Game of the Week Breakdown: South Medford vs Roseburg
October 4, 2011 by Taylor Barton
Having seen most of the top teams in the State this year, I was excited to see the South Medford vs. Roseburg game at Findley Stadium in Roseburg Friday night. I’ve met and worked with quite a few kids from both programs in the off season, so I knew their was talent on both sides. What I didn’t expect to see was the amount of talent, and at all positions for that matter. Friday’s battle between the NEI polls #3(South Medford) and #9(Roseburg) teams was as good of a High School contest as I’ve seen. Too many times nowadays kids, coaches, and even commentators use the phrase “it was a war out there”. Out of respect to the men and women in our armed forces, let’s keep the rhetoric in check. What this was, however, was a good old fashioned fist fight, back yard brawl between the neighborhood tough kids.
Take Desmond “Dez” Harrington, who in the 2nd quarter came off the field with a badly sprained ankle. The 3rd quarter he was back on the field, playing offensive line only, barely able to make it from the huddle to the line of scrimmage and back. Next to him was Jimmy Ditty, cramping and coming off then back onto the field literally every play. Jack Singler took a pounding every time he threw the ball, but somehow managed to pull himself off the turf and get back up ready to make another play. On the other side of the ball, Ben Goirigolzarri for Roseburg was a man amongst boys. Dominating the game on both sides of the ball, as a linebacker and fullback, he even was the teams punter. Which means he was only out of the game a handful of plays all night, and looked at times as though he was about to throw up out of pure exhaustion. But still, every play, he brought the pain to the South Medford players. Marq Randall as well as #65 played on both sides of the line Friday, and seemed like they were everywhere at once. Even the coaches, Thurman Bell for Roseburg and Bill Singler for South Medford, were exhausted by games end. Running up and down the sidelines, fighting and pleading with the refs for every call and every inch. They epitomized what this game was all about, and that’s disciplined, competitive, tough nosed Southern Oregon football. Unfortunately, one of these teams had to lose. Their were amazing plays all night, from both teams. They both made plays offensively, got stops on defense when they needed, and even made big special teams plays. As a fan of the game of football, and high school specifically, I was in heaven. Words wouldn’t do justice to what took place Friday, so I won’t even attempt to. Just watch these highlights and you’ll see for yourself.
