The grinding runs of Nate Denney and Payton Davis and the sure hands of Cole Parker were just too much for Roseburg on Friday night.

Leading 19-14 at halftime, Bend High took control in the second half to surge to a 40-20 nonleague 6A home win.

Denney rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and Davis ran for 175 yards.

“They were both ripping off big runs, and the line did fantastic,” said Bend coach Matt Craven. “When you’ve got two guys who can run the ball it makes you much more versatile and much more dangerous.”

In the second half, Roseburg (1-3) stacked the box to stop the Bears’ running attack, so quarterback Cooper Simmonds took to the air.

Parker finished with seven catches for 142 yards and three touchdowns, including a 46-yard score on a pass from Simmonds that gave Bend (3-1) a 40-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we had some really big third-down conversions, especially throwing the ball,” said Craven. “They (the Indians) really, really made an effort to pack in the box to try to take away the run game. They probably should have, because we had good success against their 4-3 early. So then we had to make some plays throwing the ball, and Simmonds did a great job of that. Cole Parker had an outstanding game catching the ball.”

It looked early on as if it might be a relatively easy night for the Lava Bears. They scored on the fifth play of the game on a 17-yard run up the middle by Denney to take a 6-0 lead after the PAT was blocked.

Roseburg then fumbled on its first play from scrimmage and Bend recovered at the Indians’ 22-yard line.

But after two penalties and two incomplete passes, the Bears turned the ball over on downs.

Roseburg wasted little time taking the lead, as quarterback Collin Warmouth found D’Angelo Adams for a 62-yard touchdown on a screen pass and the Indians went up 7-6 with 7:35 left in the first quarter.

Bend put together a solid drive early in the second quarter and reached the red zone, but Simmonds fumbled a snap and Roseburg recovered at the 22-yard line.

Bend stopped Roseburg, then managed a quick score on offense: Denney on another touchdown run, scrambling up the middle, finding the sideline and getting some blocks on a 67-yard run that gave the Bears a 13-7 lead with 5:49 left in the half.

After an interception by Roseburg, the Indians converted on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Warmouth to Peyton Bryant for a 14-13 lead with 1:06 left in the second quarter.

Simmonds then led the Bears on an impressive drive to end the half, starting with 1:03 left on their own 35-yard line. He completed two passes, then, on a reverse pass, tight end Lucas Musgrave found a wide open Parker for a 28-yard touchdown and a 19-14 lead for Bend by halftime.

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com