Lights return from the bye with a trip to Carroll

Montana State University-Northern football started its spring season off when the Lights lost their season opener to the College of Idaho on March 12.

They then encountered an early-season bye, so they had to wait a little while longer for a chance to rebound. Now that chance is finally here when they head on the road to Helena this Saturday where they will play Carroll College.

"Carroll's going to be disciplined. They're going to have some talent. They're well coached," said MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin. "It's a great challenge in the Frontier Conference. It's every week, you better show up to play."

The Lights head into the game after losing their opening game, 26-12. MSU-N turned the ball over four times in that matchup and did not score until the fourth quarter, so executing on offense early in the game will be a major focus for Rolin.

"We got to take care of the ball," Rolin said. "We need to continue to establish the run, we need to protect the quarterback. We do those things, we're going to have more success offensively."

The MSU-N offense will be led by redshirt-sophomore quarterback Brenden Medina. Against Idaho, he completed 53.1 percent of his passes and threw for 230 yards and a touchdown. His leading receiver that day, Jake Horner, caught four passes for 93 yards. Dorian Miles and Tyrese Rios also had 63 receiving yards each and Miles caught Medina's lone touchdown pass. The Lights' rushing attack will be led by Andrez Trahan-Proctor, who carried the ball 29 times for 106 rushing yards and a touchdown against Idaho to start the season. He will try to rush past Carroll defensive lineman Garrett Kocab, who was named to the 2019 Second Team All-Conference Defensive team.

"Up front, they're pretty solid. In the back end, they do a nice job. They play disciplined, multiple coverages and try to show some different looks and mess with the quarterback," Rolin said. "We're just going to have to out-execute them."

The Saints are 1-1 so far this season. However, they are coming off a tough loss on the road to Eastern Oregon this past Saturday where they lost 28-0. Carroll's special teams did them in as Eastern Oregon scored two return touchdowns off a botched snap on a punt and a blocked punt. The Saints' offense only got to the red zone once where they missed a 35-yard field goal. Rolin believes that if the Lights' defense can continue their strong play, they will frustrate Carroll's offense even further.

"Defensively, I think we just continue to play the way we play," Rolin said. "We play fast, we rally to the football and we want to create havoc and turnovers and if we do that, we're going to be pretty successful on Saturday."

The Saints' offense is led by quarterback Devan Bridgewater who has a 38.3 completion percentage so far this season. Through two games, he has thrown for 301 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Carroll makes up for their quarterback's low numbers by running the ball effectively. Matthew Burgess has 275 rushing yards through two games and averages six yards a carry. He is also a threat catching the ball as he has six catches for 140 yards and a touchdown this season.

To slow down Burgess, MSU-N will need linebackers Joel Hadley and Dylan Wampler to step up. Both players led the Lights with eight total tackles in the season opener against Idaho, so they have demonstrated they are up to the challenge.

"We're going to have to stop the run, we're going to have to take the ball away when they do throw and get after the quarterback," Rolin said. "If we do that, we're going to be successful."

After the game against Carroll, the Lights' season will already be halfway over. The season will only last four games because of other conference opponents dropping out. Despite the shortened season, Rolin does not believe the importance of a single game feels different from any other season.

"We value every game week to week as the most important game of the year," Rolin said. "That's always been my mentality. We want to be 1-0 this week. The game before doesn't matter, the game after doesn't matter."

MSU-N and Carroll kick off on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Nelson Stadium in Helena.