CALDWELL, Idaho – Playing in front of a Homecoming Weekend crowd of 4,170, the College of Idaho ran their win streak to nine games, erasing a halftime deficit to defeat No. 20-ranked Southern Oregon, 41-38, at Simplot Stadium.
The No. 15-ranked Yotes (3-0, 3-0 Frontier) improved to 3-0 for the first time since 1969 in winning their fifth-straight home game. C of I sits alone atop the Frontier Conference standings, a half-game clear of Montana Western, heading into a bye week.
Darius-James Peterson passed for 258 yards and a score,
Nick Calzaretta rushed for two touchdowns, with
Hunter Juarez recording his second-straight 100-yard receiving day.
C of I trailed 17-16 at the break, but used a big second half to build a three-score lead – only to see the Raiders (0-3, 0-2) score two late touchdowns to make the final score interesting.
Trailing 17-16 late in the third quarter,
Justin Hellyer took over for the Yotes. The senior ripped off a 20-yard run, caught a 12-yard pass on a third down attempt, and on a double-pass, threw a 15-yard touchdown strike to
Connor Gagain – giving the Coyotes their first lead since early in the game.
After a defensive stop, Peterson went 3-for-3 on the Yotes next drive – capping the march with a 19-yard scoring pass to Juarez to extend the lead.
After SOU made it 31-24 on a Hykeem Massey touchdown run – C of I seemingly put the game away. A nearly seven minute drive ended with a 22-yard
Kyle Mitchell field goal, followed by a
Graham Carnahan fumble recovery off a
Landon Clark-Gammell strip-sack that turned into a Calzaretta 13-yard touchdown run to balloon the lead to 41-24 with three minutes left.
Southern avoided disaster – as a roughing the passer penalty erased a
Dorian Hardin 42-yard interception return for a score – with Hutchinson scrambling into the end zone to keep the Raiders alive. After recovering an on-side kick, Hutchinson found Parker Randle – who lateraled to Jason Shelley on the hook-and-ladder – racing the final 33 yards for a score, with just one second left in the game. Unfortunately for the guests, the clock hit triple-zeroes on the resulting kickoff.
Peterson finished the day 15-of-24 for 258 yards – with his touchdown pass to Juarez tying the career school record of Boyd Crawford from 1951-54. He capped the first drive of the day for the Coyotes with a 3-yard touchdown run, adding 26 yards on the ground.
Hutchinson was 25-of-33 for 351 yards and a score, adding 97 rushing yards and two touchdowns – tying the score in the first quarter with a 6-yard run on a third-and-goal situation.
Michael Chisley picked off his league-leading third pass of the season for SOU – returning it 55-yards for a first quarter touchdown, giving the visitors a 14-7 lead. C of I answered, as a Juarez 48-yard reception set up a Calzaretta 6-yard scoring run.
Juarez had six grabs for 135 yards in the victory, with
Keegan Crafton adding three receptions for 59 yards.
Following a bye week, the Yotes hit the road for their next two games – Sept. 28 at Rocky Mountain and Oct. 12 at Carroll College.
NOTES – The 3-0 start for the Yotes is the 11th time a C of I has won their first three games and the first time since 1969…SOU had six fumbles in the loss – five off of poor snaps, including one through the back of the end zone for a second quarter C of I safety…the Coyotes limited SOU to just 87 rushing yards – with opponents through three games managing just 90 rushing yards and a 2.9 yards per carry average…
Taeson Hardin led the defense with nine tackles,
David Ford added eight stops, Carnahan had seven tackles, with
J.T. Mahon recording a pair of sacks…Peterson's interception in the first quarter ended a string of 69 passes without a pick…Mitchell was perfect on the afternoon on extra points, extending his consecutive made PAT streak to 45…it marks the first time in program history that C of I has won consecutive games against SOU and evens the Yotes record at Simplot Stadium vs. Southern at 3-3 (since 2014).
