Frontier Notebook: Tough Lights' seniors to be honored before home finale against red-hot Yotes

It's hard to fathom, but when the sun sets on Havre this Saturday afternoon, the Frontier Conference football season will be over. In fact, it will be that way all across Montana and beyond as the league has reached its final weekend.

Saturday will also be the sunset for the Northern senior class, a group that has endured as many as three different head coaches, and as few as four wins in their entire careers. And yet, these Lights should be more than honored before Saturday's game against surging College of Idaho, they should be commended for having the commitment, dedication and toughness to stay through all of the ups and downs Northern's program has endured in their time at MSU-N.

Yes, before Saturday's game, Northern seniors Fotios Jordanoglou, Clint Willis, Andrew Morgan, Sam Mix, Tommy Wilson, Sam Tapia, Alec Wagner, Dale Cummings, Ryan Handley and Seth Roemmele deserve a lengthy standing ovation for what they've done in their time on the football field and off it at MSU-N.

The group, composed of players who go as far back as Mark Samson's final recruiting class, to as new as two-year players like Wilson, Morgan, Tapia and Jordanoglou, have been through about as much as any group of college football players have in their stay at Northern. That includes injuries, and hardships, on and off the field. Mix' return to Northern has been well-documented, while Willis has lost a chunk of at least three different seasons to leg injuries, including this season. Jordanoglou, a rising star at wide receiver also suffered a season-ending injury, while Morgan has missed a huge portion of his final year at linebacker, as well.

However, no matter how difficult the times of have been, no matter if they've been here for five, or two years, Saturday will be a momentous and special day for the Northern seniors, and this group especially, deserve all of the adulation that comes with any senior day.

Of course, the Lights will then have to turn their attention to the Yotes, who are easily the NAIA's hottest team.

What C of I has done the last month has been incredible. The Yotes bring a five-game winning streak to Blue Pony Stadium, and with it, a scoring binge. In that stretch, C of I, which was picked to finish fourth in the Frontier this season but stumbled to an 0-5 start, has been averaging close to 50 points per game, and though they didn't put up big points last Saturday, they did knock off UM-Western in Dillon, effectively ending the Bulldog's playoff hopes, minus a tiebreaker miracle at this point.

Yes, the Lights, who played well at Southern Oregon last Saturday and are fresh off a road trip in which they got to practice inside Oregon State's Reeser Stadium last Friday, will no doubt be amped up for their finale this weekend, but they'll have to be extra amped up to slow down the Yotes and their triple-option attack.

Last Day

With Western's loss at home to C of I last Saturday, and Rocky Mountain College's thrashing of Eastern Oregon, the math is simple for the final weekend of the 2018 Frontier season - Rocky beats Montana Tech and the Battlin' Bears win the Frontier title outright.

And what a ride it's been for the Bears, too. They get off to a fast start, only to forfeit that season-opening win over Carroll College due to using an ineligible player. Then the Bears lost at Western and barely won at C of I the next week. Needless to say, things weren't looking great for the Bears at that point. Now however, Rocky hasn't lost since Sept. 15. The Bears have climbed up the NAIA Coaches Poll and they've clinched a share of the Frontier title. Now, only a win over Tech stands between the outright championship and a berth in the NAIA playoffs in just head coach Jason Petrino's third season.

Of course, if the Bears were to stumble against the Orediggers, then things get a bit more complicated, if Western and Eastern Oregon both win their final game Saturday. The Bears do hold tiebreakers over both squads, having split with the Dawgs and beaten EOU last week. Still, a loss to Tech coupled with a Western win at SOU would mean the Battlin' Bears would still go to the playoffs but would likely miss out on hosting that first-round game next week in Billings. Should the Bears win the outright title, they'll likely host Dickinson State in the first round Nov. 17. And a home playoff game is something Rocky dearly covets because it's certainly been a while since the playoffs have come to Herb Kilndt Field.

As for the rest of the Frontier, there is little to no hope of a second team reaching the NAIA tournament. Even if Western beats SOU, the Bulldogs' loss to C of I last week probably puts them on the outside looking in. Likewise for EOU. Its loss last week probably eliminated the Mounties from playoff contention, even if they beat Carroll this Saturday in Helena.

