Matt Retzlaff and Jeremy Scottow celebrate.
Scottow threw for a touchdown, caught a pass for a touchdown, and was the holder for several PATs in the victory over College of Idaho.

@SOURaiders @SOU_Football @Scottow12 @Matt_Retzlaff

After yesterday’s games Massey has given Reinhardt its #1 ranking, a ranking held by SOU for most of the season. The coaches will likely go with SOU or Morningside in tomorrow’s poll. Massey doesn’t have Morningside in its top five.

I previously hinted that the Frontier Conference may have only one team reach the postseason, but with Montana Tech’s victory over Carroll yesterday, things could go otherwise. If Montana Tech can get by Eastern Oregon this coming weekend, the winner of the Montana Tech vs. Montana Western contest on 11/14/15 may also make the postseason (along with SOU, assuming things go well for the Raiders the next few weeks). If EOU beats Tech and Tech beats Montana Western, then Southern Oregon will likely be the only Frontier Conference team to make the postseason.

Posted on October 25th, 2015 under only in ashland, people. Tags: football, Matt Retzlaff, Nikon D750, Raider Athletics, Southern Oregon University, sports photography, Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens for Nikon. Comments Off on Battle for #1

Teran Togia had three touchdowns for the Raiders today

@SOURaiders @SOU_Football

Details of today’s game can be found here.

Don’t get too excited about Lindsey-Wilson’s loss today. First of all, everyone, but the voting coaches, saw it coming a mile away. Massey’s rankings are far superior to the coaches’ poll. Massey routinely gets their predictions correct, while the coaches’ poll leaves everyone thinking that upsets are happening all over the place. Today’s “upset” of #1 by #8 (the “NAIA Game of the Week”) was actually #2 beating #8 according to Massey.

As mentioned before, Morningside has a weak schedule from here on out. They ran up the score against a team (not even in the top 60 according to Massey) that College of Idaho could have easily defeated and so Morningside could slip by the Raiders in Monday’s coaches’ poll. Even Reinhardt could move past the Raiders, but don’t count on the coaches to vote in a way that makes complete sense. Reinhardt should make it into the top 5, but I’m guessing they will not be #1, even after beating the coaches’ #1 team with a perfect record.

It doesn’t matter. Being #1 or #2 gives SOU the same home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They may be #1 on Monday after today’s victory over the Yotes, or they may not. Massey had the College of Idaho at #13 in the country. Well, the Raiders beat the 13th best NAIA football team by 42 points today.

The Raiders have three tough games to finish out the regular season. They play Rocky Mountain next week on the road, followed by Montana Tech (who beat Carroll College in Helena today) at home, and Eastern Oregon on the road–all top 25 teams according to Massey.

Posted on October 24th, 2015 under only in ashland, people. Tags: football, Nikon D750, Raider Athletics, sports photography. Comments Off on The new #1?

Tanner Trosin

@SOURaiders @SOU_Football

Where: Raider Stadium
When: 10/24/15, 1 p.m.
Who: College of Idaho vs. #2 Southern Oregon University Raiders

First 1,000 fans get a set of bam bam thunder sticks.

Raiders are currently tied with Montana Tech for first place in the Frontier Conference. Raiders are a 10-point favorite. Montana Tech are at Carroll and 7-point underdogs. #1 Lindsey Wilson are also 7-point underdogs today. A big Raider win today could mean they will be moving on up.

Posted on October 24th, 2015 under only in ashland, people. Tags: football, Nikon 300mm f/4.0D ED-IF AF-S Nikkor Lens, Nikon D750, Raider Athletics, sports photography, tanner trosin. Comments Off on Gameday

@rogerwaters

Today’s photo comes from a soccer game I was shooting in Ashland earlier this month. The title has nothing to do with soccer though.

In a few weeks, Roger Waters’ beautiful movie, The Wall, will be available for home consumption. I want it even though I’ve seen it in the theater, and I have seen the live version (twice). It’s that good.

Posted on October 21st, 2015 under only in ashland. Tags: Nikon D750, roger waters, Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens for Nikon. Comments Off on Look mummy, there’s an aeroplane up in the sky

Courtney Macklin and Corynn Kopra covering Nila Lukens’ kill

@SOURaiders @RaiderVB @RinnieThePoooh @nillawafer_8

After a sporting event that I’ve taken photos of, I usually do a quick run through of the pics and delete about half of them. The reasons for the deletions vary, but they usually consist of one or more of the following: subject out of focus, lack of action, awkward face, lighting that can’t be salvaged, lack of eyes/ball in frame, and/or already have a similar photo that is better.

When I first saw this photo, my finger went to the delete key since the potential subject (Nila) is out of focus. Then I paused a bit and looked at Courtney and Corynn. I immediately realized that they were the real subjects. I had prefocused on someone at the net before taking this, as it is extremely difficult to get a decent focus in gym lighting if you try to focus at the last second (especially when you are on the opposite side of the net from your subject).

I don’t know if I have any shots of really good “covering” that were intentionally set up that way, but this one looks like it was. Therefore, it became a keeper. Actually it’s one of my favorite volleyball shots due to its uniqueness. There are loads of great volleyball kill photos out there, but how many good shots of players covering a potential block do you see?

