ASHLAND, Ore., Aug 27, 2022- Battlin' Bears football kicks off their season 1-0 after defeating Southern Oregon 27-10 in Ashland.

Both offenses took some time to settle in, but with four seconds remaining in the first quarter, Nathan Dick found Zaire Wilcox in the end zone for a seven yard touchdown to give the Battlin' Bears a 7-0 lead.

The Raiders offense faced adversity on their next drive to start the 2nd quarter, as starting quarterback Nate Struck went to the locker room with an injury, forcing backup quarterback Blake Asciutto into action. Struck would not return.

After a 49 yard rush from Zaire Wilcox, Nathan Dick dove for the pylon and scored on a 7 yard rush to push the Battlin' Bears lead up to 14-0. Rocky put together another drive that resulted in a 30 yard field goal by Austin Drake to put Rocky up 17-0 at the end of the half.

Southern Oregon had their chances in the third quarter, where Nathan Dick threw two interceptions in SOU territory, but were only able to get a field goal from these opportunities. Rocky was able to match this field goal after a tough 38 yard catch by Trae Henry over two defenders set the Battlin' Bears up for a chip shot 20 yard field goal by Austin Drake to stretch the lead to 20-3.

Southern Oregon found life in the fourth quarter behind their backup quarterback Blake Asciutto through an explosive drive that ended in a 7 yard touchdown pass from Asciutto to Ben Graziani to cut the  deficit to 20-10. Southern Oregon was able to force a three-and-out for the Battlin' Bears, but a tipped pass on their next drive led to an interception by John Waddell to smother the Raider's momentum. Rocky continued to run out the clock, and on a 4th down attempt from SOU's 8 yard line, Nathan Dick rolled out and found freshman running back Matt White for a touchdown to put the finishing touches on a 27-10 victory.

Nathan Dick finished the day with 16-30 passing for 210 yards, 2 TD and 2 INTs. Dick also added 81 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Zaire Wilcox rushed 24 times for 134 yards and added 3 catches for 17 yards and a touchdown. Trae Henry caught 3 catches for 76 yards.  

Blake Asciutto was 15-33 for 161 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Christian Quirarte rushed 11 times for 45 yards, and Ben Graziani caught 4 passes for 45 yards and a TD. 

Rocky's offense totalled 456 total yards on the day, including 246 yards on the ground. The Battlin' Bears defense was able to hold the Raiders to 269 yards of total offense.

The Battlin' Bears (1-0) will return home to host College of Idaho next Saturday, September 3rd at 1pm on Herb-Klindt Field.