Bear Charge: Rocky 38, MSU-Northern 20

The Montana State University-Northern football team had one last chance at a win when the Lights took on Rocky Mountain College, but despite being competitive for four quarters, it wasn't enough to get over the hump.

On a pristine Saturday afternoon at Blue Pony Stadium, the Battlin' Bears of Rocky downed the Lights 38-20 in the final game of the season for each team. Northern moved the ball efficiently and even scored 20 points in the second half. But red zone struggles and missed opportunities prevented the Lights from pulling the upset. The loss dropped MSU-N to 0-11 on the season, while the Bears finished 4-6.

"We were hoping for a better result," MSU-N head coach Aaron Christenson said. "But (Rocky) was the better football team today. I thought we did some positive things, especially there in the second half, it just wasn't enough."

The game started auspiciously for Northern after a turnover on its first possession led to a Rocky field goal, but then on its second possession, MSU-N drove all the way to the Bears' 21-yard line, before a failed fourth-down attempt resulted in a turnover on downs.

The Bears booted another field goal on their next possession, and after Northern went three-and-out, RMC took control of the game when quarterback Chase White connected with Kodee Varner on a 66-yard touchdown which gave the Bears a 13-0 lead with 3:26 left in the first quarter.

Following another Northern punt, RMC struck again, scoring on an eight-yard touchdown pass from White to Andre McCullough. The touchdown put the Bears in front 20-0 and was the fourth consecutive RMC scoring drive to start the game.

Faced with a 20-point deficit, the Lights put together a promising drive that included a 57-yard run by Zach McKinley. Yet, after advancing the ball to the Rocky three, a bad snap caused the Lights to lose 21 yards and forced them to settle for a field goal attempt, which was missed.

However, the Lights would soon get another chance as Logan Sprouse intercepted White on the ensuing possession for Northern to once again give the Lights a first-and-goal. But again, Northern failed to manufacture points and again missed a short field goal attempt, keeping the Rocky lead at 20.

The Lights defense held again and, on the final drive of the half, MSU-N moved the ball deep into Rocky territory once more. This time, Northern got as close as the one, but on a fourth-and-goal, McKinley was stopped just short of the goal line, preserving the Bears' 20-0 lead going into the half.

"We just haven't been in the red zone very much this year," McKinley said. "So when we got down there, we didn't know how to execute."

On its first drive of the second half, the Bears added to their lead as White found McCullough again for six, this time from 10 yards out. RMC tacked on a two-point conversion and the lead was 28-0.

Down four scores, Northern refused to quit and finally found pay dirt when Jess Krahn hit Qwaundre Yancy for a 36-yard touchdown to trim the lead to 28-7. Yet, it took Rocky just more than two minutes to answer as White hooked up with McCullough on a nine-yard touchdown pass to put the Bears up 35-7 with 5:05 left in the third quarter.

Down but not out, the Lights continued to fight in the fourth quarter and played some of the best offensive football of the season. On their first drive of the fourth, the Lights got in scoring position when Krahn hit Yancy for 57 yards. Five plays later, McKinley finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown to make it 35-14.

The Bears tacked on a field goal to make their lead 24 at 38-14, but again Northern answered. McKinley, who finished with over 247 total yards, scored his second touchdown of the stanza, this time on a one-yard run to make the score 38-20 with just over four minutes remaining.

Yet, the Northern defense struggled to stop the Bears, who milked the clock before turning it over on downs deep in Lights' territory with just 45 seconds left on the clock, cementing the win.

"It was good to see some positive things happen," Christenson said. "We had some guys make some big plays like Yancy, which is what you want to see. We got some good protection and our quarterback played a lot better."

Despite scoring just 20 points, the Lights managed 436 yards of total offense. Krahn was solid in the loss completing 25-of-36 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown. McKinley also had an impressive performance with 187 yards on 32 carries and two scores. He also caught five passes for 60 yards. Yancy was the other standout for MSU-N, catching nine passes for 142 yards.

Krahn may have been good, but White was better, throwing for 284 yards and four touchdowns as well as one interception. McCullough was also stellar in the win with six catches for 114 yards and three touchdowns. Varner added 83 total yards and a score while Jade Olsen rushed for 88 yards on eight carries.

The 18-point defeat brings Northern to the end of Christenson's first season as head coach and despite a 0-11 season, the coach see his program headed in the right direction.

"The one thing about this team that is unique is that I don't question their effort," Christenson said. "Guys work hard and guys play hard. I think our team next year will be better for it. We have a lot of guys that stuck with it and got better and those are the type of guys that we want in our program. We have a lot of young guys that got some good experience and that will only help them. We are going to put the work in during the offseason and we are going to get a lot better."

Better Day

Lights finish 0-11 overall and 0-10 in the Frontier

Lights Notes: Rocky avenged last year's season-ending loss to the Lights. McKinley grabbed his third straight 1,000 yard season, and is now well over 3,000 yards for his MSU-N career. Varner and Olson have local connections. Olson played for the Malta Mustangs, while Varner's two older brothers played for the Lights.