Matt Floberg and Luke Staley would have given the North squad a dynamic 1-2 punch at running back at the 51st annual Oregon Bowl Saturday night in Portland.

Staley, meanwhile, was the leading rusher in the state last season, combining the speed of a sprinter, the power of a sumo wrestler and the balance of a gymnast. Staley is headed to Brigham Young University on a full scholarship.

Staley is skipping the Oregon Bowl to get an early jump at BYU, however, and now it looks as though Floberg may miss the game as well. Floberg pulled a hamstring at practice Monday and missed both of Tuesday's practices.

"I'm going to call the Oregon coaches later today and see what they want me to do," Floberg said Tuesday afternoon. "It's pretty tender."

Even though Floberg was the state's top defensive player last fall, he would prefer to play offense in college. He chose the Ducks partly because they have assured him he'll line up at fullback when he puts on a green and yellow uniform.

"They said they don't have a lot of fullbacks right now," Floberg said. "And they said I'll probably play right away and not redshirt."

Oregon State was the only other school Floberg visited. Once he met with Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, running backs coach Gary Campbell and several of the players, he canceled visits to USC and Stanford.

"I just felt real comfortable down there," Floberg said.

North Medford's Brian Backstrom and Ashland's Roger Walsh have knocked heads the past two seasons, but now find themselves as teammates, roommates and fellow centers for the South squad.

"We've been to a couple of the same summer camps but never got to know each other very well," Backstrom said. "All of a sudden we're good friends."

The two are expected to split the center duties Saturday night. Walsh has an advantage in that he's familiar with Ashland's Jimmy Werbin, one of the South quarterbacks, and Grizzly coach Jim Nagel, who is leading the South team.

Not only that, but center is a foreign position for Backstrom, who played tackle for the Black Tornado.

Backstrom has his strong points, however. He recently broke weight-lifting records at North Medford in the bench press (370 pounds) and squats (575).

"I played some center on our scout team at North -- it's been an easy transition," said Backstrom, a 6-foot, 240-pounder who will suit up for Western Oregon State University in the fall.

Nagel and Ken Potter, the coach of the North squad, are no strangers to each other. Nagel's Grizzlies and Potter's Jesuit High Crusaders have met three times in the state playoffs.

Ashland has won all three matchups, including last season's 21-14 overtime victory at Eugene's Autzen Stadium when backup quarterback Zach Hassell, subbing for an injured Werbin, threw the winning touchdown pass.

Nagel has won an eye-catching 79 percent of his games at Ashland (151-39 in 16 seasons) but has a losing record (1-2) in the Oregon Bowl.