LIGHTS DIM THE COMETS: MSU-N 49, Mayville 20

The Montana State University-Northern Lights have been grinding And not just under new head coach Andrew Rolin. No, the Lights have been grinding in rebuilding mode for what has seemed like an eternity now.

But on a warm, sunny August afternoon inside Blue Pony Stadium, the Lights let it all out in what turned out to be as magical a season-opener as MSU-N football has had in a long, long time.

In Rolin's debut as head coach of the Lights, Northern came out flying, scoring 21 unanswered points in the first quarter on their way to a rousing and exciting 49-20 win over the Mayville State Comets Saturday afternoon in Havre.

"I'm very proud of this team," Rolin said after becoming the first Northern head coach to start his career 1-0. "We're very proud of this first win. It's special, and it's exciting. The atmosphere today was electric. I could feel it all game, and our guys felt it, too. It's a special day, and one I'm always going to remember.

"This feels great," added senior OT Clint Willis. "I think everybody on this team came out and gave it their all today. We definitely took a big step forward today."

A step forward indeed. Saturday was just Northern's third win in its last 19 games dating back to the 2016 season. It was also the Light's first win inside Blue Pony Stadium since they stunned Carroll College Sept. 17, 2016.

"It feels great," senior linebacker Alec Wagner said. "It feels great to come out and play as well as we did today. Obviously, we know we have a lot to work on. But today was a great day, and this is going to give us a lot of confidence going forward."

The game might inspire more confidence, but from the start, the Lights looked like a confident group already. Northern forced Mayville into an immediate three-and-out to start the contest, and from there, the Lights' offense went off.

On its first possession of the 2018 season, the Lights marched 95 yards in just nine plays, capping their first score of the season with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Wilson to Jett Robertson. That would be the start of what would turn into a huge day for both Robertson and Wilson. Robertson wound up rushing for 167 yards and scoring four times. His second of those four scores came on a six-yard TD run just seven minutes into the game, and it put the Lights ahead 14-0. Wilson, who nearly threw for 400 yards on the day, would add a touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Pugh at the 3:35 mark of the first quarter, and the Lights were off and running, up 21-0.

"We preach every day about getting off to a fast start, and we did that today," Rolin said. "I think we need to finish better. But we got off to a great start, and you can see, when this offense is really clicking, we're pretty hard to stop."

And Mayville could do little to stop the Lights. Northern rolled up 30 first downs and 650 yards of offense Saturday, and any time the Comets threatened the Lights, they answered right back.

That was evident in the second stanza when Northern responded to two Mayville TDs. After the Comets pulled to within 21-6 early in the period, the Lights ripped off a 12-play, 73-yard drive which included converting a seemingly impossible first-and-51 sequence. A huge grab by Pugh on fourth down was the difference, and two plays later, Robertson was in the endzone for the third time. Mayville came right back and pulled to within 28-14 with just over a minute left in the half, but the Lights ran their two-minute drill to absolute perfection, with Wilson hitting Fotios Jordanoglou twice, and Robertson scoring his fourth TD on what was a 4-play, 74-yard drive that took less than a minute.

"In the first half especially, our offense was firing on all cylinders," Robertson said. "We came out full-throttle, we were playing fast, the O-line was opening up huge holes, and everybody was making plays. And we got points on the board quickly."

Northern's defense did its part, too. The Lights limited the Comets to just six first downs in the first half, and that included a second-quarter goal-line stand where the Lights held the Comets out of the endzone from the four-yard line.

"Defensively, I thought our guys played well today," Rolin said. "We're a young defense, and there were mistakes out there. But the effort was exactly what we wanted it to be. Those guys played hard and physical all day. This defense took a good step forward today, and they're going to continue to get better."

Mayville did make a little more offensive progress in the second half, cutting the lead to 35-20 on Creighton Pfau's second TD pass to Trent Momon with 3:53 left in the third quarter. That came after both teams had fumbled twice in a four-minute span. However, the Lights were never going to allow the Comets to truly make a game of it.