Posted on October 20th, 2015 under only in ashland, people. Tags: corynn kopra, courtney macklin, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, Nikon D750, nila lukens, photography, Raider Athletics, Southern Oregon University, sports photography, the whole picture, volleyball. Comments Off on The Whole Picture (part 18)

Joseph Lealofi a split second before sacking preseason All-American Mac Roche in SOU’s OT victory over Carroll College

@SOURaiders @SOU_Football @R_U_Football

Not much to report on the new rankings as what I said yesterday came true. The coaches are bound and determined to keep Lindsey Wilson in the number one spot, even though they haven’t fared as well against their same opponents as Reinhardt. The coaches seem to care much more about a school’s history and current year record than actual performance, home field advantage, strength of schedule, and other factors (who a school lost to and how for starters) that should matter. Lindsey Wilson being the only top 8 team from last year to still be undefeated, despite their weak schedule, is the only thing keeping them on top. All of that will be mute if Reinhardt beats Lindsey Wilson this Saturday. But will that put Reinhardt in the #1 spot? No. Why? Because Reinhardt wasn’t a top team last year. Reinhardt will get to prove themselves in the playoffs. If they do well in this year’s playoffs, the coaches will love them next year. Make sense? No, I guess not.

For SOU it doesn’t really matter. Sure, being ranked #1 would be nice, but with the final game being played in Daytona again, both the #1 and #2 teams will get home field throughout the playoffs. If SOU can continue to win, they should end up in one of the top two spots in the final rankings. That said, Morningside is barely behind SOU in the #3 spot, and they have a much easier schedule than SOU from here on out. The coaches won’t consider that, and so Morningside could slip past SOU in the rankings at some point even without an SOU loss.

Posted on October 19th, 2015 under only in ashland, people. Tags: football, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, Nikon D750, Raider Athletics, sports photography. Comments Off on Raiders hold steady at #2

Inger Jorgensen and Jeff Pevar

@LiveAtTheArmory @LOVEBITEMUSIC1 @jeffpevar @IngerJorgensen

Jacob Ackerman

Paul Turnipseed

Matthew Kriemelman

Zepdrix @ Ashland Armory (9/10/15)

Posted on October 18th, 2015 under only in ashland, people. Tags: concert photography, Historic Ashland Armory, Jeff Pevar Inger Jorgensen, Nikon D750, paul turnipseed, techtoberfest, zepdrix. Comments Off on Zepdrix @ Techtoberfest

Sean Tow scored two TDs and averaged 4.3 yards per carry in the Southern Oregon victory

@SOURaiders @SOU_Football @Seantow17

Details about the game can be found here.

Now let’s take a look at the rankings and potential playoff implications.

First the rankings… The coaches’ poll comes out Monday, but with Lindsey Wilson and Southern Oregon both winning, the #1 and #2 spots probably won’t change. Massey Ratings predicts that #1 (in the coaches’ poll, #8 on Massey) Lindsey Wilson will lose their next game to #8 (in the coaches’ poll, #2 on Massey) Reinhardt by almost a full touchdown. Massey gives Lindsey Wilson only a 31% chance of victory. SOU is a 10.5 point favorite over College of Idaho with a 79% chance of victory, according to Massey, this coming weekend.

Carroll College took a big hit in Massey Ratings, dropping from #2 to #7. Unfortunately for Carroll College, no team with 3 losses made the NAIA football playoffs last year unless they received an automatic bid via a conference championship. That seems exceedingly unlikely for Carroll so another SOU vs. Carroll match up this year has become remote. Note that the NAIA football playoff system doesn’t consider Massey Ratings or any other unbiased rating system. Eastern Oregon didn’t get in last year even with a top 16 ranking in the coaches’ poll.

With the nation’s strongest NAIA conference teams beating up on each other, there is now a possibility that only one Frontier Conference team will make the playoffs. Montana Tech, the only other Frontier Conference team with only one loss, still has games left against Eastern Oregon, Carroll, and SOU. They will likely end the season with 3 or 4 losses and no invitation to the playoffs. Montana Western has the easiest schedule of the Frontier Conference, only having to face SOU, Carroll, Eastern Oregon, and Montana Tech once each. However, they already have two losses and still have to get by decent teams like Rocky Mountain and College of Idaho. They finish the season against Montana Tech so it will be very difficult for them to end up with just two losses as well.

In conclusion, while Massey still has 6 Frontier Conference teams in the top 13 positions, only one Frontier Conference team is a lock to make the 16-team playoffs.

Posted on October 18th, 2015 under only in ashland. Tags: football, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, Nikon D750, Raider Athletics, Southern Oregon University, sports photography. Comments Off on SOU beat Carroll at home again

Johnnie Workman

@johnnieworkz @SOURaiders @RaiderVB @emmagassy

Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams won in Klamath Falls today. The volleyball team also ran their record to 18-2 in Portland.

Posted on October 16th, 2015 under people. Tags: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, Nikon D750, Raider Athletics, soccer, sports photography. Comments Off on Big night for Raider athletics