Frontier Notebook: Orediggers on a historic roll

Two games is all that stands between Frontier Conference football teams and the end of the regular season. And two more games is all that stands between the Montana Tech Orediggers, and an outright Frontier Conference championship.

And the way the Orediggers have been playing, those two games might just be a mere formality. Now, veteran head coach Chuck Morrell won’t see it that way, but there’s no denying his Orediggers are on an unprecedented roll.

Tech has won seven straight, and while that’s impressive, it’s how the Diggers are winning that speaks volumes. Since Montana Tech lost at Carroll College to open the season, it was won every game since by double digits. Tech’s closest game in its seven-game streak was a 13-point win at Eastern Oregon back on Sept. 24. Overall, Tech’s average margin of victory this season is a staggering 25 points, and that’s aided by the last two weeks where Tech beat Montana State University-Northern 63-16 and Rocky Mountain College 62-10.

On both sides of the ball, Tech is on fire, too. Tech is 7th in the NAIA in scoring defense, allowing just 16 points per game, and amazingly, the Diggers are 8th in the country in scoring offense, at 41 ppg. In all, Tech ranks 20th or better in the NAIA in 23 different statistical categories.

So, it’s becoming quite fair to say that the Orediggers are putting together one of the most dominant seasons by a Frontier team in quite some time. And, they’re on the cusp of a league title. Tech can clinch a share of the Frontier title this Saturday with a win over College of Idaho in its final regular season home game. And, with a win over Eastern Oregon already on the books, even a share of the Frontier crown would give Tech the league’s auto bid to the NAIA playoffs. An EOU loss combined with a Tech win would also give the Diggers an outright title this week.

However, if EOU and Tech both win this Saturday, then Tech will have the opportunity to earn the outright title on the final day of the regular season when the Orediggers travel to suddenly struggling Southern Oregon. If the title is up for grabs on that day, a Tech win would give the Diggers the outright championship.

In fact, at this point, there’s only one way for Tech to not win at least a share of the Frontier title, and that’s for the Diggers to lose both their last two games and EOU win its last two. That’s the only way EOU can win the Frontier title outright, but the way the Diggers are playing, that one is a long shot.

Hot Too

Interesting, EOU is on fire as well, and yet, the Mounties are still on the NAIA playoff bubble. While there are ways for EOU to still win the Frontier championship, or at least share it, one loss in its last two games would possibly keep EOU from making the playoffs, and if that happens, the Frontier, as good as it’s been this season, would only get one team in the NAIA tournament.

EOU has been on the doorstep of the playoffs many times before, but this season, the formula to get there is very simple — win and you’re in. And the Mounties, now ranked 10th in the NAIA, have been doing a lot of winning. EOU has won four straight after back-to-back losses back in September, and now, the Mounties stand on the verge of a playoff berth. But, as good as EOU has been the last month, they can’t afford a setback. And that starts with this week’s home game against a reeling Rocky squad. EOU and Rocky have historically had some high-scoring battles, and the Mounties need to make sure they come out on top to keep their playoff hopes alive.

And the road to the playoffs gets even more challenging for the Mounties on the final day of the regular season. Because EOU finishes up Frontier play as another team that has caught fire — Carroll College. The Fighting Saints have won three of their last four, and, while their playoff chances were dashed a long time ago, they can certainly play spoiler when the Mounties come to Nelson Stadium Nov. 12.

New Throwers

When the MSU-Northern Lights travel to Southern Oregon Saturday, junior QB Caleb McLaren will be making his fifth start. McLaren replaced season-opening starter Jess Krahn after the fourth game of the 2016 season, and he’s played pretty efficiently, throwing for 627 yards and four touchdowns against three interceptions.

And, McLaren isn’t the only quarterback to come on in relief around the Frontier this season. In fact, whether by injury or otherwise, it’s happened a lot this fall.

Carroll College lost J.T. Linder to injury, but the Saints have been riding the wave of dual-threat freshman Tanner Gustavsen in recent weeks. On the other side of the coin, things haven’t worked out as well for a pair of teams who rely heavily on quarterback play. Rocky lost Chase White to an injury three weeks ago, and while Jacob Bakken is an excellent running threat, the RMC offense has really struggled. SOU lost star QB Tanner Trosin to an injury after one game this season, and while Jack Singler has put up big numbers, the Raiders have lost three straight games and will miss the playoffs for the first time in four years.

College of Idaho also made a QB change recently, going with freshman Darius-James Peterson, who has been doing double duty as the Yotes’ leading rusher as well. So, with that change, that means five of the eight teams in the Frontier are now playing with a different quarterback than their opening-day starter.

Frontier Honors

Montana Tech quarterback Quinn McQueary was named Frontier Offensive Player of the Week. McQueary threw five touchdowns in Tech’s blasting of Rocky last Saturday. Teammate Gunnar Kayser was named Frontier Defensive Player of the Week. Kayser had two interceptions in the win over the Battlin’ Bears. EOU’s Calvin Connors earned Special Team’s Player of the Week with his 100-yard kickoff return for a score against C of I.