Rocky shuts out Northern

If the Montana State University-Northern Lights are going to break out for their first win of the 2015 season, they're going to have to wait another week. Because the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears were having none of it.

RMC shut out the Lights 46-0 Saturday at Herb Klindt Field in Billings, sending Northern to an 0-3 start to the season. The Lights also fell to 0-2 in the Frontier Conference.

And while Northern played the Battlin' Bears (2-1, 1-1) tough in the numbers game, it was the scoreboard that mattered in the end. The Lights rushed for 148 yards, including 103 yards from Zach McKinley, who officially broke MSU-N's all-time rushing record on Saturday. But Northern, which came in averaging just 13 points per game, couldn't get the ball in the end zone.

On the flip side, the Bears raced out to a 11-0 first quarter lead, and things got worse from there. When Chase White hit Andre McCullouch for a 36-yard touchdown pass, the Lights were down 21-0 with 11:41 still to play in the first half.

RMC would tack on a third Evan Connolly field goal and a 2-yard score from Jade Olson to take a 31-0 lead into intermission.

MSU-N's defense would stiffen in the second half, but the Lights' could never crack the board on offense, and a 44-yard interception return for a touchdown in the final quarter capped a big day on both sides of the ball for RMC.

The Lights would finish the game with just 244 total yards of offense, with Mario Gobatto adding 70 yards on the ground. But it was another rough day for sophomore quarterback Jess Krahn, who completed 10 passes for 86 yards with one pick and no scores. Jake Messerly led all Northern receivers with four catches for 33 yards, but the passing game was hampered by the fact that Krahn was sacked 10 times by the RMC defense.

On the flip side of the ball, the Lights allowed 400 yards of offense, but did force the Bears into four field goal tries. Olson rushed for 72 yards, while McCullouch had four grabs for 91 yards. The Lights did get six sacks, including two from Billings native Jordan Brusio, as well as Tyler Craig's fourth sack of the season. Jesse Morales had seven stops, as did Craig.

Now, Northern will look to regroup, but it won't be easy as the Lights come home to host the unbeaten and nationally ranked UM-Western Bulldogs for homecoming. Northern's homecoming game will kick off at 1 p.m. this Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium.

Rocky Mountain 46, MSU Northern 0

MSU Northern 0 0 0 0 - 0

Rocky Mountain 11 20 6 9 - 46

First quarter

RMC: Jade Olson 7 run (Jacob Bakken run), 8:43.

RMC: Evan Connolly 22 field goal, 2:46.

Second quarter

RMC: Connolly 40 field goal, 13:45.

RMC: Andre McCullouch 36 pass from Chase White (Connolly kick), 11:48.

RMC: Connolly 23 field goal, 8:41.

RMC: Olson 2 run (Connolly kick), 1:27.

Third quarter

RMC: Kodee Varner 1 run (run fail), 4:19.

Fourth quarter

RMC: Connolly 33 field goal, 10:34.

RMC: Jared Gallatin 44 interception return (kick fail), 8:01.

MSUN Rocky

First downs 15 21

Rushes-yards 44-148 60-158

Passing 10-20-1 17-25-0

Passing yards 86 252

Total yards 244 400

Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0

Penalties-yards 6-64 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Northern: Zach McKinley 24-103, Mario Gobbato 22-70, Kagen Khamaneh 1-31, Qwaundre Yancy 1-1, Jake Messerly 1-1, Bowe McKay 1-(minus 1), Jess Krahn 10-(minus-47). Rocky: Jade Olson 12-72, Conner Cerkovnik 5-37, Kodee Varner 11-25, Jacob Bakken 7-17, Dylan Woodhall 1-14, Team 1-0, Tyrell McGee 1-(minus 2), Chase White 6-(minus 15).

PASSING - Northern: Jess Krahn 10-20-86-1. Rocky: Chase White 12-16-213-0, Jacob Bakken 5-9-39-0.

RECEIVING - Northern: Jake Day 2-36, Jake Messerly 4-33, Seth Roemmele 1-12, Zach McKinley 1-4, Kagen Khamaneh 1-3, Qwaundre Yancy 1-(minus 2). Rocky: Andre McCullouch 4-91, Tyrell McGee 2-54, Rodd Wohlfeil 3-32, Jade Olson 1-30, Jamyca Wallace 2-14, Eric Buer 1-11, Michael Robinson 1-6, Zane Guse 1-6, Kodee Varner 1-5, Dylan Woodhall 1-3.