Frontier Notebook: Offenses are flying all over the Frontier

There are a lot of hard-nosed, tough-minded, defensive coaches in the Frontier Conference. But even they have surrendered to the modern game of college football.

So to say the least, through four weeks of play, the Frontier is an offensive league — and it’s obvious.

The league has four of the NAIA’s Top 20 passing quarterbacks right now, with Southern Oregon’s Tanner Trosin topping that list. Trosin is a great story. Two years ago, he replaced SOU’s legendary quarterback Austin Dodge and led the Raiders to the brink of a second straight national championship. Last year, he suffered a season-ending injury, but is back in 2017 and is averaging 360 yards per game for the undefeated Raiders. That’s seventh in the NAIA, and he’s also third in the nation in total offense.

But Trosin’s big numbers have him far from alone. Montana Tech senior Quinn McQueary is off to an incredible start. He’s 10th in the country in passing at 344 yards per game and is fourth in the nation in total offense. In his first two games of the year, McQueary threw for 992 yards and nine touchdowns.

The next two quarterbacks on the list will meet this Saturday. UM-Western senior Bennett Gibson, a fifth-year senior, who has taken over Western’s starting job for the injured J.D. Ferris, is 21st in the nation in passing, while Northern junior Tommy Wilson is in the Top 20 in the NAIA in passing and total offense. Wilson averages 270 yards and has six touchdowns so far in his first year at Northern, and that’s despite a rough outing last Saturday at Carroll College.

Wilson and Gibson, two veteran quarterbacks will go head-to-head Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium when the Lights host the Bulldogs in their homecoming game. Both teams have struggled out of the gate, as the Lights are 0-3 and the Bulldogs 1-3 on the season. But, if what’s transpired so far in the Frontier is any indication, expect nothing less than passing fireworks when the Lights and Western hook up.

Making the Tackle

While Wilson has been an emerging star on offense for the Lights, Northern also has a tackling machine on defense, too. But he’s been a known commodity.

Senior Garet Fowler has been all over the field through Northern’s first three games, totaling 35 tackles, averaging 11.7 per contest. Through two games, Fowler, a former Belgrade high star was leading the Frontier Conference, and he currently sits fifth in the nation in total tackles, with 20 solo stops to his credit. Fowler also has an interception, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble on his resume this season.

But one of his buddies has now joined him as the Frontier leader in tackles. After racking up 18 tackles against Carroll last Saturday, sophomore safety DeQuincy Bergen is also up to 35 tackles on the season. Like Fowler, Bergen is having an impactful season for a young Lights’ defense. He has had interceptions in back-to-back games and also has two pass breakups.

Bergen and Fowler will need to be strong in the run game this week, as Western boasts a powerful running attack, led by senior running back Hunter Thomsen, who has 264 yards so far, and is averaging 70 yards per outing.

Yotes do it Again

Every year, it seems as if the College of Idaho has a signature win, one that causes the rest of the league to take notice.

Last Saturday was one of those, as the Yotes beat 11th-ranked Eastern Oregon at Simplot Stadium in Nampa, Idaho. In their 28-20 home win, C of I was surprisingly balanced, totaling 220 yards on the ground and 220 through the air. But where the Yotes really stood out was on defense. They held the potent Mounties to just 348 yards of offense, and just 200 passing. EOU averaged just 4.5 yards per play, and the 14-0 lead the Yotes grabbed in the first quarter, was enough to keep the Mounties at bay the rest of the way.

The Yotes will try and make it two in a row against the surprise team of the Frontier this week, when they travel to take on Rocky Mountain College in Billings. The Battlin’ Bears have come on strong since a season-opening loss to Dickinson State, including nearly pulling off a huge upset against Montana Tech last weekend.

Frontier Honors

SOU’s Tanner Trosin was named the Frontier Offensive Player of the Week. The 6-0, 180-pound QB from Folsom, California, threw for 404 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for a score in SOU’s 58-28 win over Western last Saturday. Major Ali of Carroll College, Quinn McQueary of Montana Tech and Darius-James Peterson of College of Idaho, were also nominated.

C of I’s Forrest Rivers was named Frontier Defensive Player of the Week. Rivers is a 5-11, 220-pound sophomore linebacker from Corona, California. In College of Idaho’s 28-20 conference home win over No. 11 Eastern Oregon, Rivers recorded 10 solo tackles, one assisted tackle, three tackles for loss (-23), two quarterback sacks and a fumble recovery. Isiah Carter of Southern Oregon, Zach Janis of Montana Western, Haziel Ledezma of Eastern Oregon, Drew Melton of Carroll College and Connor Wines of Montana Tech were also nominated.

Carroll’s Shane Sipes is the Frontier Special Teams Player of the Week. Sipes is a 6-2, 190-pound freshman wide receiver from Newbury Park, Calif. In Carroll’s 34-3 home conference win over MSU-Northern, Sipes had two kick returns totaling 125 yards including an 85-yard return for a touchdown. Also nominated were Nathan Harden of Eastern Oregon, Derrick Holt of Montana Tech and Kyle Mitchell of College of Idaho.