Frontier Notebook: One day to decide the Frontier title

This is it folks. The Frontier Conference has come down to the last week, and with it, the Frontier title is still up for grabs. And the scenarios that need to play out for the Frontier title to be decided are pretty simple.

Both Carroll College and Southern Oregon come into the final weekend of the regular season with one loss. The Fighting Saints play College of Idaho Saturday in Helena, and a win would clinch head coach Mike Van Diest’s 15th conference championship. Meanwhile, later in the day, Southern Oregon hosts rival Eastern Oregon. A win by the Raiders, and they will be conference champs for the second time in three seasons in the Frontier. If both teams win, they will be co-champions, and the league’s automatic bid to the NAIA playoffs will come down to Frontier tiebreakers. Carroll and SOU split their two games during the regular season. Also, if both teams were to lose, then they would still share the conference title, each finishing at 8-2 in conference play.

As for the rest of the league, Eastern Oregon can finish no better than third, even with a win against the Raiders Saturday in Ashland, Oregon. EOU comes into Saturday’s game ranked No. 15 in the NAIA, and with plenty to play for considering a win would likely get the Mounties in the playoffs. SOU, along with the Saints, are already locks for playoff berths regardless of what happens Saturday. With a fourth loss, EOU will not get in.

An Eastern Oregon loss to SOU would also give UM-Western a share of third place in the Frontier. The Bulldogs secured their first winning season in 10 years when they blasted Montana State University-Northern 60-15 last Saturday in Havre. The Lights travel to Rocky Mountain College Saturday, where the Bears, who slumped in the second half of the season, can finish no better than fourth, as a win over the Lights would put them at 5-5 in league play.

Meanwhile, if the Lights were to knock off the Bears Saturday, something Northern hasn’t done in Billings in its last four attempts, they would be able to tie for fifth in the Frontier standings, provided Carroll takes care of business against C of I. A loss, and Northern would finish alone in seventh place. Montana Tech’s season is over. The Orediggers lost nine straight games after beating the Lights in their season-opener, and will finish last in the Frontier for the second time in four years.

In the Frontier Preseason Poll, Carroll was picked to win the league title, followed by Rocky, SOU, EOU, Tech, Western, Northern and C of I.

The First Step

Speaking of College of Idaho, the Yotes have had a memorable first season in the Frontier, no matter the outcome of their first trip to Carroll’s Nelson Stadium this Saturday.

A loss to Carroll would mean the Yotes will finish 3-7 in the Frontier and 4-7 overall. Those are modest numbers for most teams, but for a team that hasn’t played football in nearly four decades, and has done nothing but practice for the last two years, to come into a league like the Frontier and not finish last, that’s remarkable.

And don’t expect the Yotes to finish last in the Frontier anytime soon either. They don’t have a single senior on their 99-man roster, and many of their top players are no older than sophomores, including standout defensive back Cory Brady. And of course, C of I will return starting quarterback TeeJay Gordon, who has had a stellar season in Caldwell. And with the area being such a fertile recruiting ground, don’t be surprised if 2014 is the only season the Yotes will spend below .500.

Final Numbers

While Montana Tech and UM-Western are done, there’s still plenty for everybody else to play for this weekend, and that includes postseason accolades.

The Frontier rushing title comes down to Northern’s Zach McKinley and Carroll’s Dustin Rinker. As far as rushing yards go, McKinley has a slight lead. He’s gained a Northern record 1,192 yards with one game to go, while Rinker has 1,185 yards. Rinker will likely win the average however. He’s averaging a Frontier best 131.7 yards per game, while McKinley averages 119 yards per outing. Western’s Sam Rutherford, who rushed for 111 yards last week, finished the season with 1,061 yards, and he will be the only other back in the league to break 1,000 yards this season. McKinley and Gordon both lead the league in rushing touchdowns, each with 14, but Rinker is just one behind with 13.

In the passing game, no one was ever going to catch SOU great Austin Dodge. He comes into his final regular season game with 3,723 yards and 35 touchdowns, against just six interceptions. RMC’s Bryce Baker is second in the league with 2,278 yards, while Carroll’s Mac Roche has thrown the second-most touchdowns, with 23. If not for missing the last 3.5 games of his career, MSU-N senior Travis Dean would have had a good chance to join Dodge and Baker in the 3,000-yard club. Dean’s season ended with an injury at EOU three weeks ago, and at the time, he had thrown for 2,107 yards and 10 scores. Dodge is also well ahead in total offense. He’s gained 3,749 total yards this season, and averages 375 yards of offense per game. Dodge will finish his illustrious SOU career with more than 10 different NAIA offensive records.

The top two receivers in the Frontier will go head-to-head this week when Northern visits RMC. Rocky junior Andre McCullouch leads the league with 83 catches while Northern’s Trevor Baum is second with 76 receptions. Baum is also second to SOU’s Dylan Young in receiving yards. Baum has 1,142 yards this season, while Young is well ahead with 1,283. Young is also way out in front in receiving touchdowns. He’s hauled in 17 scores so far this fall, while Carroll’s Anthony Clark has 10. Young also leads the league with a whopping 18.9 yards per catch. Northern’s Jake Messerly is sixth in the Frontier with 51 catches, to go along with 681 yards and six TDs.

On defense, it’s a tight race for the top tackler in the league. RMC’s Cory Bummer and SOU’s Laurence Calcagno both have 98 stops entering the final weekend of the season. MSU-N senior linebacker Kami Kanehailua is third with 84. Northern’s Tyler Craig should win the sack title. Craig has 10 sacks this season, one more than Western’s Phil Selin, and his season is over. Carroll’s Sean Condon would need three sacks this weekend to catch Craig’s standing total of 10.

Craig, who’s had a monster season for the Lights, also has 10.5 tackles for loss, which ranks him fifth in the Frontier. Tech’s David Meis is leading the league with 14.5, and his next closest pursuers are teammate Mike Touzinsky and Eastern Oregon’s Dalton Morgan, each with 11. C of I’s Cory Brady and EOU’s Ronnie Flowers are currently tied for the league lead in interceptions with six. Western’s Jess McCloud and EOU’s Bryson Benson each have five.

Awards Watch

In a matter of weeks, the Frontier will announce its 2014 All-Conference teams and postseason honors. So, it’s always fun to speculate on how that will go.

Dodge is a no-brainer from his second consecutive Frontier Offensive MVP. And regardless of how the Raiders do in the postseason, he deserves to win the NAIA Player of the Year as well. Of course, there are other worthy candidates for offensive MVP, including Northern’s McKinley and Carroll’s Rinker. But for the last three seasons, Dodge has simply been a step above the rest.

As for the Frontier Defensive MVP, it’s not nearly as cut and dry. Northern’s Craig is certainly deserving of the award after the season he’s put together. However, Carroll linebacker Sean Blomquist, who won the award last year, certainly hasn’t done anything to not deserve it again this season. Those two have been by far the biggest impact defenders in the league this season, while SOU’s Calcagno and RMC’s Bummer aren’t far behind.

Frontier Coach of the Year honors is also up for grabs. It’s easy to give the nod to Van Diest, or SOU’s Craig Howard. Both are legendary coaches, and once again, they have assembled great teams. But my money is on Western head coach B.J. Robertson. Ten years is a long time for a proud program like Western’s to go without a winning season, and now Robertson has delivered one in just his second season at the helm.

So there you have it. That’s the final installment of the Frontier Conference Notebook for the football season. It’s been an interesting and action-packed year in the league, and though it’s not over, this column is. But don’t worry, in less than two month’s time, we’ll be back with all the Frontier men’s and women’s basketball news you can stand.