Frontier Notebook: Game of the Year set for Saturday in Helena

The NAIA football season is in its infancy. But Aug. 22 probably seems like a long time ago to the Montana State University-Northern Lights.

MSU-N opened its season with a 17-7 loss at Dickinson State two weeks ago, and, the Lights are now coming off a much-needed bye week. The bye was perfect timing for the young Northern squad, which got to work on systems and fundamentals for an entire week following the loss to DSU, and they got to do it without having to worry about an opponent.

Now, however, it’s time for Northern to restart its season, and the Lights get to do it at home. MSU-N opens the 2015 Frontier Conference season Saturday against Montana Tech at Blue Pony Stadium, and the Lights are excited for another opportunity to win their first game in the Aaron Christensen era.

A year ago, the Lights earned a dramatic 37-34 win over the Orediggers in Havre, a game that came down to a last-second field goal. Both teams were picked to finish at the bottom of the Frontier this season, but one of them will get off to a 1-0 start in league play after Saturday.

Northern is young across the board, and that showed in its tough loss at DSU two weeks ago. Tech, despite going just 1-9 last season, is much more experienced. However, there is one question mark that won’t be answered until the Orediggers’ first offensive series. And that’s who the starting quarterback is.

Tech returns red-shirt junior starter Dawson Reardon, but the Orediggers also brought in Montana State transfer Quinn McQueary. Given McQueary’s talent and skill level, and having spent the last year competing with Dakota Prukop and Jake Bleskin for the Bobcats’ starting job, it seemed likely he’d win the Orediggers’ starting job. But, in Tech’s first two-deep of the season, head coach Chuck Morrell did not list a starter, so who is calling the signals against the Lights Saturday remains a mystery.

Whoever is starting for the Orediggers at quarterback, that guy will be facing a hungry Northern defense and a Lights’ team fired up for its home opener. Things didn’t go as planned in MSU-N’s season-opener, so now the Lights will try and take a step forward on their home turf.

“The bye week went really well,” said MSU-N head coach Aaron Christensen. “I feel like we really took advantage of it. We were able to work on and fix the things that went wrong in the Dickinson State game, and not really worry about preparing for another game. So it went well. But then, we jumped right into preparing for Montana Tech Monday. It isn’t easy because they haven’t played a game yet. So we’re just going off of last year really. But we’ve worked hard preparing for them and the kids are excited for this game.”

Fans should be excited, too. Not only is it the debut of Northern at home, but the Lights will have a new look. MSU-N has been working back toward the original colors of Northern Montana College, and the Lights’ home uniforms will have those colors now. Northern will debut its new Nike uniforms Saturday against Tech, as well as the new-old N logo on their maroon helmets.

Game of the Year

September is early when it comes to talk of championships and big games, but that’s not the case this Saturday in Helena. Instead, the fate of the Frontier Conference could very well be determined by the outcome of Saturday’s contest between No. 1 Southern Oregon and No. 5 Carroll College.

The game, billed as the NAIA Game of the Week, might as well be the NAIA Game of the Year, at least until the two teams meet again in Ashland, Oregon, next month.

Southern marches into Carroll’s Nelson Stadium Saturday as the defending NAIA national champions. And while the Raiders don’t have star quarterback Austin Dodge anymore, they have something few teams have … multiple wins at Nelson Stadium in recent years.

SOU stunned Carroll three years ago in Helena, but last season’s trilogy was one for the ages. Carroll and SOU opened the season last year in Oregon with the Raiders coming away with a 38-35 win. However, the Saints responded by beating the Raiders, and eventually clinching the Frontier title with a crazy, 42-40 win in Helena the following month.

But, the Carroll/SOU story of 2014 didn’t end there. With the Saints a top seed in the NAIA playoffs, all roads seemed to point to Carroll having a chance to win its seventh national championship. But the road ended with a 45-42 loss to the Raiders in the quarterfinals in Helena. Carroll’s season was over right there, while SOU would go on to win the national championship.

So, there’s no doubt Carroll has been looking forward to this game for nearly a year. It should be a sellout crowd in Helena, and revenge will be the order of the day. SOU is breaking in a new quarterback, while Carroll has an experienced QB in Mac Roche, but an inexperienced defense in some spots. So no doubt, the game is intriguing and it could be the start to yet another chapter in a saga that is starting to dominate the Frontier Conference.

Yotes' Hot Start

Eastern Oregon has high hopes for the 2015 season. But those hopes took a major heat on a hot, smoky day in Caldwell, Idaho.

Last Saturday, the Frontier season began with College of Idaho shocking the No. 13 Mounties 40-28 before a sellout crowd at Simplot Stadium. And once again, the Yotes proved they are going to be a force in the Frontier in the coming years.

C of I did it on the ground, too. Utah transfer J.J. Hyde rushed for three scores and 85 yards while fellow back Kyle Merritt led all rushers with 104 yards and quarterback TeeJay Gordon added 58 yards on the ground to go with two touchdowns through the air.

The Yotes only restarted football last season, so, Saturday’s win over EOU was its first against a nationally ranked opponent since a 23-19 win over Willamette all the way back Oct. 18, 1969.

Full Slate

Saturday will mark the first day of the season in which every Frontier team is in action.

While Northern (0-1) takes on Montana Tech (0-0) in Havre, and Carroll (0-0) hosts SOU (0-0) in Helena, UM-Western will make its season debut when it plays host to Rocky Mountain College (1-0) in Dillon. The Battlin’ Bears opened their season last Saturday with a home win over Dickinson State. The Yotes (1-0) are at home again, but will play a non-conference game against Pacific University, while EOU (0-1) moves way up to face NCAA Division I Sacramento State Saturday night Sacramento, California.

Awards

Last week, the Frontier had its first Player of the Week Awards.

Hyde, of College of Idaho, was named the Frontier Offensive player of the Week, after rushing for three scores three scores and 85 yards on just 13 carries.

EOU linebacker Gary Posten was named the Defensive Player of the Week. In the loss at C of I, Posten record 17 total tackles including 11 solo stops.

RMC kicker Evan Connelly was named the Special Team’s Player of the Week. Connelly kicked three field goals in the Bears’ 23-13 win over DSU.