Roseburg clings to 5A playoff hopes as it hosts Eagle Point on senior night

Roseburg seniors Dane St. Clair (6) and Noah Nelson (7) celebrate after a defensive stop during a Special District 4 game against Churchill earlier this season at Finlay Field in Roseburg. The Indians will host Eagle Point Friday in a league contest. (PHOTO: Nathan Miller/The News-Review)

The Roseburg football team got back in the win column last week with a dominating 35-6 victory against South Eugene. It was the first step in Roseburg’s hopes of making a late-season push into the Class 5A state playoffs.

The next step is the Eagle Point Eagles, who visit Finlay Field for a Special District 4 matchup at 7 p.m. Friday.

“The goal is to be 1-0 and last Friday we were 1-0,” Roseburg coach Matt Watson said. “Monday, I felt like we took care of it, we were 1-0. We’ve got to be 1-0 every day this week and that includes being 1-0 on Friday night.”

Roseburg (3-4, 2-4 SD4) had one of its best performances of the season, albeit against a winless South Eugene club. The Tribe will look to build off of that momentum as they host an Eagle Point team that has also struggled to win this year.

“That was a great game to bounce back on. We really grew as a team,” Roseburg senior AJ Baker said about the South Eugene win. “It was a little sloppy, but we’re here. We’re fixing it this week. We’ve got a big game Friday and I’m ready to go.”

Eagle Point (1-6, 1-5) has managed just 8.3 points per game this season, but the Eagles have been gaining steam the past three weeks.

The season started with shutout losses in three of the first four weeks. E.P. has averaged 14.7 points over its last three games, going 1-2 during that span. The two losses were both by seven points.

“Eagle Point is a very disciplined team. They’re doing all the right things and getting guys to the right point,” Watson said.

Senior running back Peyton Smith has been a bright spot for the struggling Eagles’ offense. Smith has rushed for over 100-yards in five of seven games, including a season-high 193 yards in Eagle Point’s 16-8 win over South Eugene.

Whiatt Deutschman, a senior linebacker, has helped anchor an Eagles’ defense that has steadily improved. Eagle Point allowed 42 or more points to its first three opponents, but has given up just 17.5 points per game in the last four weeks.

“We want to play to our strengths and what the defense gives us,” Watson said. “We’ve done some reflection of what we’ve done really well over the past few weeks and when defenses give us particular looks, where are we excelling and we’ve been repping those plays as much as we can.”

Roseburg will be celebrating its 21 seniors prior to kickoff on Friday night. It’s one of the largest senior classes for the Roseburg football team in a number of years.

“For a class that large to stay together for as long as they did is so impressive. To see a class that’s bought into the weight room the way that they did, it’s impressive. The way they bought into this team mentally and the way that they’re leading on and off the field … I can’t find any words to describe it other than it’s impressive,” Watson said.

If Roseburg hopes to send this group of seniors off with a playoff berth, they’ll need to keep winning and keep their fingers crossed. The Indians will need to receive an at-large berth in the playoffs, which are determined by the computer-generated OSAA power rankings.

The Churchill Lancers can clinch the SD4 league championship with a win at home against the winless South Eugene Axe on Friday. Willamette and Thurston can secure automatic playoff berths with wins on Friday. The Wolverines visit Crater in Central Point and the Colts host North Eugene in Springfield.

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