Pick your Poison

At the start of the 2014 Frontier Conference season, there was little doubt that Montana State University-Northern sophomore running back Zach McKinley had a target on his back. After the freshman season he had in 2013, McKinley was returning as one of the top running backs in the NAIA.

And while McKinley has lived up to every bit of that billing, as he leads the NAIA in rushing yards so far in 2014, Northern's passing game too has exploded.

Heading into spring ball, and then fall camp, the Lights' passing game, quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends, returned just two starters. But Northern also had a couple of secret weapons up its sleeve, and the result has been an offense which has been nearly impossible to slow down.

And the two biggest reasons why the passing game seems to be so impossible to stop is the emergence of a pair of star wide receivers for senior quarterback, and first-year starter Travis Dean to throw to.

Coming into the season, it was Rocky Mountain College's Andre McCullouch and his group of receivers, as well as Southern Oregon's trio of Matt Retzlaff, Ryan Retzlaff and Dylan Young that had everybody in the league talking. But now, five games into the fall, they're talking every bit as much about Northern's Trevor Baum and Jake Messerly.

Together, and with Dean throwing the ball, Baum and Messerly have become one of the most dangerous and explosive wide receiver duos in the NAIA. Combined, they have caught 80 passes for 1,185 yards and eight touchdowns in a passing attack where Dean averages nearly 300 yards per outing.

"We're putting up huge numbers on offense," Baum, a senior from California said. "We're having a huge season offensively, and that's been really good because I'm not sure a lot of people expected us to. Now, we have to find the key to win some more football games."

Both Baum and Messerly are putting up gigantic numbers, and while Messerly was a known commodity coming into the fall, as he had a strong freshman campaign a year ago and his 6-1, 185-pound athletic frame is made to be a great pass catcher, Baum was that secret weapon. He started two years at defensive back for the Lights, but receiver was his natural position, and he made the move back there last spring. And now, with Messerly on the other side, and drawing a lot of attention from opposing defensive, the transition has been an incredible one.

"I played wide receiver at my J.C.," Baum said. "And that's where I wanted to play when I came here, but they already had like 13 guys on the roster. So I played defensive back and I was happy to do it. I had my brother playing safety and that was great, and I was happy to help the team wherever I could. But honestly, at times, I also felt like I was letting my team down because I just didn't think I was that good of a defensive back. I didn't think I was really impacting the team at that position. My body was getting pretty beat up, too, but mostly I just didn't see myself as a top defensive player. So, when I was able to make the move back to receiver, I was really excited about that."

And it's paying off big time.

"Trevor is a really good wide receiver," Messerly, the Missoula native said. "He runs his routes as well as I've seen anyone do here. He does the right things to get himself open and then he makes the catch, too. He has really good hands. I knew he could play the position, but I didn't know he'd come in and do it like this. I have a lot of respect for what he's doing."

And what Baum is doing is quickly climbing the record books. But he'll be the first to admit, having a star receiver like Messerly already established is a big part of why he's putting up the numbers he is. And as he sees it, Messerly is as good as it gets.

"I spent all of last year trying to cover Jake in practice," Baum said. "He is just so good, and I know from experience, there's no one defensive back out there that can stay with him. He's big and strong, he has those traits that make a wide receiver great. But his biggest weapon is his speed. He can just fly, and no one is going to stay with him.

"And Jake being as great as he is, everybody already knew about him," he continued. "So that has opened me up this season. He pulls a lot of the coverage his way. But now that we've played a few games, and teams are seeing what we're doing, I don't think they're going to be able to play us that way anymore. They know they have to worry about both of us."

Of course, both Baum and Messerly want the ball. Any great receiver does. But Baum is on the money, because now that the rest of the Frontier has seen the Lights in action, it's going to be tough for opposing defenses to slow either one of them down.

Even with so much of the defense's attention shifted in his direction, Messerly has caught 29 passes for 362 yards and two scores. He hauled in a 73-yard touchdown against UM-Western, which was also his third TD of his career of 70 yards or longer. Messerly averages 13 yards per catch and 72 yards per game, both ranking him in the Top 5 in the Frontier Conference and the Top 30 nationally.

