Yotes howl in the end

Through three quarters of Saturday's game at Tilleman Field, the Montana State University-Northern football team kept pace with College of Idaho, the 19th-ranked team in the nation. Heading to the fourth quarter, the Lights only trailed the Coyotes 21-14.

Early in the fourth, the Lights got the ball at their own 20-yard line and were looking to tie the game. Unfortunately, quarterback Kaymen Cureton's pass bounced off his receiver's hands and was intercepted by C of I cornerback Isaiah Abdul, who returned the ball to the Northern three-yard line. Two plays later, Nick Calzaretta ran the ball in from one yard to extend C of I's lead to 28-14.

That touchdown began the downfall of the Lights in the fourth quarter. On the next drive, Cureton threw a jump ball down the right sideline that was tipped up in the air and was intercepted. The Yotes would then score again when Jack Rice threw a touchdown pass to Bo Stevens to extend their lead to 35-14 before they eventually went on to win the game, 42-14. After a close game through three quarters, the Lights let a winnable game get away from them.

"We can't turn the ball over three times in the second half," MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin said. "The ball just bounced the wrong way a couple times today and we've got to be able to stop the run. If we do that, we can be pretty good. But if we don't then we're going to get the same results."

While the Lights opened their season with a loss, it was not all bad. MSU-N opened their new stadium, Tilleman Field, this past spring but they could not have fans attend any of their games. With their season opener against the Yotes on Saturday, fans finally got the chance to sit in the stands at Tilleman Field.

While the fans did not get to see the results they wanted, they got to see a solid three quarters of football. After the Lights went three-and-out on their opening drive of the game, the Yotes got the ball at the MSU-N 35-yard line after a poor punt. Three plays later, Calzaretta carried the ball for an 18-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead with 12:47 left in the first quarter.

Later in the quarter, the Yotes got the ball at their own 13-yard line. However, they marched down the field with the help of a roughing the passer penalty. At the MSU-N 41-yard line, Rice connected with Hunter Juarez in the endzone to extend their lead to 14-0 with 4:52 left in the first.

After falling behind by double digits, the Lights finally got their own offense rolling. Cureton and the running game got MSU-N to the C of I 41-yard line but a holding penalty pushed the Lights back to their side of the field. On first and 20, Cureton scrambled to his right and hit Tyrese Rio on the sideline for 31 yards and a first down.

The Lights kept marching and eventually got to the Yotes' 1-yard line. On third and goal, Cureton connected with Dorian Miles in the left corner of the endzone to cut their deficit to 14-7 with 14:56 left in the second quarter.

The Yotes responded with a score of their own on the ensuing drive. After they got to the MSU-N 34-yard line, Rice got a pass down the left sideline over a cornerback into the hands of Stevens who took the ball into the end zone to extend their lead to 21-7 with 11:59 left in the half.

The Lights quickly struck back to keep pace. They drove down the field to the C of I 39-yard line but were forced to fourth and four. Rolin decided to go for it and Cureton rewarded his coach by finding Jake Horner on the right sideline, who took the ball to the one-yard line. Three plays later, Cureton ran the ball in himself to cut their deficit to 21-14 with 6:58 left in the half.

"I think the quarterback got comfortable," Rolin said on how his offense got going in the second quarter. "Protecting the quarterback up front and running the ball well and everything was clicking. I think we just got in a rhythm."

The first half ended with the teams exchanging turnovers. After they marched to the redzone, the Yotes were backed up to make it third and goal at the MSU-N 25-yard line. Trying to make a play, Rice's pass was intercepted in the middle of the field by Damari Cual-Davis. Cureton tried to lead the Lights to a score with just under a minute left in the half, but he lost the ball on a fumble at the C of I 22-yard line.

The third quarter saw both teams continue to struggle to hold onto the ball. On their opening drive of the second half, Cameron Simons missed a 36-yard field goal wide right for the Yotes. Two plays later, the Lights gave the ball back on their side of the field when Izayah Boss lost a fumble. But no damage was done as Rice threw an interception to Isaiah Paul in the corner of the endzone.

"We got some pretty talented defensive backs that took the ball away," Rolin said. "Offensively, we've got to capitalize on that."

Unfortunately, the Lights were not able to capitalize on the Yotes' mistakes as they struggled to move the ball in the third. On their first two drives of the fourth quarter, the Lights gave the ball back to the Yotes in good field position which they used to extend their lead. Cureton finished his first start at quarterback for the Lights going 12-26 for 95 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. On the ground, he also ran for 61 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries.

"He did a lot of good things for us with his arm, with his feet and with his decision making," Rolin said. "I thought he made the right decisions and ran the ball well and led the team and that's all I can ask him to do. I think he will be a lot better next week."

With an 0-1 record, MSU-N will look to pick up their first win of the year when they head to Southern Oregon University next week. While the final score was not what they wanted to open the season, the Lights showed a lot of promise in their first three quarters. If they can build on that and fix those mistakes in the fourth quarter, they should be competitive this fall.

"I think we have a mature football team. I think we have a mature quarterback. I think we just need to fix mistakes," Rolin said. "If we take some of these things and learn from them and get better, then it's going to be a lot of fun this season."

The MSU-N football team will continue their season next Saturday at noon when they head on the road to face Southern Oregon University.

Lights are 0-1, 0-1; Next Up: at SOU Saturday

Lights Notes: Transfer quarterback Cureton scored the first two touchdowns of his career in Saturday;s loss. The MSU-N defense recorded three takeaways on the day but the MSU-N offense turned it over four times. C of I now moves to 8-0 all time against MSU-N and 4-0 on the Hi-Line.