Tech holds on for win

By The Standard Staff - 08/26/2007

ASHLAND, Ore. — A comfortable win turned into a barnburner in the blink of an eye.

But thanks to a pass breakup by sophomore safety Scott Gerken on a late 2-point conversion, the Montana Tech football team held on for a 32-30 season-opening win over Southern Oregon University at Raider Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Gerken was filling in for starting free safety Cole Salo, who had cramping problems on the hot day. After making a couple of miscues, the 5-foot-10 Gerken rebounded in a big way, knocking the 2-point pass out of the hands of 6-2 receiver Kevin Holtzman.

“He just stripped the guy of the ball,” Montana Tech coach Bob Green said. “He had the composure to bounce back, and with the game in his hands, he made a play.” The breakup came with 37 seconds left in the game. Alex Grevas, who had a big day at receiver, recovered the following onside kick to end the game.

The play also came after the Orediggers let a comfortable 15-point lead turn into a 2-point cushion in the blink of an eye.

The Raiders recovered an Oredigger fumble, and that led to a 17-yard touchdown pass from Bryan Lee-Lauduski to Tim Greenidge with 1 minute, 41 seconds left.

An onside kick recovered by Southern Oregon led to an 18-yard strike from Lee-Lauduski to Holtzman to set up the big 2-point conversion.

“They wouldn’t go away,” Green said. “They made some plays, and we turned the ball over in a critical situation.” Green said the team’s composure down the stretch was the key to holding on for the win.

“The leadership that our guys showed was outstanding,” the coach said. “They never panicked. They just kept playing.” The Orediggers struck first when junior quarterback Justin Kegel reached the end zone on a 1-yard run midway through the first quarter.

However, the Raiders took a 10-7 lead into halftime when Lee-Lauduski hooked up for a 7-yard pass with Holtzman with 2:16 left in the half.

Lee-Lauduski, a transfer from UC-Irvine, completed 30 of 46 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns. Thirteen completions, 159 yards and three scores went to Holtzman.

The Orediggers were playing without starting cornerback See TECH, Page B5 Jason Watkins, who sprained an ankle in practice. Salo also missed a lot of time.

Tech went into hurry-up mode in the third quarter, and it worked for 19 points.

“I want to credit with our offense and offensive coaches,” Green said. “We went with the ‘Indy’ and got in a hurry.” Senior running back Teague Egan, who ran for 62 yards on 23 carries, scored on a 2-yard run less than 3 minutes into the quarter.

Grevas scored on a 32-yard pass from Kegel, and senior cornerback Kyle McCall returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown, and the Orediggers took a 26-10 lead into the fourth quarter.

Freshman kicker Sean Kelly missed two extra points in the third quarter, but he bounced back in the fourth.

After Holtzman hauled in a 21-yard TD strike from Lee-Lauduski early in the quarter, Kelly booted field goals of 22 and 27 yards to make it a 32-17 lead.

“Those were field goals we absolutely had to have, and he drilled them,” Green said.

The kicks turned out to be the difference in the game.

“That game is representative that every play makes a difference,” Green said. “It was a big win for our guys.” Kegel completed 11 of 23 passes for 165 yards. He was picked off once.

Grevas hauled in three of those passes for 53 yards, while Zach Soukup caught two for 57 yards.

Casey Kelly and Salo each had big punt returns, while Corey Warner and Soukup each had a nice kick return.

Green also praised the play of freshman punter J.T. McIntyre.

“I was really proud of the way our players fought,” Green said. “We went a long way, we had a long trip and our bus broke down. But our guys kept persevering.

“It’s quite an accomplishment to come this far and play that well.” Green said Dan McGree of Tucker Transportation also gets an assist for the win because he quickly made arrangements to get the team a new bus and have their old one fixed after it broke down near Medford, Ore.

“Danny McGree saved the day,” Green said.

The Orediggers have next week off, while the rest of the Frontier Conference is in action.

The Orediggers open league play Sept. 8 at home against MSU-Northern.

M. Tech 7 0 19 6 — 32 S. Oregon 0 10 0 20 — 30 First Quarter MT — Justin Kegel 1 run (Sean Kelly kick, 9:52 Second Quarter SO — FG Corey O’Neill 25, 8:02 SO — Kevin Holtzman 7 pass from Bryan Lee-Lauduski (O’Neill kick), 2:16 Third Quarter MT — Teague Egan 2 run (Kelly kick) 12:46 MT — Alex Grevas 32 pass from Kegel (kick failed), 7:44 MT — Kyle McCall 37 interception return (kick failed), 1:25 Fourth Quarter SO — Holtzman 21 pass from Lee-Lauduski (O’Neill kick), 13:19 MT — FG Kelly 22, 10:19 MT — FG Kelly 27, 4:28 SO — Tim Greenidge 17 pass from Lee-Lauduski (O’Neill kick), 1:41 SO — Holtzman 18 pass from Lee-Lauduski (pass failed), :37.

MT SO First Downs 18 19 Rushes-yards 44-125 31-19 Passing yards 165 298 Comp-Att.-Int. 22-23-1 30-47-1 Fumbles-lost 4-1 4-2 Penalties-yards 10-82 17-162 Punts-Ave. 6-32.7 6-42.7 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — MT, Egan 23-62, Kegel 12-40, Levi Briese 3-12, Corey Warner 5-8, Unidentified 1-3. SO, Darrel Hutsona 12-33, Brent Koontz 4-15, Shane Van Zant 7-7, Dann Patenaude 1-3, Lee-Lauduski 5-(-16), O’Neill 2-(-23).

PASSING — MT, Kegel 11-23-1-165. SO, Lee-Lauduski 30-46-1 298, Steve Jorgensen 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — MT, Grevas 3-53, Zach Soukup 2-57, Casey Kelly 2-25, Egan 1-(-4), Unidentified players 3-34. SO, Holtzman 13-159, Greenidge 8-84, Brian Harding 3-7, Jorgensen 2-31, Derrel Hutsona 2-7, J. Whitehead 1-9, Dan Patenaude 1-1.