Four Frontier teams still ranked in Top 25

There wasn’t much of a shake up at the top of the newest NAIA Football Coaches Poll. But there was a shake up in the Frontier Conference that affected the poll.

The New NAIA Top 25 was released Monday afternoon, and four Frontier teams remain ranked. However, with Eastern Oregon’s last-second win at Rocky Mountain College last Saturday in Billings, the Mountaineers jumped up five spots in the new poll, while the Battlin’ Bears tumbled. EOU moved up to No. 17 this week, while Rocky fell from No. 10 to No. 18. It was the Bears’ second straight loss.

At the top, Carroll College and Southern Oregon didn’t move. Carroll, which had a bye this past weekend, remained at the No. 5 spot, while SOU stayed put at No. 7 after beating Montana State University-Northern 45-24 last Saturday in Havre.

SOU’s win over Northern earned Raider senior quarterback Austin Dodge Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. The 6-2, 203-pound Dodge was 22 of 38 passing for 417 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for four yards. He broke NAIA career records for passing touchdowns and passing yardage.

SOU’s Heston Altenbach was named Defensive Player of the Week. Eastern Oregon kicker Marc David got the nod as Special Team’s Player of the Week after he kicked a game-winning 30-yard field as time expired to beat Rocky Mountain College last Saturday.

UGF’s Madison Wilhelm was named Volleyball Player of the Week after helping the Argos win road matches at UM-Western and Westminster last week. Northern’s Jessica Wilcox was also nominated for the award.