scores of two yards and eight yards to take a 20-3 halftime lead.
Rocky added a safety to close out the third quarter before SOU put the game away with a 70-yard fourth quarter drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal by Bryan Millan.
Defensively, Josiah Purchase and Bryson Kievil both had seven tackles to lead the Raiders, while Adonis Jackson and Noah Turnbull both had two sacks and Spencer Kuffel came away with his fourth interception of the season.
