Frontier Notebook: New quarterbacks shine on opening weekend

The first week of the 2021 Frontier Conference football season is in the books. And it was a wild one to say the least.

League favorites Eastern Oregon and Montana Western won come-from-behind thrillers, while MSU-Northern battled 2019 Frontier champion College of Idaho, and, Rocky Mountain College stunned Southern Oregon.

Of course, for SOU, Western and Montana Tech, Saturday's games were their first in nearly two years, as those three teams had not played since the finales of the 2019 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the Dawgs looked sharp, while Tech lost a heartbreaker to EOU, which was picked to win the Frontier this fall. SOU's offense was also sharp for not having played for more than two seasons, but the Raiders' defense couldn't hold down a Rocky team that looked really, really good offensively.

Margins of victory on the opening weekend averaged just over a touchdown was well, so, if the first weekend of football is any indication, fans are in for a season in which the Frontier is really going to beat up on itself.

New to the Game

The first weekend of the 2021 season saw a host of first-time signal-callers around the league. That list includes MSU-N's Kaymen Cureton, who was solid in his first start with the Lights. Cureton came to Northern as an NCAA Division I transfer and won the starting job in fall camp.

Cureton isn't alone as several teams broke in new quarterbacks last weekend, including Jack Rice of C of I, who helped lead the Yotes past the Lights in Havre, as well as Matt Struck at Southern Oregon, and Nate Dick at Rocky. Dick has played QB for the Bears before, but injuries have derailed his last two seasons, and 2021 is his first as the Bears' full-time starter.

On the other side of the ball, Western's Jon Jund and EOU's Kai Quinn made sparkling season debuts as two of the league's premier returning offensive players. Montana Tech is also returning a starting quarterback in Jett Campbell.

Feller earns POY for Skylights

Two weeks into the 2021 MSU-N volleyball season, Northern setter Emily Feller has been named Frontier Conference Volleyball Setter of the Week.

Feller is a 5-10 freshman setter/outside hitter from Helena. MSU-Northern went 2-2 at the Firestorm Volleyball Classic in Chandler, Ariz. The Skylights beat former conference rival Lewis-Clark State 3-1 and Valley City State (N.D.) 3-1, and lost to (RV) Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 3-0 and Arizona Christian (3-0). Feller averaged 8.06 assists and 3.11 digs per set. Also nominated and listed in alphabetical order; Kylie Kackman of Carroll College, Abbey Schwager of Montana Western and Blythe Sealey of Rocky Mountain College.

Football Honors

After week one of the football season, a pair of Frontier players have already earned NAIA National Player of the Week awards.

C of I linebacker Dylan Martinez earned both the Frontier and NAIA Player of the Week honors, as did EOU kicker Zachary Cahill. C of I running back Nick Calzaretta was also named Frontier Offensive Player of the Week.