Lights look to spring the upset at Rocky

The past couple of weeks have been up and down for the Montana State University-Northern Lights. After breaking through to defeat Eastern Oregon University in five overtimes for their first conference win in five years, the Lights lost to Montana Western, 63-7, last weekend.

The Lights will look for the former result when they head on the road to Billings to face Rocky Mountain College this Saturday. The Lights have played well against the Bears recently but MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin believes the Lights will need to be at the top of their game Saturday if they want to pull through for a victory.

"Just like every week, you got to show up. Whoever shows up in this conference on Saturdays and executes at a high level wins," Rolin said. "You got to show up every weekend ready to play."

The last two times the Lights have faced the Bears, the games came down to the final quarter. In this past spring season, the Lights held a 21-7 lead at halftime against the Bears in their first game at Tilleman Field. However, the Bears scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to win, 24-21.

Earlier this fall season, the Lights had a 28-24 lead with just over two minutes left in the game. Again, the Bears came back and scored a touchdown in the final minutes to steal the win. If the Lights are going to finally hold on for a win over the Bears, they will need to play a 60-minute game.

"We got to execute all four quarters of the game," Rolin said. "It's just consistent execution in all three phases of the game."

RMC comes into the matchup with a 6-2 record tied atop the Frontier Conference standings with College of Idaho. The Bears are led by quarterback Nathan Dick on offense, who has completed 52.2 percent of his passes this season for 2,051 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also leads the team with 549 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Dick's top receivers are Lucas Overton and Trae Henry. Overton leads the Bears with 34 catches, 591 receiving yards and six touchdowns this season. Henry has caught 24 passes for 425 yards and three scores this year.

In the last meeting, the Lights were able to limit the Bears' passing attack as Dick finished that game completing 45.5 percent of his passes for 238 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. However, he ran for 117 yards and two scores against the Lights.

The RMC defense also has plenty of playmakers who could give the Lights some trouble. Defensive lineman Ethan Hurst will try to wreck the MSU-N backfield as he leads the conference with 6.5 sacks this fall. Defensive back Ty Reynolds leads the Bears and is tied for second in the conference with three interceptions. Linebacker Nick McCaffrey will try to slow down the MSU-N running game as he leads the Bears with 56 total tackles this season.

The Lights had one of their best days on offense against RMC earlier this season. In that game, the MSU-N offense scored 28 points and recorded 346 yards of offense. Since that game, the Lights have only averaged nine points of a game, so getting them in a rhythm will be key for the Lights this weekend.

Rolin also believes that if the offense can move the chains, it will help out his defense. The MSU-N defense has been strong this season but allowed 63 points to Western last weekend. If the Lights can control time of possession, they will keep their defense rested.

"There's too many three-and-outs," Rolin said. "We've got to move the ball, we got to establish some movement of the football and execute on short-yardage situations."

The Lights only have two more games this season, both on the road. If they are going to end the season strong starting this weekend, the Lights will need to make big plays on both sides of the ball.

"It's going to come down to containing the quarterback and creating some turnovers," Rolin said. "We need to create more explosive plays on offense and be more efficient in the red zone."

The Lights will play RMC Saturday at 1 p.m. in Billings.