Lights shut out at Montana Tech

The Montana State University-Northern offense once again looked much improved in its latest game. And for a half, the Lights were right in their latest Frontier Conference battle. Unfortunately, the game was a full 60 minutes and in the end, the nationally ranked Montana Tech Orediggers were too much for the Lights.

On Saturday in Butte, MSU-N fell to the No. 13 Orediggers 40-0, in spite of holding Tech to just 13 points in the first half and just two offensive touchdowns the entire game.

And while the Orediggers, who swept the Lights this season with Saturday’s win, didn’t get much traction against the MSU-N defense, they found other ways to score, including an early interception return for a touchdown by Drew Scheelman in the first quarter. That was one of two pick-six touchdowns by the Diggers, MSU-N sophomore quarterback Jess Krahn was intercepted three times.

Tech also took advantage of a pair of punting miscues by the Lights to add to the scoring.

Leading 13-0 at halftime, the Orediggers blocked an MSU-N punt in the third quarter and Rial Gunlickson returned that for a score. In the fourth quarter, Northern mishandled a snap on a punt, and it was recovered by Tech’s Dion Williams in the endzone for another TD. That came on the heels of a 63-yard interception return by Tyler Sanders, while Clay Cavander finished off a 20-point fourth quarter with a 67-yard touchdown run.

“It’s kind of nice when you find that many ways to score a touchdown,” Montana Tech head coach Chuck Morrell said. “We found a way to win playing team football.”

The four non-offensive touchdowns offset an excellent game by the MSU-N defense, which limited a powerful Tech offense to just 13 points, though the Diggers did gain 434 yards on the ground, with Cavender running for 144. Tech quarterback Quinn McQueary started for the first time in three games, and he scored a rushing touchdown, but the Lights limited his effectiveness, and got an interception from Alex Rodriguez.

Tucker Dunn had a big day for Northern, with 12 tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss. Rodriguez added nine tackles, while Tyler Craig had a sack as well.

On offense, MSU-N moved the ball well on a stingy Tech defense, especially Zach McKinley, who rushed for 132 yards on 29 carries. But, turnovers killed the Lights yet again, and aided in MSU-N being shut out for the second time this season. Krahn finished the game 13-of-35 for 100 yards, while Qwaundre Yancy had six catches for 29 yards and Mario Gobbato had four grabs for 48 yards.

Northern (0-6, 0-7) returns home to host Eastern Oregon Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium.

Montana Tech 40, Lights 0

MSU-Northern 0 0 0 0 - 0

Montana Tech 13 0 7 20 - 40

MT – Drew Schleeman 51 interception return (pass failed)

MT – Quinn McQueary 9 run (Matt Berg kick)

MT – Rial Gunlikson 18 yard return of blocked punt (Berg kick)

MT – Tyler Sanders 63 interception return (Berg kick)

MT – Dion Williams recovered fumble in end zone (kick blocked)

MT – Clay Cavender 67 run (Berg kick)

Rushing: MSN – Zach McKinley 29-132, Mario Gobbato 6-13; MT – Cavender 12-137, Hunter Gappmeyer 13-49.

Passing: MSN – Jess Krahn 14-35-3-101, Holden Maxi 1-2-0-7; MT – McQueary 9-20-1-154, Cavender 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: MSN – Gobbato 4-49, Qwaundre Yance 6-40; MT – Alec Bray 2-38, Kolby Kansala 1-34.