Frontier Preview: Returning QB's are some of the top players in the league this fall

With fingers crossed, the Frontier Conference is going to play some football this fall So with that in mind, it's time to take a look at the top returning players in the Frontier at each position in the league and, as is tradition with this series, we'll start with the quarterbacks.

The Frontier graduated its First-Team All-Conference quarterback and Offensive Player of the Year Darius-James Peterson from league champion College of Idaho. So, after four years, the Yotes, who won't play until this spring, will have a new quarterback.

However, Second-team All-Conference standout Jon Jund is back for the Montana Western Bulldogs. As a sophomore, Jund led the Frontier in total offensive, while throwing for 2,746 yards and 31 touchdowns against just eight picks. Jund was also efficient, leading the league in passer rating for a Western offense that should get even better this season.

Also back for perhaps an even bigger year is Carroll College's Devan Bridgewater. The NCAA DII transfer came on strong in head coach Troy Purcell's first season in Helena, throwing for 2,093 yards and 19 TDs, while rushing for 283 more.

Montana Tech's Jett Campbell is also a returning starter. Campbell is in charge of a potent Tech offense that also has star running back Blake Counts behind him for new head coach Kyle Samson. In Campbell's first season as a starter, he threw for 211 yards per game, and was a strong runner as well.

Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain College is looking for a bounce-back season, and they have a pair of veteran quarterbacks to lead them to it. Nate Dick started the season for the Battlin' Bears but was injured early, so veteran Drew Korf took over the snaps. Both return giving the Bears a strong and veteran presence at the most important position in the league.

Like C of I, neither Southern Oregon nor Eastern Oregon will have football this fall. But, if there is a spring schedule, both the Mounties and Raiders would return two of the very best players in the league. EOU returns do-everything QB Kai Quinn, a three-year starting senior who passes for 2,391 yards a season ago, while SOU also brings back third-year starting senior Wyatt Hutchinson, who threw for 2,294 yards and 18 touchdowns and was second in the Frontier in total offense last fall.

The Montana State University-Northern Lights also return their starting quarterback in red-shirt sophomore Brenden Medina. As a freshman, he started nine games for the Lights, throwing for 2,116 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. Yet, Medina will have to win a quarterback battle in fall camp for the second year in a row, as third-year head coach Andrew Rolin noted that the Lights are loaded with talent at the QB position, with Tre' Long and Oakley Kopp also back and talented newcomer Devante Armstrong coming in from Las Vegas.

"It will be a really competitive quarterback battle this fall," Rolin said. "Brendan is the leader right now. He did a great job for us last year. But we have a lot of talent at that position, and that's going to make it really competitive."

Editor's Note: This is the first installment of the Havre Daily News' year preview of the Frontier Conference by position. In Friday's HDN, well look at the top returning defensive linemen, while Monday's HDN will feature a look at the top offensive linemen in the league.