The Southern Oregon University

Southern Oregon University

is a public liberal arts college located in Ashland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1926, it was formerly known as Southern Oregon College and Southern Oregon State College . SOU offers criminology, natural sciences, including environmental science, Shakespearean studies and theatre arts programs...

 Raiders football team is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

 and is not associated with any conference. Southern Oregon's first football team was fielded in 1927. The team plays its home games at Raider Stadium, in Ashland, OR.

History

The Raiders played their first game on November 5, 1927 against Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & Clark College is a private institution of higher learning located in Portland, Oregon. Made up of an undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences, a School of Law, and a Graduate School of Education and Counseling. Lewis & Clark is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges with athletic...

, which they won 24–0. The other two games played that season were against rivals Western Oregon

Western Oregon

Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to mean the part of Oregon within 120 miles of the Oregon Coast, on the west side of the crest of the Cascade Range. The term is applied somewhat loosely however, and is sometimes taken to exclude the southwestern areas of the state,...

 and Humboldt State.

The Raiders first tasted sustained success under head coach Al Akins

Al Akins

Al Akins is a former American football coach. He was the head coach for the Southern Oregon Raiders located in Ashland, Oregon for 15 seasons, from 1955 until 1969. His coaching record at Southern Oregon was 71–62–3...

. During Akins' 15 years as the Raiders' head coach, Southern Oregon was conference champions seven times (either outright or co-champions). 18 years after Akins' last season, the Raiders experienced their first postseason, defeating Central Washington

Central Washington University

Central Washington University, often abbreviated CWU, is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States.This location was selected by the state legislature as a consolation prize after Ellensburg lost its bid to be state capital...

 in the first round of the NAIA playoffs and losing to Mesa State in the quarterfinals. The Raiders found even greater success during the 2001 and 2002 seasons, reaching the quarterfinals of the NAIA playoffs each year. Although, in both years, Southern Oregon lost to Carroll College

Carroll College (Montana)

Carroll College is a private Catholic liberal arts college in Helena, Montana, USA. Carroll College has earned national and regional awards for its academic programs. Carroll's colors are purple and gold...

, neither game was decided by more than four points.

In June 2008, Southern Oregon was seeking to move up to NCAA Division II as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference

Great Northwest Athletic Conference

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which has historically operated in the Northwestern United States, but also currently includes four schools in areas not usually considered part of that region—two in Alaska , one in eastern Montana The Great Northwest...

 has only nine teams after Seattle University

Seattle University

Seattle University is a Jesuit Catholic university located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA.SU is the largest independent university in the Northwest US, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs within eight schools, and is one of 28 member...

 moved up to Division I. The University is currently a member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference

Cascade Collegiate Conference

The Cascade Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Member schools are located in the Northwestern United States. Its basketball teams compete in Division II, the lower of the two levels of NAIA basketball competition. ...

 of the NAIA

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

, however, the CCC does not support football so the team is considered independent. It has been reported that the move to NCAA may take years to complete. During the 2008 season, SOU will play three teams from the NAIA, three teams from NCAA Division III, three teams from NCAA Division II, and one from NCAA Division I FCS

In November of 2010, Steve Helminiak was fired as head coach at Southern Oregon. He was replaced by Craig Howard, a high school football coach from Florida. Howard is best known for being the head coach of Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow

Timothy Richard "Tim" Tebow is an American football player who is currently the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Broncos as the 25th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft...

 at Nease High School in St Augustine, Florida.

