Lights look to finish strong at Montana Tech

Through the fall, the Montana State University-Northern Lights have gone through highs and many lows. A few weeks ago, they defeated Eastern Oregon University for their first win in the Frontier Conference in five years. The Lights have also faced much adversity on their way to a 1-9 record this season.

Their journey this season will now come to an end this Saturday afternoon as the Lights head to Butte to play Montana Tech. The Lights and Orediggers have already played each other this season, but MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin believes Tech will have a few curveballs for the Lights.

"When you play teams twice, you've got to expect the unknown," Rolin said. "We got to do the same thing on our end as well. Just doing our best to prepare and put ourselves in a position to win. It's going to come down to us taking care of the football and winning the turnover battle and creating explosive plays on offense."

Tech enters the game with a 4-5 record, including a 23-13 win over MSU-N at Tilleman Field last month. The highlight of Tech's season is a season sweep of Rocky Mountain College, who is tied for first in the Frontier Conference.

The Tech offense is led by quarterback Jett Campbell. This season, he has completed 53.01 percent of his passes for 2,052 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In his first game against the Lights this season, he completed 53.12 percent of his passes for 300 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Campbell will look to connect with his big-time receivers. Trevor Hoffman leads the Orediggers with 32 catches for 539 yards. Campbell also has Kyle Torgerson who leads the team with six receiving touchdowns this fall. Against the Lights this season, both receivers caught a touchdown.

"They're talented on the perimeter. They got some great receivers," Rolin said. "Offensively, they can be pretty explosive."

The Orediggers also have Blake Counts to lead the rushing attack. This season, he has run for 604 yards and four touchdowns on 4.3 yards a carry. Against the Lights this season, he ran for 104 yards on 4.2 yards a carry.

The MSU-N offense will also need to break through against the Tech defense. The Lights will need to watch out for the linebacking core of Spencer Schock and Bridger Johnson. Schock leads the Orediggers with 61 total tackles while Johnson has made a living in the backfield with 8.5 tackles for loss. The Lights will also need to slow down the defensive line led by Keyshawn James-Newby who has four sacks this fall.

"Defensively, their front seven is stout," Rolin said. "Their interior defensive lineman are big strong guys so it's tough to move."

If the Lights are going to move the ball, they will need to get the ground game going. The past two weeks, the Lights have averaged 37 yards a game on the ground without running back Izayah Boss. But if the offensive line can hold, the Lights runners should be able to find some holes against Tech.

"Just play with great technique up front. Putting our guys in position schematically that suits their abilities," Rolin said. "(We have to) give our running backs more lanes to push, get vertical and get to the second level of the defense."

The defense has been the Lights' biggest strength this season as the defense has created several takeaways to keep games within reach through the year. Last week against RMC, the defense did not give up a touchdown until the fourth quarter so hopefully they can continue to hold strong.

"We just got to build off that," Rolin said. "Our defense is pretty consistent. Just got to eliminate big plays."

With the season coming to an end, the Lights only have one more chance for a win. After a tough season with much adversity, Rolin wants his players to leave it all out on the field this weekend.

"I just hope we see our best selves out there. Control what we can control, play with great energy and enthusiasm for the game and for their teammates," Rolin said. "This is the last game together with this specific team so we got to play for our seniors and play for each other and finish this thing off on a high note."

The Lights will finish their season when they head to Butte to play Tech Saturday at 1 p.m.