Yotes run past Lights in Frontier regular season finale

The College of Idaho Yotes already had the Frontier Conference championship locked up ahead of Saturday’s senior day game with the Montana State University-Northern Lights. But the Yotes wanted to make sure they added the school’s first undefeated regular season to their long list of accomplishments this season, and that’s exactly what they did.

Justin Hellyer rushed for a career-high 207 yards, as No. 6 College of Idaho defeated Montana State-Northern, 44-20, Saturday at Simplot Stadium.

The No. 6-ranked Coyotes (10-0, 10-0 Frontier) extended their win streak to 16 games and became just the second Frontier Conference team since 2010 complete the league schedule with an unbeaten record. It was the fifth time in the 75-year history of the C of I program that the Yotes completed a regular-season without a loss (1908, 1910, 1919, 1953).

The Yotes offense piled up 504 yards against Northern (1-10, 0-10). C of I ran for a season-best 410 yards in the victory, the fifth-highest rushing total in program history.

The Yotes opened the scoring by marching 75 yards in seven plays, with quarterback Darius-James Peterson racing 25-yards for a touchdown. Peterson added a 13-yard touchdown run on C of I's next drive to extend the lead to 14-0.

Kyle Mitchell had a big afternoon, connecting on first half field goals of 49, 20 and 26-yards — setting a new school record with 14 kick scoring points and tying his own school record with three made field goals.

The C of I defense scored a touchdown for the second-straight game, as Josh Elsberry dislodged the football on a pass to tight end Levi Keltner, caught out of the air by defensive end J.T. Mahon, who raced 25-yards for a touchdown. The Yotes recorded seven sacks on the afternoon — including a school record 4.5 sacks from Keagan McCoy.

Trailing 30-7 at the break, Northern controlled the third quarter, scoring on a 75-yard drive, capped by a fourth down Brenden Medina 28-yard touchdown strike to Bryce Bumgardner. C of I answered quickly, as Ed Osterberger broke through on a 47-yard scoring run to push the margin to 37-14.

Following a Jett Robertson touchdown run by the Lights, Hellyer capped the day with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Peterson recorded 94 passing yards — a season low — but rushed for 93 yards, needing 122 yards to break C of I's all-time career rushing record.

Robertson led Northern with 95 yards on 21 carries, with Medina going 13-of-24 for 207 yards and two touchdown passes to Bumgardner. Marvin Williams caught four passes for 79 yards — including a first quarter 60-yard reception.

The Lights’ season came to an end Saturday in Caldwell, while C of I will play in the first round of the NAIA playoffs this Saturday.

College of Idaho 44, Lights 20

MSU-Northern 0 7 7 6 - 20

C of I 17 13 0 14 - 44

CI: Darius Peterson 25 run (Kyle Mitchell kick)

CI: Peterson 13 run (Mitchell kick)

CI: Kyle Mitchell 49 FG

CI: Mitchell 20 FG

CI: J.T. Mahon 20 fumble recovery (Mitchell kick)

MSUN: Bryc Bumgardner 22 pass from Brenden Medina (Hunter Riley kick)

CI: Mitchell 26 FG

MSUN: Bumgardner 28 pass from Medina (Riley kick)

CI: Ed Osterberger 47 run (Mitchell kick)

MSUN: Jett Robertson 2 run (Riley kick failed)

CI: Justin Hellyer 5 run (Mitchell kick)

Individual

Rushing: MSU-N: Jett Robertson 21-95, Cameron Taylor 8-28, Brenden Medina 9-(-43). CI: Justin Hellyer 29-207, Darius Peterson 13-93, Ed Osterberger 6-66, Spencer lambert 1-38, Canyon Olsen 2-7, Tony Huebner 1-(-1).

Passing: MSU-N: Brenden Medina 13-24-0, 207. CI: Darius Peterson 6-18-0, 94.

Receiving: MSU-N: Marvin Williams 4-79, Jett Robertson 3-53, Bryc Bumgardner 2-50, Jake Horner 3-36, Levi Keltner 1-(-11). CI: Keegan Crafton 3-48, Isaiah Veal 1-29, John Horn 1-9, Tony Huebner 1-8.

Final Frontier Conference Standings

Conf. All

W-L W-L

College of Idaho 10-0 10-0

Montana Western 7-3 7-3

Carroll College 6-4 6-4

Montana Tech 6-4 6-4

Eastern Oregon 4-6 4-7

Southern Oregon 4-6 4-7

Rocky Mountain 3-7 4-7

MSU-Northern 0-10 1-10

Saturday

College of Idaho 44, MSU-Northern 20

Montana Western 62, Southern Oregon 29

Rocky Mountain 38, Montana Tech 23

Eastern Oregon 28, Carroll College 26