Lights Out: MSU-N finishes strong

Montana State University-Northern head football coach Aaron Christensen has said all spring that his team needed to create more big plays offensively. Well if the Northern spring game is any indication, it looks like it will do just that.

In a scrimmage that lasted close to two hours, the Lights offense and defense went at each other in live 11-on-11 action on Saturday. In all, there was a total of 14 possessions, with the ball started at different spots on the field. The MSU-N offense scored a total of seven touchdowns, while the defense managed to get seven stops, including one forced turnover.

Yet, in terms of big plays, the Lights offense produced many of them. And they came in bunches, especially through the air.

The first one came on the second possession of the scrimmage. After being forced into a three-and-out, the Northern offense struck quickly as Jess Krahn found Jake Messerly for a 60-yard touchdown. It was just the start of Messerly’s big day.

While Krahn played well, all four Northern quarterbacks had their moments. Jace Riles got some run with the first team and took advantage of his opportunity, finding Messerly for a pair of touchdowns, one from 4 yards out and another from nine yards out. Messerly finished his day with six receptions for well over a 100 yards.

“It all starts with the line, Jess Krahn was on point and made some really good throws, the whole offense was just clicking,” Messerly said. “We have moments when we struggle, but for the most part, we have played really well. I think we are going to be pretty good this season.”

Krahn, the Lights starting quarterback last season, ran the offense for four possessions and led a pair of touchdown drives. His first touchdown was a bomb to Messerly, his second was a five-yard dump pass to Wyatt McKinlay.

Continuing the big-play theme was running back Trey Blanchard. Blanchard, who played with the first-team offense in the place of Zack McKinley, who missed the game due to an illness, excelled. Early in the scrimmage, he ripped off a 30-yard run. Later, he made a spectacular 50-yard touchdown run that saw him allude a slew of tacklers. He also had another run for 20 yards and was well over 100 yards rushing when a minor injury ended his day.

“I think we are getting better, but it’s not where we want to end up,” Christensen said. “But, yeah, when you look at the spring game, we are excited about the way the offense played. We didn’t have a lot of big plays last season and we were able to create some, especially at the receiver position.”

All four Northern quarterbacks led touchdown drives. Holden Maki engineered one, while Riles and Caleb McLaren joined Krahn by each leading two. The Lights had a total of five passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. Joining Messerly in a big day was Seth Romelle, who caught seven passes for close to 100 yards. He also caught a touchdown from McLaren.

“I thought all the quarterbacks played well today, they all looked good,” Christensen said. “They are all playing well right now. It’s going to be a tough decision (in fall camp) but that’s a good thing.”

Jett Robertson also had an impressive day running the ball for the Lights, racking up more than 50 yards on the ground. Mario Gobbato also got some time at running back, even though he wasn’t supposed to. Yet, Gobbato produced as he always does and helped Northern find the end zone late in the scrimmage.

“It was fun to get back in the backfield a little bit,” Gobbato said. “I wasn’t really expecting to be back there, but I just have to be ready and whatever I can do to help the team, I am going to do that.”

Christensen also had high praise for the senior wide receiver/running back.

“Mario Gobbato, he’s a coach's dream,” Christensen said. “He will do anything you ask him for the team. He is a very talented football player and he’s a very smart football player. He’s a valuable part of this team, and he’s a guy that I’m glad we have.”

Defensively, Northern did surrender some scores, but the defense had its moments. Tyler Craig was in on a couple of sacks. The defense had one turnover and forced the first-team offense, led by Krahn into two punts. Garrett Fowler and Pat Barnett each notched sacks, while Khayree Johnson had the interception.

“I thought our defense played hard and played well,” Christensen said. “I think there was a couple of times when our guys pulled up and might have gotten a sack. But for the most part, the defense played well. I still think we need to work on giving up too many big plays. We gave up too many today, but that’s kind of the spring game It’s just something to see where we’re at.”

Christensen said he was pleased with his team’s progress over the course of the spring, but that the Lights need to continue to improve in the offseason leading up to fall camp.

“We can’t just turn it on and off,” Christensen said. “You can’t just leave spring football and think OK, I’ll relax until fall. Our goal is still the same, which is to win our next game. We play a very good team (Rocky Mountain College) on the 27th (Aug. 27), so we have got to continue to progress and get better throughout the offseason.”