Yotes Upset Bid Falls Just Short at No. 9 Southern

ASHLAND, Ore. - A Hail Mary pass on the final play was batted down by the Southern Oregon defense, as the No. 9 ranked Raiders escaped an upset by the College of Idaho, winning 31-27 at Raider Stadium.

Trailing 31-21 early in the fourth quarter, the Coyotes (2-3, 1-3 Frontier) forced three turnovers - one a Forrest Rivers 56-yard interception return for a touchdown, to pull within 31-27. C of I had two drives late - getting to the SOU 46-yard line with a minute left before turning the ball over on downs - and after a Raiders punt, took advantage of two penalties to reach the SOU 30-yard-line with one second left. Tyler Cox lifted the desperation pass into the end zone, but Julius Rucker knocked the ball down to preserve the win.

Facing the No. 5 rated offense in the NAIA, the Coyotes held the Raiders (3-2, 3-1) to a season low 441 yards - bottling up the run game for the majority of the afternoon. On the flip side, C of I rolled up a season-high 501 yards of total offense - and threw a school record 48 passes in the loss.

Darius-James Peterson split time at quarterback with Cox, rushing for 132 yards on 17 carries, including his sixth rushing touchdown of the year. Cox was 17-of-38 through the air for 208 yards and two touchdown passes to Shayne Robinson.
 
The Yotes forced a 3-and-out on SOU's opening possession and used a 27-yard pass from Cox to Marcus Lenhardt to reach the Red Zone.  However, the Raiders' defense held, and Kyle Mitchell clanged a 25-yard field goal off the left upright.
 
SOU answered with one of many big-plays on the afternoon, as Jack Singler found Sean McShane for 40-yards and Sean Tow rushed 28-yards on a 4th-and-1, setting up a Singler 2-yard scoring scamper and a 7-0 lead.
 
C of I tied the score early in the second quarter after a 12-play, 68-yard drive, capped by Cox finding Robinson alone in the end zone from 10-yards out.
 
Southern regained the lead midway through the period, as a Singler to Jordan Suell 44-yard reception on a jump ball led to a Rey Vega 7-yard scoring run. The Yotes answered quickly, as Peterson busted through the Raider defense on a 68-yard run down to the SOU 1-yard-line – finishing the drive on a fourth down, one-yard touchdown run to even the score.
 
A Singler-to-Jason Shelley 81-yard touchdown pass on the Raiders next offensive snap turned the tide, but the Yotes utilized the two-minute drill to perfection, driving 75 yards in 10 plays, with Cox finding Robinson in the end zone from 17-yards out to tie the score at the break.
 
A Marcus Montano 29-yard field goal in the third quarter gave SOU the lead for good.
 
Singler finished 18-of-34 for 304 yards and a touchdown – as the Raiders were playing without All-America receiver Matt Retzlaff. Tow rushed for 81 yards on 11 carries in the win.
 
Zach Garzoli rushed for 44 yards and added three catches for 52 yards for the Yotes.  Robinson had five receptions for 67 yards, with both John Horn (four receptions, 55 yards) and Terrence Young (four receptions, 43 yards) recording career highs for catches and receiving yards.
 
Defensively, Nate Moore had eight tackles and added his tenth career interception and a forced fumble on the SOU goal line late in the final period. Rivers added seven tackles, including three stops for loss, to go along with his interception.

The Coyotes return home on Saturday for Homecoming, hosting Carroll College at 1 p.m.

NOTES - The interception return by Rivers was the first by the Yotes since Don Coloma in 1976 vs. Lewis & Clark; today marked the fourth time C of I has eclipsed the 500-yard mark in total offense since football returned in 2014; the interceptions by Rivers and Moore give the Yotes 11 interceptions on the season, tops in the Frontier Conference; the Coyotes ran 96 plays in the loss – the most offensive plays in a game in program history; the 68-yard run by Peterson was the longest by a Coyote since Teejay Gordon rushed 82-yards for a touchdown at Southern Oregon in 2014.