Chronology of Head Coaches

class="wikitable" style="white-space:nowrap;">
Coach	Years	Record (W-L-T)
Roy McNeal	1927–1931	12–9–4
Howard Hobson	1932–1934	12–7–1
Jean Eberheart	1935–1938	4–17–3
Al Simpson	1946–1950	27–16–1
William Abbey	1951	1–8–0
Alex Peterson	1952–1954	8–14–0
Al Akins	1955–1969	71–62–3
Larry Kramer	1970–1971	3–16–0

class="wikitable" style="white-space:nowrap;"> Coach Years Record (W-L-T) Scott Johnson 1972–1979 35–40–0 Chuck Mills 1980–1988 48–40–1 Jim Palazzolo 1989–1995 30–31–2 Jeff Olson 1996–2004 50–36–0 Shay McClure 2005 1–9–0 Steve Helminiak 2006–2010 15–32–0 Craig Howard 2011–Current 0-0-0

Former Notable Players

Player	Years at SOU	Current Team (if any)
Kellan Quick Kellan Quick Kellan Quick is a professional American and Canadian football cornerback free agent. He was signed by the Toronto Argonauts as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football for Southern Oregon University....	2002–2006	Toronto Argonauts Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...
Andrae Thurman Andrae Thurman D'Andrae Carnell Thurman is a gridiron football wide receiver for Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League. He was signed by the New York Giants of the National Football League as an undrafted free agent in 2004...	2003	Las Vegas Locomotives Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada who play in the United Football League. The team plays its home games in Sam Boyd Stadium, home field for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Jim Fassel is the franchise's head coach, president, and...
Mike Geselbracht	1996–1999	Jacksonville Tomcats Jacksonville Tomcats The Jacksonville Tomcats were an arena football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They were an inaugural franchise in af2, the developmental league of the Arena Football League , and played for three seasons from 2000–2002...
Dusty McGrorty	2000–2003
Griff Yates	1996–1999

Rivalry with Western Oregon

Beginning in 1927, the Western Oregon Wolves and the Southern Oregon Raiders have played 71 games against each other, more than any other opponent either school has faced. Due to the number of times the teams have met some have chosen to refer to the game as the "little civil war". This is in reference to the civil war game

Civil War (college football game)

The Civil War is the colloquial name for an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Oregon Ducks football team of the University of Oregon and the Oregon State Beavers football team of the Oregon State University...

 played between the state's two NCAA BCS schools, the University of Oregon

Oregon Ducks football

The Oregon Ducks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Oregon located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Bowl Subdivision and is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. Known as the Ducks, the...

 and Oregon State University

Oregon State Beavers football

The Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I-A college football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893 and is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The head coach is Mike Riley, with Danny Langsdorf as the offensive...

. However, the competition between the two squads is not nearly as heated as their division one counterparts, as Southern Oregon has not won since 1998 and holds a 26–44–1 all-time record against the Wolves.

