Lights shine in Andrew Rolin debut

The Andrew Rolin era at Montana State University-Northern couldn't have started any better. In the Lights' first game of 2018, in front of a packed Blue Pony Stadium, Northern scored 21 unanswered first-quarter points, and rode nearly 700 yards of offense to a rousing 49-20 win over the Mayville State Comets.

"I'm really proud of these guys," Rolin said. "They gave us maximum effort, they played hard. They have been working hard and it paid off today. It's a great start and I'm happy for all of these guys."

It wasn't just a perfect start to the season, and Rolin's coaching career at Northern, but, Saturday got off to a perfect start.

After forcing the Comets, who have now lost 13 straight games, and are 0-2 against the Lights in the last two seasons, to a three-and-out, Northern's offense wasted no time getting going. In a seven-minute span, the Lights got two touchdowns from Jett Robertson and another by tight end Jordan Pugh, as they rocketed out to a 21-0 lead. The lead would grow by halftime to 35-14 as Robertson scored two more times on the ground in the second stanza.

Robertson wound up having a huge day, in what was his first official game as Northern's starting tailback. The junior rushed for 167 yards on 28 carries and grabbed five passes for 82 yards, with four scores overall. Wilson was huge as well, totaling 397 yards through the air, including a back-breaking 41-yard strike to Fotios Jordangolou in the third quarter, a score that put the Comets away for good.

"I thought we played well offensively, especially in the first quarter," Wilson, a senior said. "It felt really good to come out firing on all cylinders like that."

Indeed. The Lights finished with 651 yards, and were balanced with 220 rushing. Northern racked up 30 first downs, and got a huge day from Jordangolou, who caught seven balls for 131 yards, while rushing for 24 more yards. In all, seven different Northern receivers caught passes, while four different players rushed the ball.

Defensively, the Lights' young unit did give up some big plays in the seocnd half, as Creighton Pfau threw for 351 yards. But, the Lights got plenty of big stops, forced two turnovers, and got a game-high 12 tackles from Caymus Thomas.

"Our defense did some good things, we're so young, and we have a lot to work on, but, you can see it, when they're firing on all cylinders, they're going to be really good. So I was proud of the way our defense played today," Rolin said.

Overall, offense, defense, special teams, the fans, the student section, Northern unveiling new uniforms, the fight song after the game, it was as special a season-opener as the Lights have had in some time. And it was their first win, of any kind at Blue Pony Stadium since a September 2016 win over Carroll College. And it's also a day Rolin isn't going to ever forget.

"How cool is this?", Rolin said. "This is special. The atmosphere today was electric. I felt it, our guys felt it. It was incredible. It's great to get this first win. It was a fun, fun day, and one I'm always going to remember."

The Lights (1-0) open Frontier Conference play next Saturday at home against nationally-ranked Rocky Mountain College (1-0).

For full coverage, see Monday's Havre Daily News.