2015 Frontier Preview: A new wave of QB's ready to take over

For the last three summers, the breakdown of the top returning quarterbacks in the Frontier Conference always started with Southern Oregon’s Austin Dodge.

As a four-year starter for the Raiders, Dodge shattered most of the NAIA and Frontier Conference passing records, and in his senior season, led the Raiders to the 2014 NAIA national championship.

Now however, the Raiders and head coach Craig Howard, will have to find out what life is like without the Frontier’s most prolific quarterback. But the rest of the league won’t be so sad to see Dodge gone.

So, with Dodge and Rocky Mountain College’s Bryce Baker, another QB who terrorized Frontier defense for the last four years, gone to graduation, the league will undergo a changing of guard when it comes to its top signal callers this fall.

Five Frontier teams, Carroll College, College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon and Montana State University-Northern and Montana Tech return quarterbacks who started games a season ago, while the rest of the league will be looking for a new leader on offense.

At Northern, sophomore Jess Krahn started the final three games of the 2014 season after senior Travis Dean went down with a career-ending knee injury. Dean, who was having an outstanding final campaign, having thrown for 2,107 yards and 10 touchdowns, mentored Krahn the rest of the way, and the true freshman wound up throwing for 482 yards and three touchdowns, and helped engineer a win at Rocky Mountain College on the final day of the regular season.

So, it would seem with that momentum and experience that Krahn is the obvious choice to start at QB for the Lights under new head coach Aaron Christensen. However, Krahn will have to battle with junior college transfer Herman Smith for the starting job over the coming weeks. Smith and Krahn took the majority of the reps at QB in spring drills last April, and they’ll resume their battle for the position when the Lights open fall camp in a few days.

As for the top returning quarterback in the Frontier, the nod clearly goes to Carroll College’s Mac Roache (6-2, 208). In his first season as a starter for the vaunted Saints, Roache led Carroll to a share of the Frontier title and an NAIA quarterfinal appearance. He wound up throwing for 9,942 yards and 28 touchdowns against just four interceptions. He had the second-highest quarterback rating in the league, and he was equally as dangerous with his feet, having rushed another 300 yards.

Those numbers earned the former Whitefish Bulldog Second-Team All-Conference honors as a junior, and with Roache back at the controls this season, it’s easy to see why the Saints will be a pre-season favorite, not only in the Frontier, but to win the NAIA national title.

Out-of-state, there were two more quarterbacks who made some noise last season and who could be even better this fall.

In College of Idaho’s first season in the Frontier, TeeJay Gordon (5-11, 185) certainly made a splash. A true dual-threat QB, Gordon threw for 1,782 yards and seven TDs, but he did the most damage running the option. Gordon ran for 853 yards and finished seventh in the Frontier in rushing, while scoring 15 TDs on the ground.

Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon’s Zach Bartlow (6-0, 190) should also be up for a big season. As a sophomore, Bartlow threw for 2,318 yards and 19 touchdowns and guided EOU to being one of the most potent offenses in the Frontier.

Montana Tech also returns a starter in sophomore Dawson Reardon (6-1, 190). The former Helena Bengal has had an interesting journey having started as a true freshman, but also having to deal with injury issues along the way. For head coach Chuck Morrell, Reardon was solid a year ago, throwing for 1,141 yards and 10 touchdowns, but he’ll have to battle for the starting spot in fall camp.

And Reardon will be battling Montana State transfer Quinn McQueary (6-3, 180). McQueary was thought to be on track to start for the Bobcats one day, but instead, he decided to leave MSU after a 2014 season in which he battled Dakota Prukop and Jake Bleskin for the vacant starting position, then was moved to wide receiver, then was put in at quarterback in the fourth quarter against Montana in the Brawl of the Wild last November.

Montana Tech isn’t the only Frontier team with a heated QB battle this fall either. UM-Western is looking for a new starter as is Rocky Mountain College. But, the most anticipated QB battle is in Ashland, Oregon.

For the first time in four years, SOU head coach Craig Howard is looking for a new starter. And it looks as though it’s a race between three guys to replace Dodge and start for the defending national champion Raiders. Junior Jack Singler, sophomore Kamerun Smith and red-shirt freshman Isaac Hurd all threw touchdown passes in SOU’s spring game last May, and all three will fight it out for the right to start when the Raiders begin defense of their national title with a huge game at Carroll College Sept. 5.

So, with the likes of Dodge, Baker and Dean now gone from the Frontier, it looks as though a new era of quarterbacks will make their mark this season in the Frontier. And, like in years past, many of them will emerge as stars.

Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of the Havre Daily News’ breakdown of the top returning players in the Frontier Conference. For a look at the top offensive linemen in the league, see Wednesday’s HDN.