Roseburg football team gets second life in playoffs

Sure, Roseburg (3-7) has the worst record among the 28 teams still in contention for the Class 6A state football championship.

But McNary coach Rick Ward — a 1980 Roseburg High graduate who played for Thurman Bell — knows what the Indians are capable of should his Celtics (8-2) not be on top of their game Friday night in the first round of the playoffs.

The two clubs met on Sept. 5 at Finlay Field in Roseburg, with McNary handing the Indians a 28-0 loss. Roseburg lost three fumbles and threw two interceptions in the contest, managing only 164 yards total offense.

“Probably our poorest game of the season,” Bell said.

The rematch is set for 7 p.m. at McNary High in Keizer. The Celtics are the No. 2 seed out of the Central Valley Conference, while the Tribe earned the Southwest Conference’s No. 4 berth with a 42-14 rout of North Medford last week at home.

The winner will travel to Tualatin (5-4), the co-champion and No. 1 seed from the Pacific Conference, in the second round.

Ward watched tape of the Sept. 5 game and the North Medford-Roseburg contest, and doesn’t expect things to come easy for the Celtics Friday night. The weather will have an impact; McNary’s grass field could be slippery and muddy with rain in the forecast, and the Indians have been playing on FieldTurf all season.

“I’m looking at two completely different (Roseburg) teams,” Ward said. “Roseburg is much improved. They’re back to the conventional running stuff Thurman has done for almost 40 years. It’s a whole different offense to prepare for.

“It’s always interesting and hard to beat someone twice in the same year, and I think this game will be a dogfight.”

While the Indians have certainly progressed after starting the season 0-4, McNary — which has an all-senior starting lineup — is also much better and regarded as a dangerous team heading into the postseason. The Celtics, behind a huge offensive line that averages 289 pounds a man, are averaging 427 yards and 34.7 points a game. Their defense is solid, allowing 13.6 points.

“That’s a very good offensive line,” Bell said. “They run two offenses — the power game and spread game — and we’ll have to adjust to both. Their quarterback (Grant Kessel) has improved as the season’s went on and looks very comfortable. Their running back (230-pound Darian Kauffman) is a bull.”

Kauffman, a second-team all-conference selection on offense and first-team linebacker, carried the ball 12 times for 72 yards and returned a fumble 68 yards for a touchdown against Roseburg in the first meeting. He’s run for 1,355 yards and 19 TDs on the season.

Kessel, an athletic signal-caller at 6-foot-3, has completed 59 percent of his passes for over 1,500 yards and turned in a couple of 100-yard rushing games. Logan Anderson, who’s averaged 150 yards rushing over the last five contests, is another threat.

The Celtics have two quick wide receivers in Sheldon Austria and Dustin Boyd, who combined for six catches and two scores against the Tribe. The line is anchored by center Koby Pederson and guard Will Cowan, both first-team all-conference selections, and tackle Jake Rice, a second-team pick.

“We need some offense to slow them down,” said Bell, hoping the Roseburg offense can move the ball with some time-consuming drives.

McNary’s 3-5 defensive alignment is led by Kauffman, outside linebackers Scott Stoddard (first-team all-CVC) and J.J. Baisch (second-team), noseguard Paul Harris (first-team), end Jordan Hunter (second-team) and free safety Nick Phillips (second team).

Bell called the North Medford win Roseburg’s most complete game of the season. The Indians gained 367 yards, 267 coming on the ground. Tailback Josh Weaver took advantage of some good blocking, finishing with a career-high 173 yards rushing. Roseburg didn’t make a turnover.

“We hope the confidence carries over to this week,” Bell said.

Junior quarterback Thaddeus Davis, who didn’t start against McNary earlier, has passed for 1,031 yards and 10 TDs.

PLAYOFF NOTES — The Indians practiced on the grass field at Fremont Middle School on Wednesday to get a feel for the slower surface ... In other first-round games involving SWC teams, Gresham (7-3) visits fifth-ranked Grants Pass (8-1) and No. 10 Sheldon (5-4) travels to Tigard (7-2). Second-ranked South Medford (9-1) has a bye, and will host the Newberg-David Douglas winner in the second round ... The first-round matchup between Southridge (7-2) and Oregon City (5-5) involves two head coaches with Roseburg ties. Southridge coach Brad Mastrud was a defensive coordinator under Bell and on the Roseburg staff for 18 years, while Oregon City coach Dane Iverson is a 1987 RHS grad and was on Bell’s staff ... Six of Roseburg’s seven losses have come to playoff teams — Gresham, McNary, Beaverton, Sheldon, Grants Pass and South Medford ... McNary leads Roseburg 4-2 in their series. The Indians have a pair of first-round playoff wins over the Celtics, 41-7 at Finlay Field in 1981 and 34-14 in Keizer in 1987 ... Roseburg is making its 28th playoff appearance in the past 29 years, the only miss coming in 1991 when the Indians were forced forfeit wins over Grants Pass and Mazama for using an ineligible player.