Howling in Havre: Yotes 31, Lights 13

Emotions were running high on a warm, sunny day inside Blue Pony Stadium. That's because the Montana State University-Northern Lights weren't just playing their final game of 2016, and their final home game, they were also playing 15 seniors, who have given their heart and soul to the Lights, for the very last time.

Trouble was, the College of Idaho Yotes were in a mood to spoil the festivities.

Leading wire-to-wire, the Yotes brought an end to the Frontier Conference' regular season with a 31-13 victory Saturday in Havre, as the Yotes methodically chewed up the ground on their way to their third straight win over the Lights in a series that only dates back to 2014.

"I thought we played hard," Northern head coach Aaron Christensen, who's Lights finished with a 1-9 record, said. "The effort was there. We just didn't execute as well as we wanted to. We had chances to make it a different outcome, but we didn't make the plays we needed too."

Two things that have plagued the Lights all season reared their ugly heads again on Saturday. First, the Lights fell into a quick hole on the scoreboard, as the Yotes marched 83 yards in just seven plays on their opening possession, to take a 7-0 lead. The drive was capped by a Colby Brown 15-yard touchdown run, and was set up by a deep pass play to star tight end Marcus Lenhardt.

The other issue for Northern was costly turnovers. Northern's defense held the Yotes on their second possession, and Tommy Langley pulled the Lights to within four points when he drilled a school-record 51-yard field goal with 5:39 left in the first quarter.

However, on MSU-N's next possession, trying to answer a C of I field goal that made the score 10-3, Northern quarterback Caleb McLaren was picked off in Yotes' territory by Nik Lyons, and that thwarted what was a great drive by the Lights.

The interception was one of three Northern turnovers on the day, and, early in the second quarter, the Yotes capitalized, as they capped an 88-yard, 11-play drive with a 16-yard Zach Garzoli touchdown run, a run that put the Yotes ahead 17-3.

That lead would stand until halftime, and while seniors Zach McKinley, Tyler Craig, Jordan Brusio, Pat Barnett and Logan Sprouse made big plays to help the Lights keep fighting, it wasn't enough in the end.

"Too many big plays," Christensen said. "I thought we did a lot of things well. I thought the defense battled, and offensively, we put ourselves in good position at times. But we gave up too many big plays, and we didn't finish drives with touchdowns when we had chances to. If we eliminate some of that, the game could have had a much different outcome."

No doubt the Lights tried to make it a different outcome. But Lenhardt converting first downs from passing quarterback Tyler Cox, and the running threats of starting QB Darius-James Peterson and Garzoli, the Yotes did enough in the second half to hold the Lights at bay.

Langley cut the lead to 17-6 early in the third quarter with his second long field goal, but C of I answered with a Peterson 2-yard plunge. And while Northern's defense fought valiantly, behind sacks from Brusio and Craig, and an INT by Sprouse, the Yotes tacked on an insurance touchdown when Kellen Copeland scored from 27 yards out.

The Lights on the other hand, finally found the endzone when McKinley, who never quits, took a pitch for 28 yards down to the two-yard-line, then finished the drive with the last TD of his Northern career, a power run right up the middle, in which he fought past all 11 C of I defenders.

That touchdown summed up McKinley, and the Lights, who never quit on the season.

"No one questions the effort or heart of this team," McKinley said. "We've played hard and battled all season long, and we did today. We just didn't execute well enough, but these guys never give up."

"That's a testament to these seniors," Christensen added. "They never quit. They want to win, and they fight to the end, and you saw that out of them today."

McKinley, playing in his last game of a remarkable career, didn't give up. He racked up 181 yards on 27 carries, enough to push him over the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth straight season. The Lights finished the game with 218 yards rushing and 277 yards of offense, with McLaren completing 10 passes for 75 yards and rushing for 28 more. Mike Cocke and Dylan Rychtarik combined for seven catches and 75 yards on the day.

Northern's defense also played its guts out, but C of I was too powerful on the ground, and Lenhardt was almost impossible to cover. The Yotes churned out 282 yards on the ground, with Garzoli scampering for 163 yards and Peterson adding 78. Peterson and Cox combined to complete 18 passes, while Lenhardt caught 11 balls for 148 yards.

Craig's last game was a monster on the other side, as he finished with 10 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. T.J. Gasetoto added 10 tackles as well, while Brusio finished with eight stops and 1.5 sacks. Garret Jericoff had six stops, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery, while Sprouse finished with a pick and five tackles.

And while the game didn't end in the storybook fashion the Lights were hoping for, and it's early to evaluate the season, Christensen was still proud of how his team played Saturday, and how far its come since last season.

"We were a better football team this season than we were last," Christensen said. "We made a lot of progress. Obviously, we want that progress to show on the scoreboard. That's the goal every week is to win. But this team came a long way in a year's time, and we'll go right back to work and make sure we keep getting better."

Records Broke

Lights finish1-9 in

Frontier, 1-9 overall

Lights Notes: With his two sacks on Saturday, Craig tied Northern great Will Andrews for MSU-N's all-time mark with 29. He also passed Andrews in career tackles for loss with 48.5. Langley's 51-yard field goal broke former Northern kicker/linebacker Luke McKinley's record of 46 yards. C of I has now beaten Northern in its only two trips to Blue Pony Stadium. The series will shift back to Caldwell, Idaho, next fall. The Lights were missing a host of key players to injury Saturday, including multiple starting offensive lineman, linebacker Alec Wagner, and, they lost running back Jett Robertson to a leg injury in the first quarter.