Old faces are back, new stars emerge at quarterback as Frontier Conference football returns to the fall

A ago year, we published our annual stories on the top returning players at each position in the Frontier Conference, as a new season loomed. Of course, that season was hanging in the balance at the time due to COVID-19, and ultimately, the fall of 2020 was pushed to the spring of 2021, and a limited season did happen.

Now though, the Frontier is about to return to a sense of normalcy as a new season of full Frontier Conference football dawns. The league has a 10-game slate planned with fans in the stands and everything else that comes with the pageantry of college football. So, from that standpoint, it's time to get ready for a new season of Frontier football, and the Havre Daily News will once again be doing stories on the top players at each position, starting with this first story - Quarterbacks.

In the spring, Carroll College captured the shortened Frontier season's championship, but like so many teams, this fall will look different because of roster changes, as well as just how much time has passed since a full Frontier season of football was played.

And while the quarterback position usually yields a slew of stars across the Frontier, this season might be a bit of an unknown.

But perhaps the league's top returning quarterback might just be a guy who hasn't played a real game in a long, long time in Montana Western's Jon Jund. The Bulldogs were one of four teams to opt out of the spring season, so, Jund hasn't played an actual game since November of 2019. Still, the Western star led the league in passing at 274 yards per game with 31 touchdowns, as well as in total offense on his way to All-Conference honors. June now returns to lead what should be a powerful Bulldog offense this fall, and he could be a candidate for Offensive Player of the Year honors in the conference.

Montana Tech, under new head coach Kyle Samson, also opted out of the spring, and the Orediggers do return their starter from 2019 in Jet Campbell, who threw for 11 TDs and was fourth in the Frontier in total offense in 2019. Campbell will have company however, as the Orediggers landed former Great Falls High star quarterback Blake Thelen from Montana State this summer.

Another total offense machine should be back at Southern Oregon, which also opted out of the spring season. Wyatt Hutchinson had a huge 2019 campaign for the Raiders, throwing doe nearly 3,000 yards and 18 touchdowns.

There will also be teams who must find their next quarterback to lead the charges. Rocky Mountain College's Drew Korf led the Frontier in passing this past spring, while Carroll College was paced by Devan Bridgewater and Eastern Oregon was led by All-American senior Kai Quinn.

College of Idaho, which was led by star All-Amercian Darius-James Peterson for four years, broke in a new starter this spring in Ryan Hibbs. The freshman three for 535 yards and five scores for the Yotes, who won the Frontier title back in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Montana State University-Northern Lights went with two starters through their four-game spring season. Returning starter Brenden Medina and red-shirt freshman Oakley Kopp both started games for the Lights last spring, and both will be part of what is now a four-way battle for the starting job when fall camp opens. Medina has the most experience as a junior, while Kopp also has game reps. Rolin also said that red-shirt freshmen Devonte Armstrong and Eastern Kentucky/Nevada transfer Kaymen Cureton will also be in the battle for the starting job when fall camp opens next month.

Editor's Note: This is the first in the Havre Daily News' series of the top returning players in the Frontier Conference. Next up will be the defensive linemen in Monday's HDN.