Prep Football: Roseburg pushes No. 7 Thurston to its limit in 26-14 loss

SPRINGFIELD — The Roseburg Indians brought a next-man-up mentality to Thurston High School Friday night in a Class 5A Special District 4 contest and pushed the Colts to the limit in a 26-14 loss.

Roseburg scored on its first drive of the second half to draw within 19-14 against the No. 7-ranked Colts, but Thurston got a 55-yard interception return from Justin Fisher to re-establish a two-score lead and hang on for the win.

“Really impressed with Roseburg,” Thurston coach Justin Starck said. “They had a great game plan for us and took us to the limit. It was a good game.”

Making the effort even more impressive was the fact Roseburg (1-4, 0-3 SD4) was playing shorthanded due to injury. Starting quarterback Corey Kimball and running back Elijah Smith were both on the sidelines in street clothes.

The Indians looked to junior Caden Moon, who has mostly played wide receiver all season, to lead the offense. Moon played as the JV quarterback last season and helped spark the Roseburg offense.

“We asked a guy to step up for his team and (Moon) stepped up,” Roseburg coach Matt Watson said. “The moment was not too big for him.”

“Caden Moon’s an athlete. That’s for sure. Really good athlete. Fast and made pretty good decisions in the run game especially,” Starck said.

Moon scored a rushing touchdown in the first quarter and tallied 117 yards on 12 carries in Roseburg’s option offense. He also completed 3-of-8 pass attempts for 42 yards. He connected with McLane Stedman for a touchdown, but was picked off by Thurston in the third quarter on the game-changing play.

“He made some first time starter mistakes and we’re going to grow from that for sure, but I was really happy the way he stepped for his team and led his team, for sure,” Watson said.

Kimball, a senior in his second year starting at QB, is considered day-to-day, according to Watson.

Fisher had a big night for Thurston (5-1, 3-0). The senior made the momentum-swining interception, but also rushed for 119 yards with a touchdown and added 43 yards on two receptions.

He kicked off the scoring with a 28-yard run on the opening drive of the game.

Roseburg answered right away on its first possession. The Indians flipped the field on a 57-yard run by Moon that set up first down in the red zone. Four plays later it was move crossing the goal line from five yards out.

Neither team made the point after try and the game was tied at 6-6.

Thurston quarterback Emmit Distefano showed off his passing abilities in the first half, completing his first 12 pass attempts. He gave the Colts a 13-6 lead on a 38-yard connection with Brody Baker before the first quarter came to a close.

Distefano found Bodie Bonar for a 6-yard score in the second quarter to give the Colts a 19-6 lead at the break.

The junior finished the game 13-for-15 through the air for 233 yards and two scores, but he was under pressure all night and was forced into a number of mistakes.

“We had a hard time with protection the whole time. They did a nice job of pressuring the quarterback and we just had a hard time throwing the ball tonight,” Starck said.

Distefano was called for an intentional grounding in the second half and threw an interception. He was also tackled behind the line of scrimmage numerous times and finished with -21 rushing yards.

“Our defense can keep us in any game. You saw that with Summit. Our defense can help us hang with anybody,” Watson said.

Roseburg made a push to comeback late. The Indians had a 16-play drive that lasted 10 minutes and 10 seconds of game time and spanned from the end of the third quarter to late in the fourth. The drive got all the way to the Thurston 2-yard-line, but the Colts held the Indians out of the end zone and left the Tribe without enough time to overcome the deficit.

Senior Cruz Dirksen received most of the carries in place of Smith and had 90 yards on 13 carries. He also converted an important 2-point try.

Thurston will next face cross-town rival Springfield on Friday at Silke Field. Roseburg will host North Eugene at 7 p.m. Friday at Finlay Field.

Roseburg;6;0;8;0;—;14

Thurston;13;6;7;0;—;26

First Quarter

T — Fisher 28 run (kick blocked)

R — Moon 5 run (kick failed)

T — Baker 38 pass from Distefano (Bagwell kick)

Second Quarter

T — Bonar 6 pass from Distefano (kick blocked)

Third Quarter

R — Stedman 20 pass from Moon (Dirksen run)

T — Fisher 55 interception return (Bagwell kick)