Northern football falls on the road to Rocky Mountain College

With only two more games left this fall, the Montana State University-Northern Lights aim to end the season strong. Saturday afternoon, the Lights traveled to Billings to face Rocky Mountain College as they looked to get revenge for a 31-28 loss earlier this season.

Like that previous matchup, the Lights were in position to win as they led 7-6 heading to the fourth quarter. However, RMC quarterback Nathan Dick ran it in for a score to give the Bears a 13-7 lead. Late in the game, the Lights were driving when MSU-N quarterback Kaymen Cureton fumbled the ball and the Bears recovered. RMC converted that turnover into a score to win the game, 19-7. While his team could not break through for the win, MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin was proud of his team’s effort.

“We put ourselves in position to win and didn’t finish,” Rolin said. “But we battled. Guys played extremely hard and competed up towards the end.”

The loss dropped the Lights to 1-8 in the Frontier Conference and 1-9 overall this season. With their win, the Bears improved to 7-2 and kept pace with College of Idaho for first in the Frontier Conference. Even though the teams are on opposite ends of the standings, it did not appear that way through most of Saturday.

After the Lights punted on the first drive of the day, the Bears marched down the field on their opening possession. Dick made some big plays early, including a 38-yard strike to Carter Garsjo to get down to the MSU-N two-yard line.

But the Lights responded with their backs against the wall. On first and goal, Joe Fehr tackled Dick for a seven-yard loss. Two plays later, Dick found a receiver in the end zone but it was called back for an illegal block on the Bears. On third and goal at the 20-yard line, Fehr sacked Dick and the Bears had to settle for a 43-yard field goal from Riley Garrett to take a 3-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

On their next possession, the Bears again reached MSU-N territory. But the Lights were able to recover a fumbled snap to keep the Bears off the scoreboard. The Lights got a drive going thanks to a 29-yard catch from Marvin Williams Jr. But the drive stalled at the RMC 29-yard line and Sawyer Zook’s 46-yard field goal attempt fell short.

The Lights defense continued to keep them in the game. RMC’s Dawson Schick tried to help the Bears with a 30-yard run. But at the end of the play, MSU-N safety Hunter Riley knocked the ball out and recovered it for the turnover. After allowing 63 points against Montana Western last weekend, Rolin was proud to see his defense respond against the Bears.

“We’ve gotten a lot of guys down and guys playing out of position. It didn’t bother them, they still showed up, competed, and guys played positions they’ve never played before,” Rolin said. “Just competing their hearts out and so I’m extremely proud of our defense and how we responded.”

The Bears were able to put together a drive near the end of the half. After getting good field position after a good punt return, Dick connected with Donavan Sellgren for a 33-yard catch down to the MSU-N 19-yard line. But the Lights again stiffened up in the red zone as the Bears settled for a 34-yard field goal from Garrett for a 6-0 lead with less than a minute left in the half.

The Bears were not done yet as they got the ball back around midfield with 25 seconds left before halftime. Dick completed four straight passes to get down to the MSU-N 13-yard line. However, Garrett missed his 30-yard attempt wide left to end the half.

RMC got the ball to start the second half and made another drive down the field. The Lights again did not break as the drive stalled at the MSU-N 29-yard line. Garrett then missed the 46-yard attempt wide right for his second straight miss.

The Lights offense then got their own offense in a rhythm. Cureton completed several passes to get the Lights to the RMC 36-yard line. On fourth and two, the Lights handed the ball to running back Cannan Smith who took it all the way to the end zone for the score. It was not easy as Smith had to break several tackles and keep his stamina as he rumbled his way down the field.

“That’s one of the more impressive runs in terms of balance and will to go score that I’ve seen in a long time,” Rolin said. “Cannan plays with a ton of heart and it showed on that one run.”

Trailing 7-6 late in the third quarter, the Bears finally put together a complete drive. Dick made many big plays on the ground and through the air. On third and goal at the MSU-N three-yard line, Dick showcased his playmaking ability as he scrambled for the score to give the Bears a 13-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“He’s a tough kid, he’s athletic, he can run,” Rolin said about Dick. “It came down to Nate Dick doing what he does and they just put a scoring drive together.”

