VANCOUVER, Wash. - The Southern Oregon Renegades were a pretty good team with essentially back-up quarterbacks leading the way through the first half of the Pacific Football League season, but with Nate Ellis at the helm of their offense they might be the league's best team.
Ellis played for the first time this season and led the Renegades to a 42-7 win over Clark County Saturday at Kiggins Bowl, handing the Vipers their first loss of the season.
Ellis ran for two touchdowns, threw for two and struggled on only a handful of plays as the Renegades avenged an overtime loss in the Border War two months earlier. Southern Oregon had nine turnovers in the loss, but just two on Saturday. Instead, the 'Gades forced nine turnovers and turned two into touchdowns.
Southern Oregon improved to 6-1 overall, having lost only to the Portland Monarchs, the three-time defending champions of the Oregon Football League.
Both teams played without a number of key players. The Vipers played without defensive lineman Marquise Cross and two-way back Jason Pabillano, while the Renegades played without running back Alvin Thornton.
Clark County suffered a key injury when quarterback Kyle English suffered a recurring knee injury and might be lost for the season. The Vipers play at Kitsap County on Saturday in a battle for first place in the Northern Division and will likely be without English and No. 2 quarterback Naamon Archer, who has a scheduling conflict.
In addition to playing the Bears, the Vipers have a home game with the Yakima Mavericks, who've been on fire since losing to both the Vipers and Bears.
Ellis, who is hoping to locate a college scholarship in the fall, completed just seven of 20 passes, but one went for a 6-yard scoring pass to tight end Antoine Williams and only one was intercepted, helping the team avoid the numerous problems it had in the first meeting with the Vipers. Eliis finished with 32 yards on 11 carries.
John Jones and Bruce Franklin each picked off two passes for Southern Oregon. Jones returned one 63 yards for a touchdown that gave the Renegades a 14-lead with 7:30 left in the first quarter. Francis Sesepasara returned a fumble 5 yards for a score in the third quarter.
English and Archer struggled to complete passes throughout the evening, hitting just 10 of 30 attempts for 117 yards and one score: a 25-yard completion from Archer to Cody Gilbert that pulled the Vipers within 14-7. Of the six interceptions, none was more crucial than the fifth, when Jones stopped a Vipers drive at the Southern Oregon goal line and the score at 21-7. The Renegades promptly marched 77 yards on six plays with running back Andre Smith motoring 19 yards for the score and a 28-7 lead with 6:54 left in the third quarter.
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