For others in the Frontier, winning records are on the line. A win over EOU would give Carroll its first winning season in four years, while SOU is looking to finish above .500 and Montana Tech could finish at the .500 mark with an upset at RMC. C of I could garner its third straight winning season with a win at Northern Saturday, while the Lights are looking to give Andrew Rolin his first Frontier win, in what's their last chance to do so this season.

Stat Races

As the Frontier reaches its final day, most of the individual races are over.

Offensively, Eastern's Kai Quinn will easily wind up leading the Frontier in passing (326 ypg) and total offense (359 ypg). Only Rocky quarterback Jacob Bakken averages more than 300 yards passing and 300 yards of total offense, but it would take a huge performance by him Saturday to surpass Quinn's numbers. Northern's Tommy Wilson is fourth in the Frontier in passing and sixth in total offense.

Montana Tech's Jed Fike will win the league's rushing title for the second straight season. Fike averages 124 yards per game and has broken the 1,000-yard barrier again. This season, no one is even close to Fike, with EOU's Victor Diaz and SOU's Rey Vega both averaging 80 yards per outing. Neither will get to the 1,000-yard mark. MSU-N's Jett Robertson is sixth in the Frontier with 586 rushing yards.

EOU's Brendan Kelly has had a record-setting season and will lead the league in receiving yards this season, but the race for catches is close between he and Tech's Dion Williams, who led the league in that category a year ago. Northern's Bryce Bumgardner is fourth in the league with 47 receptions and fifth with his 77 receiving yards per game.

On the defensive side of the ball, RMC defensive end Ryder Rice is leading the with 11.5 sacks, but SOU's Sean Rodgers isn't far behind with 10. Rice also leads the Frontier with 14.5 tackles for loss. Joe Fehr leads the Lights with three sacks, and Jaren Maki is tops at MSU-N with four tackles for loss.

Total tackles this season will belong to UM-Western's Jason Ferris. With one game left, he already has 113 stops this season and is averaging nearly 13 per game. Carroll's Chase Bowen is second in total tackles with 79. Maki leads the Lights this season with 62 tackles and just over seven per game.

EOU's Zach Jacobs has a whopping eight interceptions this season, which is double what RMC's Keenan Fagan has. Fagan is second in the league with four. Northern linebacker Chase Gilbert is the only light in double digits with two picks this season.

Frontier Honors

RMC's Jacob Bakken was named Frontier Offensive Player of the Week. Last Saturday, Bakken threw for 423 yards and five touchdowns in Rocky's win over Eastern Oregon.

C of I's Tristen Alesi was named Defensive Player of the Week. In the Yotes' win over Western last Saturday, eight tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.

C of I's Kyle Mitchell was named Special Team's Player of the Week. In the win over Western, he kicked a school-record 45-yard field goal.

NAIA Coaches Poll

1 1 Morningside (Iowa) [15] 10-0 366

2 2 Marian (Ind.) [1] 9-0 352

3 3 Bethel (Tenn.) 9-0 335

4 4 Reinhardt (Ga.) 8-1 325

5 6 Northwestern (Iowa) 8-1 302

6 7 Kansas Wesleyan 10-0 291

7 8 Benedictine (Kan.) 9-1 281

8 9 Saint Francis (Ind.) 8-2 259

9 10 Evangel (Mo.) 9-1 254

10 11 Langston (Okla.) 8-1 237

11 12 Rocky Mountain 8-2 226

12 5 Grand View (Iowa) 7-2 215

13 13 Cumberlands (Ky.) 9-1 209

14 14 Baker (Kan.) 7-2 193

15 15 Concordia (Mich.) 8-2 175

16 16 Dickinson State (N.D.) 8-2 147

17 18 Saint Xavier (Ill.) 8-3 135

18 17 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 6-3 134

19 19 Georgetown (Ky.) 7-3 124

20 23 Siena Heights (Mich.) 7-2 93

21 25 Ottawa (Kan.) 7-2 80

22 21 Avila (Mo.) 7-2 56

23 20 Montana Western 6-3 48

24 NR College of Idaho 5-5 23

25 NR Southeastern (Fla.) 6-3 22

Others Receiving Votes: Midland (Neb.) 13, Oklahoma Panhandle State 8, St. Ambrose (Iowa) 8, Dordt (Iowa) 6, Eastern Oregon 4, Arizona Christian 3, Webber International (Fla.) 3.