Frontier Notebook: Van Diest named to NAIA Hall of Fame

Mike Van Diest just coached the Carroll College Fighting Saints to a 32-14 win over the Montana State University-Northern Lights Saturday in Havre. Sunday, things got even better for the winningest coach in Frontier Conference history.

It was announced that Van Diest has been selected to the NAIA Hall of Fame. The all-time winningest coach in Saints history joins former Carroll College quarterback and assistant coach Tyler Emmert, former tight end Casey Fitzsimmons, coach Raymond Hunthausen and coach Bob Petrino as the only members of the Saints to be inducted into the hall.

Van Diest took over the Saints' football program in 1999 and reached new heights. Carroll won six national championships in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010 to go along with 14 Frontier Conference Championships, which includes 12 straight from 2000-2011. He was selected as the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year 10 times, as well as the NAIA National Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2005. The American Football Coaches Association selected him as the Coach of the Year in 2003, 2007 and 2010. Now in his 20th season as the Saints' head coach, he owns a 201-49 (80.4 percent) record with a 38-8 record in the NAIA Playoffs. Under his guidance, the Saints posted 15 consecutive winning seasons from 2000-2014.

Van Diest has also coached four players who are already in the NAIA Hall of Fame, including former Chester great Casey Fitzsimmons.

Safety Battle in Butte

Speaking of former standouts from Chester, when the Lights travel to Butte Saturday for a matchup with Montana Tech, the Northern offense will see plenty of former Chester-Joplin-Inverness standout Justin May. May is a safety for the Orediggers, and, after a breakout season a year ago, in which he led the Diggers in total tackles, he's having a strong start to 2018, with 13 total stops and two tackles for loss.

May isn't the only local product to play for Tech either. Former Havre Blue Pony Nate Korb is a red-shirt freshman wide receiver for Tech, which lost at Southern Oregon last Saturday.

And on the note of safeties, Northern moved sophomore Caymus Thomas to safety last week, and in the Lights' loss to Carroll, Thomas was sensational, recording a career-high 15 tackles with two pass breakups.

Thomas has been on the move a lot in the last 12 months. He was a freshman wide receiver for the Lights a season ago, finishing the year with 25 catches and two touchdowns. In the spring, Thomas moved to cornerback, and started the Lights first three games there. However, injuries in the secondary in recent weeks had Thomas on the move again, and Saturday against the Fighting Saints, Thomas was outstanding.

"Caymus did a great job for us moving back to safety today," MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin said. "He was a leader for our defense today."

Safety play may be key in in Saturday's title in Butte, too, because both Tech and Northern have similar offenses. Both the Orediggers and Lights rely heavily on the run game, but are good passing teams, too.

Of course, Tech is led by star running back Jed Fike, who comes into Saturday's game rushing for 120 yards per outing, while Northern gets 90 yards per game from junior Jett Robertson. So, safeties coming up to help the run game will be key for both defenses. On the flip side, both teams are dangerous through the air, as Northern is fourth and Tech is fifth in the Frontier Conference in passing yards per game. So players like Thomas and May could greatly impact the outcome of Saturday's game.

Who Knew?

The UM-Western Bulldogs were picked to finish seventh in the Frontier Conference this season. Well, throw that pick out the window now.

To begin 2018, all the Dawgs have done is take down Carroll College on the road, blast MSU-N at home, and knock off 14th-ranked Rocky Mountain College.

Last Saturday in Dillon, Western showed exactly why its defense is ranked in the Top 10 in the NAIA, as the Bulldogs held Rocky to just 21 points in a rousing 24-21 win. Western did give up 434 yards of offense to the powerful Bears, but the Dawg's defense never broke in the win.

Now, Western sits tied with Southern Oregon atop the Frontier standings at 3-0 and has moved into the NAIA Top 25 for the first time in more than two years. And while there's certainly a long, long way to go, it could be an omen that the Dawgs only play SOU once this season, and it's the final game of the year. Western and SOU are slated to meet Nov. 10 in Ashland, Oregon, and if things continue to go the way they've been going, that game could wind up being for the Frontier title.

Western goes on the road this Saturday to face Eastern Oregon, while SOU is in Helena to take on Carroll.

Frontier Honors

UM-Western's Jon Jund was named Frontier Offensive Player of the Week. Jund is a 6-0, 200-pound quarterback from Spring Creek, Nevada. In Western's 24-21 win over Rocky Mountain College, Jund threw for 288 yards and rushed for 31, while leading the Bulldogs on a game-winning drive in the final minutes. Northern quarterback Tommy Wilson was also nominated.

Western's Jason Ferris was named Frontier Defensive Player of the Week. Ferris is a 6-3, 215-pound junior linebacker from Dillon. In Western's win over Rocky, Ferris recorded 17 tackles, a tackle for loss and two pass breakups. Northern's Caymus Thomas was also nominated.

UM-W's Mark Karchenko was named Special Teams Player of the Week. Marchenko is a 6-4, 180-pound kicker from Colville, Washington. In Western's win over Rocky, Marchenko was perfect on PATs and also booted a 51-yard field goal. MSU-N punter Sam Tapia was also nominated.

Havre Daily News Power Rankings

1. Southern Oregon

2. UM-Western

3. Rocky Mountain

4. Carroll College

5. Montana Tech

6. Eastern Oregon

7. MSU-Northern

8. College of Idaho