"I think having Trevor on my side of the ball has really helped me this season," Messerly said. "He's really kind of guided me. He's a really good leader and it's helped me a lot. When I looked at this season last year, I kind of thought I would be the guy at this position, the one who makes all the big plays. But now we have two guys doing that and that makes us pretty tough to stop."

While Messerly is putting up All-Conference-type stats this season, Baum is putting up all-world numbers. In just five games, he's caught 51 passes for 823 yards and six touchdowns. He has a long of 70 yards and he's averaging 16 yards per grab and 167 yards per contest. Every one of those stats easily lead the Frontier, while he leads the entire country in receiving yards, receiving yards per game and catches.

And while others knew he had the talent to play the wide receiver position, and he might have known it, too, he is even surprised at what he's doing so far.

"I was really surprised to find out some of my stats," he said. "I didn't really know until my mom called me and told me about some of the numbers I had gotten so far. I honestly didn't realize that.

"But, the recognition is nice, it's nice to know I'm earning the respect of the other teams and coaches," he continued. "But the big thing for me is this is it for me, this is my senior year and I'm done with football when it's over. So I'm putting everything I have into this. I'm giving it everything I have every game, every practice. And it's great to know I'm contributing and helping the team out."

Both Messerly and Baum are helping the Lights, who average a whopping 496 yards of offense per game. With those two at wide receiver, with McKinley and Mario Gobatto at running back and with a stout offensive line, the Lights are becoming a dynamic offense, and one that's tough to stop. However, both Messerly and Baum know they wouldn't be doing what they're doing this season without a quarterback, and they both are quick to heap a lot of praise on Dean, the senior leader who has waited for his opportunity to be the guy under center for the Lights.

"It's a huge help to have a senior quarterback like Travis," Messerly said. "He's our leader, he gets us rolling. He's having a great season. He's playing really well right now. He's in control of this offense out there and he leads us down the field. This was his year and he's taking it and rolling with it, and I'm very proud of him.

"I've known Trav (Dean) for a long time, and I knew he had what it took to be the quarterback for this offense," Baum added. "He's had a long wait, he's had injuries and he had (Derek) Lear in front of him for a long time. But now he's taking his opportunity and he's making the most out of it. Travis is playing great. He knows this offense, he knows how to make all the throws. And I think a really big thing is, he has confidence in us as receivers, and especially, he has confidence in the line. The o-line is playing great for him. I think he's only really been sacked once all season. And he believes in himself, too. He knows he can go out there and get the job done. And we believe in him. He's just a great leader for this offense."

And with Dean slinging the rock, Messerly and Baum are lighting up the Frontier like a pinball machine. However, for all the yards, big plays and electrifying catches, both receivers agree that there's one thing missing. And they would both give all the stats up for that missing piece of the puzzle ...wins.

Despite Northern's huge offensive numbers, and having so many great players on both sides of the ball, the Lights have come up short on the scoreboard this season, and both Messerly and Baum agree, after this week's bye, it's time for that to change.

"There's no doubt we're the best 1-4 team in the country," Messerly said. "I mean, look at the numbers we're putting up. I honestly don't feel like we're 1-4 at all. But we are, and we just need to do a better job of finishing. We have to play better in the second half of games. I think that's a big key for us. If we can just finish, we're going to win games.

"It is frustrating," Baum added. "We're so much better than our record. I haven't had a winning season since I've been here, and I think this team is more than capable of that. With the talent we have on this team, there's no reason why we shouldn't have won more games. But we're going to keep working on it. We're going to keep fighting. We just have to find that key. I know it's out there for us. I know this team is capable of beating any team we play. I really believe that. We just need to start doing it. The numbers are great and the recognition is great, but I want to win. I want this team to win, and I know we can. We just have to make it happen."

The Lights are more than capable of winning games. And now, five games into the fall of 2014, with such a dangerous duo at wide receiver, don't be surprised if Baum, Messerly and the Lights start doing just that.