Over the next few minutes, both teams exchanged punts. Halfway through the quarter, the Lights were looking to convert a third and five in their own territory. Cureton tried to scramble for the yards but he fumbled the ball and RMC defensive back Wyatt Brusven recovered it and returned it to the MSU-N 21-yard line.

Dick continued running the ball to get the Bears down to the MSU-N one-yard line. RMC backup quarterback George Tribble then took the snap and ploughed forward for the score. Garrett missed the extra point but the Bears still led 19-7 with less than four minutes remaining.

The Lights tried to score before time ran out but they turned it over on downs with less than 30 seconds left. Dick then took a knee to run out the clock. The Lights offense finished the day with 208 total yards of offense. Cureton completed 56 percent of his passes for 134 yards and Smith finished the day with 47 rushing yards on 6.7 yards a carry. After scoring 28 points in their first game against RMC this season, Rolin believes that familiarity along with injuries and adjustments affected the MSU-N offense in the second matchup.

“You play a team twice, you see what happens,” Rolin said. “We know each other well so it makes it a little bit harder.”

The Lights now only have one more game this season. As they head into their final week of practice, Rolin looks forward to working with his team and seeing them grow one more time this fall.

“The group of guys that we have right now love football, love to compete and love their teammates,” Rolin said. “I enjoy coaching this specific group right now. We’re not the same group that we started with at the beginning of the season but this group right now, I’m proud to be their coach because I trust them and I can count on them.”

The Lights will next play Montana Tech in Butte Saturday at 1 p.m.

MSU-N 0 0 7 0 - 7

RMC 3 3 0 13 - 19

1st Quarter

RMC - Riley Garrett 43 FG

Drive: 9 plays, 56 yards

2nd Quarter

RMC - Garrett 34 FG

Drive: 4 plays, 35 yards

3rd Quarter

MSU-N - Cannan Smith 36 yd run (Sawyer Zook kick)

Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards

4th Quarter

RMC - Nathan Dick 3yd run (Garrett kick)

Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards

RMC - George Tribble 1 yd run (Garrett kick)

Drive: 5 plays, 21 yards

MSU-N RMC

First Downs 14 21

Rushing 34-74 44-188

Passing Yards 134 187

Total Offense 208 375

Kick Returns 1/15 2/51

Punts 6/40.0 2/46.5

Penalties 2/11 6/59

Possession 28:07 31:27

INDIVIDUAL

RUSHING - MSU-N, Cannan Smith 7-47, Dylan Vongphachanh 10-25, Kaymen Cureton 16-4, Marvin Williams Jr., 1(-2); RMC, Nathan Dick 13-55, Zaire Wilcox 10-53, Dawson Schick 1-29, DeNiro Killian Jr., 3-25.

PASSING - MSU-N, Kaymen Cureton 14-25-134-0-0; RMC, Nathan Dick 16-23-187-0-0.

RECEIVING - MSU-N, Marvin Williams Jr., 6-75, Jake Horner 3-16, TaVarus George 2-15, Levi Keltner 1-12; RMC, Carter Garsjo 4-57, Lucas Oveton 4-43, Donavan Sellgren 1-33, Trae Henry 2-25.

TACKLES - MSU-N, Hunter Riley 12, Blake Lien 8, Damari Cual-Davis 7, Dylan Wampler 7; RMC, Nolan McCafferty 9, Alex Bush 8, Wes Moeai 7, Prince Johnson 5.

Frontier Conference Standings

Conf. All

W-L W-L

College of Idaho 7-2 7-2

Rocky Mountain 7-2 7-2

Montana Western 6-3 7-3

Carroll College 5-4 5-4

Montana Tech 4-5 4-5

Eastern Oregon 3-6 3-6

Southern Oregon 3-6 3-6

MSU-Northern 1-8 1-9

Saturday

Rocky Mountain 19, MSU-Northern 7

College of Idaho 21, Eastern Oregon 3

Carroll College 20, Southern Oregon 17

Montana Western 35, Montana Tech 21

Saturday, Nov. 13

College of Idaho at Carroll College

MSU-Northern at Montana Tech

Rocky Mountain at Montana Western

Southern Oregon at Eastern Oregon