Year	Visitor	Home		Year	Visitor	Home		Year	Visitor	Home
1927	Western Oregon 12	Southern Oregon 19		1928	Western Oregon 12	Southern Oregon 0		1929	Southern Oregon 0	Western Oregon 0
1930	Did Not Play			1931	Did Not Play			1932	Western Oregon 20	Southern Oregon 6
1933	Southern Oregon 12	Western Oregon 7		1934	Southern Oregon 6	Western Oregon 7		1935	Southern Oregon 6	Western Oregon 12
1936	Western Oregon 7	Southern Oregon 0		1937	Southern Oregon 0	Western Oregon 6		1938	Southern Oregon 6	Western Oregon 19
1938	Western Oregon 6	Southern Oregon 0		1939	No Team			1940	No Team
1941	No Team			1942	No Team			1943	No Team
1944	No Team			1945	No Team			1946	Southern Oregon 51	Western Oregon 0
1947	Southern Oregon 20	Western Oregon 0		1948	Southern Oregon 6	Western Oregon 13		1949	Western Oregon 30	Southern Oregon 7
1950	Southern Oregon 0	Western Oregon 40		1951	Western Oregon 48	Southern Oregon 6		1952	Western Oregon 13	Southern Oregon 26
1953	Southern Oregon 14	Western Oregon 40		1954	Southern Oregon 13	Western Oregon 34		1955	Western Oregon 6	Southern Oregon 13
1956	Southern Oregon 12	Western Oregon 6		1957	Western Oregon 19	Southern Oregon 21		1958	Southern Oregon 0	Western Oregon 21
1959	Western Oregon 7	Southern Oregon 20		1960	Southern Oregon 32	Western Oregon 12		1961	Western Oregon 7	Southern Oregon 26
1962	Southern Oregon 12	Western Oregon 6		1963	Western Oregon 0	Southern Oregon 33		1964	Southern Oregon 32	Western Oregon 19
1965	Western Oregon 21	Southern Oregon 27		1966	Southern Oregon 20	Western Oregon 32		1967	Western Oregon 20	Southern Oregon 7
1968	Southern Oregon 7	Western Oregon 17		1969	Western Oregon 33	Southern Oregon 12		1970	Southern Oregon 13	Western Oregon 24
1971	Western Oregon 17	Southern Oregon 6		1972	Western Oregon 30	Southern Oregon 28		1973	Southern Oregon 7	Western Oregon 24
1974	Western Oregon 29	Southern Oregon 34		1975	Southern Oregon 0	Western Oregon 12		1976	Western Oregon 28	Southern Oregon 20
1977	Southern Oregon 0	Western Oregon 40		1978	Southern Oregon 21	Western Oregon 51		1979	Western Oregon 10	Southern Oregon 6
1980	Southern Oregon 7	Western Oregon 21		1981	Western Oregon 42	Southern Oregon 13		1982	Southern Oregon 23	Western Oregon 13
1983	Western Oregon 22	Southern Oregon 45		1984	Southern Oregon 17	Western Oregon 24		1985	Western Oregon 32	Southern Oregon 14
1986	Southern Oregon 0	Western Oregon 36		1987	Western Oregon 17	Southern Oregon 38		1988	Southern Oregon 3	Western Oregon 22
1989	Western Oregon 21	Southern Oregon 42		1990	Southern Oregon 57	Western Oregon 20		1991	Southern Oregon 54	Western Oregon 13
1992	Western Oregon 31	Southern Oregon 46		1993	Southern Oregon 40	Western Oregon 45		1994	Western Oregon 33	Southern Oregon 28
1995	Western Oregon 14	Southern Oregon 32		1996	Southern Oregon 14	Western Oregon 21		1997	Western Oregon 14	Southern Oregon 22
1998	Southern Oregon 56	Western Oregon 35		1999	Southern Oregon 17	Western Oregon 52		2000	Western Oregon 21	Southern Oregon 13
2001	Did Not Play			2002	Western Oregon 34	Southern Oregon 20		2003	Did Not Play
2004	Did Not Play			2005	Western Oregon 24	Southern Oregon 10		2006	Western Oregon 38	Southern Oregon 0
2006	Southern Oregon 7	Western Oregon 53		2007	Southern Oregon 13	Western Oregon 37		2008	Western Oregon 35	Southern Oregon 3

Conference championships

Southern Oregon has won a combined 12 conference championships. The Raiders won the Far West Conference three times, the Oregon Collegiate Conference six times, NAIA District II once, the Columbia Football Association Mount Hood League once, and NAIA Independents once.

Year Conference Overall Record 1946 Far West Conference 8–0–0 1947 Far West Conference 7–2–0 1948 Far West Conference 5–5–0 1955† Oregon Collegiate Conference 4–5–0 1957 Oregon Collegiate Conference 6–2–1 1961 Oregon Collegiate Conference 5–4–0 1962 Oregon Collegiate Conference 8–1–0 1964† Oregon Collegiate Conference 6–2–1 1965 Oregon Collegiate Conference 5–3–1 1983 NAIA District II 9–2–0 1990 Columbia Football Association Mount Hood League 6–3–1 2001 NAIA Independent 9–2–1 † Denotes co-champions

Conference affiliations

• 1927–1938: Independent
• 1939–1945: No Team
• 1946–1952: Far West Conference
• 1953–1954: Independent
• 1955–1965: Oregon Collegiate Conference
• 1966–1970: Independent
• 1971–1985: Evergreen Conference
• 1985–1986: Columbia Football League
• 1987–1994: Columbia Football Association Mount Hood League
• 1995–1998: Columbia Football Association
• 1999–present: NAIA Independent

External links

• Official website of Southern Oregon football