Border Barrage

After some solid play at the end of September, the Montana State University-Northern football team has faced a tough month of October. In their last two Frontier Conference games, the Lights lost by a combined score of 77-13. And even in non-conference play, the Lights struggled on offense as they lost to NCAA Division II Canadian school, Simon Fraser University, 30-3, Saturday at Tilleman Field.

"We make mistakes at the worst times and it puts us in bad situations," MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin said. "Got to finish drives. We were in the red zone seven times and didn't score."

The first of those wasted opportunities came on the Lights' opening drive of the game. Thanks to several solid runs, MSU-N reached the SFU seven-yard line. However, the Lights could not score and decided to go for it on fourth and goal at the one-yard line. Unfortunately, Izayah Boss was tackled for a loss and the Lights turned the ball over on downs.

The MSU-N defense held up, though, and quickly got the ball back to the offense. On third down, a Simon Fraser pass was tipped in the air and MSU-N linebacker Dylan Wampler picked it off at the SFU nine-yard line. But the MSU-N offense continued to struggle as negative plays and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Lights back to the 21-yard line. Even on the windy day, Sawyer Zook nailed the 38-yard field goal to give MSU-N a 3-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

The Lights then began to turn the ball over. On back-to-back drives, MSU-N quarterback Devonte Armstrong threw interceptions to the SFU defense. The first was an overthrow over the middle and the second was a tipped pass off one of his receivers.

After the second pick, SFU capitalized to take the lead. The MSU-N defense held strong early by holding SFU to a fourth down and 11 at the MSU-N 27-yard line. SFU went for it and quarterback Justin Seiber found Riley Morrison wide open in the end zone for the touchdown and the lead.

The Lights went three and out on their next drive and had to punt at their own 11-yard line. However, Hunter Riley's punt was blocked and recovered in the end zone for the touchdown and a 13-3 lead to start the second quarter. Special teams has been a problem for the Lights this season with several blocked punts that have given their opponents great field position and scoring opportunities.

"We're not doing our job. That's it," Rolin said about his special teams this season.

Later in the quarter, the SFU offense got on a roll. However, the drive stalled out and SFU settled for a field goal attempt. With her 23-yard make, Kristie Elliott was the first Canadian woman in NCAA history to kick in a university football game. Her field goal also extended SFU's lead to 16-3 with 5:42 left in the first half.

MSU-N's hole got even deeper as the Lights turned it over again on their next drive. Armstrong's pass was tipped up in the air and intercepted by linebacker Drew Nicholson who returned it 28 yards for the touchdown and a 23-3 lead.

The MSU-N defense continued to play well though. With one last chance to score before halftime, SFU drove down to the MSU-N 37-yard line. However, safety Hunter Riley intercepted a Seiber pass to end the drive.

On SFU's opening drive of the second half, the Lights defense did their best to keep them in the game. In MSU-N territory, SFU running back Somto Anyadike fumbled the ball and Wampler recovered it. However, the Lights offense did nothing with it and failed to convert a fourth down at midfield.

"(Defense) did some really good stuff. We gave up some stuff that we shouldn't have but we took the ball away," Rolin said. "We got to capitalize on offense when we have those opportunities and we didn't today."

The MSU-N defense still held strong to keep the game close. After the turnover on downs, Riley grabbed his second interception of the day to give it back to his offense. The Lights did get the chains moving and got to the SFU 16-yard line. However, they again stalled out with another failed conversion on fourth down.

As the MSU-N defense kept the Lights in the game, the MSU-N offense continued to struggle with another three fourth-down attempts they were not able to convert. With just under five minutes left in the game, Seiber connected with Aidan Pearce for a 62-yard touchdown to make SFU's lead 30-3. Later in the game, Wampler recorded his third takeaway of the game with another fumble recovery that gave the Lights great field position. However, they again failed to convert and SFU kneeled in victory formation for the final minute of the game.

In his second straight at quarterback for the Lights, Armstrong completed 33.3 percent of his passes for 119 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions. The Lights leading receiver was Levi Keltner who finished the day with four catches for 68 yards. After his game against Carroll College where he only ran for 28 yards, Boss ran for 95 yards on 3.7 yards a carry against SFU.

The loss dropped the Lights to 0-7 this season. Meanwhile, SFU improves to 1-4 this season with its first win since 2019. The Lights now only have four more games this season, all of them coming in the Frontier Conference. Following their loss to SFU, Rolin believes how they respond over the next few weeks will demonstrate the character of his team.

"We'll see what we're made of. It's on them," Rolin said about moving past the loss to SFU.

MSU-N will next play against Eastern Oregon at Tilleman Field next Saturday at 1 p.m.

Lights are 0-7 in Frontier; Next: vs EOU Saturday

Lights Notes: The MSU-N defense recorded five takeaways. Safety Hunter Riley intercepted two passes and Dylan Wampler recorded an interception and recovered two fumbles. This game was the first meeting between MSU-N and SFU. The two teams will play again next season in Burnaby, British Columbia. This was the first non-conference game for the Lights since Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lights defeated Arizona Christian University, 20-14, on the road in Phoenix.