Southern Oregon Raiders football

Southern Oregon University has fielded an official football team since 1927 and has an all-time record of 349–351–15 (a .499 winning percentage).

Thirty-eight Raiders players have been inducted into the university's athletic Hall of Fame, as have three individual football teams.

A playing field was leveled by a highway crew working nearby and uniforms were purchased for the players.

[6] However, more significant than that was the death of star freshman Max Newsom; he died shortly after a game against Oregon State JV from cerebral hemorrhaging after collapsing on the field from injuries sustained making a tackle.

The 1929 season saw slight improvement behind the efforts of Cylde Hines, SONS's first African American student.

While Hines was accepted by the school, segregation and racist attitudes from opposing fans created problems for the team.

[2] Success continued in 1933, when, against their largest schedule yet, SONS lost only two games and defeated Oregon Normal School for the first time since 1927.

Hobson progressively devoted more of his time and the athletic budget to the basketball program and began to actively recruit players away from football.

He left after a poor 1934 season to coach the University of Oregon basketball program, which he would later lead to a national championship.

During Akins' 15 years as the Raiders' head coach, Southern Oregon was conference champions seven times (either outright or co-champions).

[10] 18 years after Akins' last season, the Raiders experienced their first postseason, defeating Central Washington in the first round of the NAIA playoffs and losing to Mesa State in the quarterfinals.

Howard is best known for being the head coach of Tim Tebow at Nease High School in St Augustine, Florida.