Raided: Southern Oregon 38, Northern 17

The Montana State University-Northern Lights faced a monumental task in trying to upset seventh-ranked Southern Oregon Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium, but even so, the Lights didn't back down from the challenge.

However, in the end, it didn't matter. Southern Oregon was the better team in just about every aspect and defeated the hard-charging Lights 38-17. The win improved the Raiders to 9-0 and allowed them to clinch an outright Frontier Conference championship. MSU-N, on the other hand, fell to 1-9 on the season with one game remaining at the College of Idaho this Saturday.

"We knew that it was going to be tough," Northern interim head coach Jake Eldridge said. "We knew that they were a really good football team. But I was proud of our effort. We kept fighting all the way to the end and I think that says a lot about these guys, they kept fighting just like they have done all year long."

Southern Oregon didn't waste any time putting points on the board as Tanner Trosin connected with Bronsen Ader on a 70-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage to give the Raiders a first-and-goal. Two plays later, he ran it in from seven yards out to give Southern Oregon a 7-0 lead at the 13:57 mark in the opening stanza.

Following a Northern punt, Trosin hit Chase Cole for 53 yards on a third-and-long, setting up a five-yard touchdown run by Rey Vega, making the score 14-0. Early in the second quarter, the Raiders tacked on a field goal, pushing the lead to 17-0. But at that point, Northern finally generated some offense. Backup quarterback Dylan Cook ran the ball on some designed runs, but a bad snap on a field-goal attempt cost Northern a shot at three points.

However, a fumble recovery by MSU-N and a 30-yard strike from Bryce Missey to Seth Roemmele put the ball at the Southern Oregon 10-yard line. Yet, the Lights were unable to get the ball in the end zone. The field goal by Tommy Langley bounced off the upright and was no good. After that, the Raiders scored two more touchdowns, one on a nine-yard run by Trosin and another on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Hutchinson to Jason Shelley in the final minute of the first half, making the score 31-0 at halftime.

"We knew that we had some opportunities that we missed," Eldridge said. "But we just wanted to stick with what we were doing and give credit to our guys. No matter what happened, or if things didn't go our way, they continued to come to the sideline and adjust and go back out there and do better."

Starting in the third quarter, Northern started taking advantage of some of its scoring chances. On its first drive of the second half, MSU-N used a good kick return to its advantage and a 24-yard completion from Tommy Wilson to Marvin Williams, the Lights had another first-and-goal.

However, Northern would settle for three points. On the next possession, the Raiders extended their lead to 38-3 on an 80-yard touchdown run by Vega. Yet, later in the quarter, the Lights finally found the end zone as Wilson connected with Beau Wilhelm on a five-yard pass, trimming the deficit to 38-10.

On the next series, Northern held Southern Oregon to a punt, which the Lights blocked and recovered inside the five.

"We knew with the weather there would be some chances to make plays on special teams," Eldridge said. "With bad snaps or holds or fumbles. And I thought we did well, we got the blocked punt and we were able to take advantage of some of those things."

Cook scored from two yards out on a quarterback keeper and suddenly, it was 38-17 with 14:42 left in the game.

"Dylan is a big man, and when he gets going, there are not a lot of guys that want to step up and tackle him," Eldridge said. "He has some unique talents, and we wanted to try and take advantage of that."

After cutting the lead to 21, Northern attempted an onside kick, which the Lights recovered, giving them the ball with a chance to make it a two-score game. However, the Lights fumbled two plays later, giving the Raiders the ball back. Southern Oregon didn't score again, but it was able to milk the clock, while at the same time keep MSU-N out of the end zone.

The Raiders finished the game 530 yards, while Northern had 183. Trison completed 16-of-26 passes for 276 yards. Vega ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns and Ader also contributed with four receptions for 121 yards and a rushing touchdown. Missey started the game for Northern, but was 3-of-7 for 37 yards. Wilson was 9-of-20 for 67 yards to go along with one touchdown and one interception, as well as Cook, who was 1-of-3 for eight yards. He also ran 10 times for 50 yards and a touchdown. Trey Blanchard had 14 carries for 55 yards. The top receiver was Wilhelm with three catches for 22 yards and a touchdown.

MSU-N will play the College of Idaho this Saturday to close out the season. Kickoff is set for noon in Caldwell, Idaho.

Tough Goodbye

Lights are 0-9 in Frontier, 1-9 overall; Next Up: at C of I Saturday

Lights Notes: Northern seniors Donovan Garner, Corey Lee, Jess Krahn, Garet Fowler, Kagen Khameneh, Steven Fernandez, Tommy Langley, Brooks Dunn, Dakota Schelling, Mitchell Harmon and Beau Wilhelm were all honored before Saturday's game, which was MSU-N's first snow game in several years. With his eight tackles, Garet Fowler now has 105 on the season. Schelling had his first career INT.