The Southern Oregon football team was unable to snap a five game losing streak as they fell to visiting Azusa Pacific 38-13 Saturday night at Raider Stadium.
The win snapped Azusa’s 3-game losing streak as the Cougars improved to 5-3 this season. For the Raiders, this season’s misery continued as they fell to 2-6 overall and saw their four game winning streak against Azusa come to a halt.
The Cougars came into the game ready to win as they made quick work of Southern Oregon in the first half, opening with a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown through Jay York in the first quarter.
However, the Raiders were quick in replying as quarterback Paul Sweeney connected with Danny Keenan for a 30-yard touchdown but were unable to convert the field goal, leaving them behind 7-6.
In the second quarter, Azusa simply ran away the game as they put up 21 unanswered points to finish the first half comfortably in front at 28-6.
Things went from bad to worse for the Raiders in the second half, as Azusa added a field goal and a touchdown to complete their scoring. Brandon Baldwin was able to grab a consolation touchdown for the Raiders off of a 2-yard run, but it was too little, too late.
Wide Receiver Danny Keenan was Southern Oregon’s stand out of the night as he made five catches for 87 yards to lead the Raiders offensive effort.
Juwuan Brown and Sam Latham were key players for Southern Oregon’s defense as Brown finished with eight tackles and two tackles-for-loss. Latham also finished the night with eight tackles.
Given it was the Raiders last home game of the season, Southern Oregon bid farewell to 12 seniors, but were unable to grab a positive result on the night that mattered the most.
Southern Oregon will finish the season with two games on the road with the first against Menlo on November 6 followed by a trip to Northwestern Oklahoma State on November 13.