Northern answered the Mayville score with no time left on the clock in the third when Wilson hit a streaking Jordanoglou, and he did the rest, taking it to the house from 41 yards away. That score put the Lights up 42-20, and Northern tacked on an insurance score in the fourth, with newcomer Andrez Trahan-Proctor bulldozing his way into the endzone on a 13-yard run with 5:58 left.

Proctor's first touchdown as a Light was also indicative of not just how well the Lights played offensively, but just how tough MSU-N's running game looks to be.

Northern rushed for 220 yards, with Robertson gaining 167 on 28 carries. His huge day also included five catches for 82 yards to go with his four touchdowns. MSU-N's passing game was just as good, with the Lights throwing for 431 yards, and Wilson accounting for 397 on 26 completions. Both were career high's for the senior, as was Robertson's rushing total.

"Jett and Tommy really led this team today, along with how well our offensive line played," Rolin said. "Tommy was operating the offense all day. He was just doing his job, and he played at such a high level. And Jett, he's the man. He's the toughest, hardest-working guy on this team, and he showed everybody exactly what he can do today. Those two guys were awesome."

And Northern's offense was awesome, too. The Lights had over 36 minutes of possession time, were efficient on third down, and made plays from everywhere. Nine different receivers caught passes, led by Jordanoglou, who had seven catches for 131 yards. Bryce Bumgardner, Marvin Williams, Pugh and freshman tight end Jared Eisenbarth also had key grabs on clutch third-down plays, while Seth Roemmele, Wyatt McKinlay and Sam Mix also got into the act.

The young Northern defense made its presence felt, too. Pfau did wind up throwing for 351 yards and Momon caught 10 balls for 154 yards, but Northern held the Comets to just 42 yards rushing, forced two fumbles and limited the Comets to just three scores. Caymus Thomas led the Lights with six tackles, but 11 different Northern defenders had at least four stops, while Joe Fehr and B.J. Hatcher each had a sack.

"There's plenty we can work on," Wagner said. "We know we need to get better. But the defense took a big step forward today."

As did the entire Northern football program.

The Lights had lost their last six games of 2017, and that sequence also included the resignation of then head coach Aaron Christenson. It was certainly a tough time. But, on Saturday, with a new season just beginning, the past was way behind the Lights. It was all about the present, and eventually the future. In front of over 2,000 fans at Blue Pony Stadium, a new era of Northern football began, and it began in one of the most exciting ways possible, with a thrilling, electrifying and intense win over Mayville State.

"How cool is this?" Rolin said. "It was an exciting day. All these fans, the student section was awesome, it was loud and exciting and a lot of fun. This is the type of home atmosphere we want to have here. We want this stadium to be a very tough place for our opponents to play and it was today.

"It was a great win," he continued. "And we're excited about it. We know we have a lot of work to do. We have a lot to clean up, a lot of areas we can improve, and a tough Frontier Conference schedule ahead of us. But today, this is what it's about. This is special. This team is special, and I'm just really excited about what we did today. It was a great, great day for Northern football."

The Lights (1-0, 0-0) begin that tough Frontier schedule right back at home when they host No. 20 Rocky Mountain College (1-0, 1-0) this Saturday at 1 p.m.

New Beginnings

Lights are 1-0 overall; Next Up: vs RMC Saturday

Lights Notes: The Lights last two wins have come against Mayville State, a member of the North Star Athletic Association. Mayville has now lost 13 straight games dating back to 2016. The last time the Lights amassed 600 yards of offense was also against Mayville last September. MSU-N won its home opener for the first time since 2014, and its season-opener for the first time since 2011. Wilson had just Northern's second 300-yard passing game since 2015. Saturday's game was far from perfect for either team, as both the Lights and Comets combined for 21 flags and 207 yards of penalties. Robert's four scores tied Zach McKinley's MSU-N record for most TD's in a game by one player.