Mounties show they can win with defense, lead Frontier early

Eastern Oregon is still undefeated. And the Montana Western Bulldogs clearly shook off an early-season loss.

Those are the story lines as the Frontier Conference enters the final week of September. In the case of the Bulldogs, they held off a valiant second-half charge by the Montana State University-Northern Lights Saturday in Dillon. The Lights forced three turnovers in the second half and scored 21 straight points, but behind a big rushing day from backup running back Colten McPhee, the Dawgs won 42-28 to improve to 2-1 in league play and 3-1 overall.

Meanwhile EOU survived a defensive slugfest in Helena last Saturday, as the undefeated Mounties beat Carroll College 10-7. After a scoreless first half, EOU scored 10 points in the third quarter, then held the Fighting Saints off in the final 15 minutes to move to 3-0 in league play.

Things don’t get any easier for EOU, however, as the Mounties go home to take on 2-1 College of Idaho Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Western visits arch rival Montana Tech.

For both the Mounties and Bulldogs, every game is huge since they don’t face each other again this season, meaning the Mounties hold all tiebreakers over the Dawgs via their 35-28 win in LaGrande back on Sept. 4.

Big Day for the Isaiah and Izayah

In Northern’s big second-half comeback, the Lights got some herculean efforts on both sides of the ball in Dillon.

Sophomore running back Izayah Boss rushed for a career-high 122 yards and two touchdowns, including a 50-yard scamper to help the Lights to a solid 211 yards on the ground. Meanwhile Isaiah Paul had not one, but two interceptions of Western star quarterback Jon Jund in the second half of the game. In all, the Lights forced three picks, with Joshua Rose collecting one as well.

New Championship Host

The NAIA national championship game has a new host site this season. The championship game has been awarded to Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The host is the Durham Sports Commission. Durham County Memorial Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium built in 1958, has a seating capacity of 8,500 and has been the site of professional, collegiate, and high school football events. Willie Bradshaw Field is an artificial, synthetic turf located inside the stadium that also features the Tommy Hunt Press Box. The 66th Annual NAIA Football Championship gets underway Nov. 20, 27, and Dec. 4 with the Football Championship Series at campus sites. Then, the action shifts to Durham County Memorial Stadium Dec. 18 for the season finale. In 2019, the NAIA announced the Senior Football Classic before the 2020 event was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The inaugural event was held a week prior to the National Championship in Savannah, Ga. It featured 116 seniors from 42 institutions who were split into East and West teams.

Frontier Honors

Montana Western wide receiver Nate Simkins is the Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Simkins is a 5-foot-10, 160 lbs, senior wide receiver from Dillon. In No. 23 Montana Western’s 42-28 conference win over MSU-Northern, Simkins caught eight passes for 92 yards and three touchdowns. The three touchdown receptions in a single game ties a Montana Western school record.

College of Idaho’s Tanner Leaf is the Frontier Defensive Player of the week. Leaf is a 6-foot-2, 215-pounds, freshman linebacker from Boise, Idaho. In addition to his conference honors, he was also named the NAIA Defensive Player of the Week. In (RV) College of Idaho’s 29-3 home win over Southern Oregon (SOU), Leaf recorded five solo tackles, five assisted tackles, four tackles for loss (-17 yards), two quarterback sacks (-15 yards) and one pass breakup. One of his tackles for loss and one sack snuffed out SOU drives on fourth down. EOU kicker/punter Zachary Cahill has been named the Frontier Special Teams Player of the Week.