MEDFORD – The South Medford Panthers got all the offense they needed on the first drive of the game as they cruised past a short-handed Roseburg football team 43-0 on Friday night.

South Medford (5-2; 4-0 SWC) opened the game with a quick scoring drive, capped off with a 28-yard run by junior Chase Cota. The extra point made it 7-0 and the Panthers never looked back.

Roseburg (0-7; 0-5 SWC) entered the night as a decided underdog against the No. 4 Panthers, but injuries took their toll on the Indians and quickly stalled and momentum they might have brought to the contest. Junior tight end Brandon Jeffers was hurt on a kickoff return during the first quarter and was sidelined with a right foot injury the rest of the evening.

Later in the first half, starting quarterback Zack Mandera was knocked out of the game after receiving a devastating hit that knocked his helmets nearly five yards from his body. Mandera was starting at quarterback in place of fellow sophomore Collin Warmouth, who missed the game due to personal reasons. Warmouth had started the previous two games for Roseburg after senior Sam Tibbets went down with a concussion.

All the injuries at quarterback left the Indians extremely short-handed and senior running back Kyle Rackley finished the first half taking direct snaps in the quarterback position. Tibbets saw his first action in two weeks when he entered the game in the third quarter, but the QB was used strictly to hand off the ball to Roseburg’s backs.

Roseburg started the game on a positive note.  The Indians allowed just the one touchdown to the Panthers and ate up clock with an aggressive run game centered around Rackley and Mandera. Trailing the Panthers by only seven points wasn’t too bad, seeing South Medford had been averaging 14 points in the first quarter through their first six games.

South Medford made up for their slow start by scoring three times in the second quarter to lead 29-0 going to the break. The Panthers added two more scores in the third quarter and the game ended with a scoreless fourth.

Junior quarterback Robbie Patterson completed 8-of-15 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown pass to Jaylin Parnell. Parnell finished his night with 59 yards receiving to go along with 79 yards and two scores on the ground.

Kyle Rackley led Roseburg’s offense with 75 yards rushing on 17 carries. Roseburg finished with only 158 yards of offense.

Up next for Roseburg is homecoming at Finlay Field. The Indians will host Willamette (0-4; 0-7 SWC) in a contest that will provide one team its first win of the year. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday night.

SCORING BY QUARTERS
Roseburg 0; 0; 0; 0 – 0
South Medford 7; 22; 14; 0 – 43

SCORING PLAYS
1st Quarter –
SM – 28 yard run Cota (Owens kick good)
2nd Quarter –
SM – 1 yard run Parnell (Owens kick good)
SM – 15 yard run Parnell (2pt run Patterson)
SM – 49 yard pass from Patterson to Parnell (Owens kick good)
3rd Quarter –
SM – 61 yard run Salamanca (Owens kick good)
SM – 25 yard pass from Bottero to DeBoer (Owens kick good)