Lights head down to Butte to face the Orediggers

The Montana State University-Northern football team is back at it this Saturday with a road game in Butte against the Montana Tech Orediggers. The Lights have had their struggles so far this season, but MSU-N head coach Jerome Souers hopes to see continued improvement this weekend against the Orediggers.

"We're focused inwardly on our own improvements and overcoming a lot of the inexperience," Souers said. "We're getting better and we're improving. We have to stay focused on the metrics that we use to measure that improvement. I see it as long as we maintain the attitude and work ethic that we have, we're going to dig our way out."

The Orediggers are off to a 3-1 start this year in Frontier Conference play and are ranked 21st nationally. They have defeated the likes of Eastern Oregon University, Carroll College and Montana Western while falling, 28-20, to Rocky Mountain College in their lone loss of the season.

On offense, the Ordeiggers are led by an experienced quarterback in Jett Campbell. In the first three games of the season, Campbell completed 57.47 percent of his passes for 674 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. But in the Orediggers' win over Western last weekend, Blake Thelen started at quarterback as he went 15-for-17 for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

Whoever starts at quarterback against the Lights this weekend will have plenty of help on offense. Running back Blake Counts is the second in the Frontier Conference with 380 rushing yards this season. He has scored two touchdowns on the ground on 5.4 yards a carry this fall.

The Orediggers also have the leading receiver in the Frontier Conference as Trevor Hoffman has 26 catches for 358 yards this season. Kyle Torgerson is another player the Lights will have to watch out for as he has 18 catches for 242 yards this year, both top five in the Frontier Conference.

Tech has a strong defense that the Lights will have to contend with. Linebacker Ben Windauer will look to slow down the Lights run game as he is tied for fifth in the conference with 33.0 total tackles this season. In the secondary, defensive back Jake Orvis has two interceptions this season for the Orediggers. Along with their special teams, Souers believes the Orediggers are a formidable team under head coach Kyle Samson.

"They're playing well together. Their offense, defense and special teams compliment each other and I think every program is trying to achieve that," Souers said. "Kyle (Samson) has those guys going in the right direction, winning some tough games and positioning themselves well for a run at the title."

As a young and inexperienced unit, the Lights have struggled to find momentum on offense this season. In their first four games, the Lights have only averaged 3.75 points a game. Both quarterbacks for the Lights have had their struggles this season. Brenden Medina has completed 49.2 percent of his throws for 227 yards and three interceptions. When he has gotten on the field, Kaymen Cureton has completed 38.5 percent of his passes for 120 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The Lights have especially struggled in the ground game. As a team, the Lights only average 27.8 rushing yards a game this year. Mason Dionne leads the Lights with 75 yards on 1.7 yards a carry. While the Lights have had their struggles on offense, Souers believes if they keep working and growing, it will eventually pay off for the program.

"(We're just) finding cohesiveness and complementary style of play where the offense maintains possession and special teams secures great field position and the defense does what it's supposed to do and we're not there yet," Souers said. "We just need to keep working and when our belief systems turn into habits and turn into the fundamentals that we need to play consistently, that's what's going to happen."

The lack of production on offense has hurt the MSU-N defense with more time on the field against opposing offenses. Even though the Lights are giving up 44.5 points a game this year, there have been some bright spots on defense. Safety Hunter Riley is third in the conference with 37.0 total tackles this year while also grabbing an interception. Linebacker Dylan Wampler has also been strong for the Lights with 36.0 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.

The Lights are 0-4 to start the year and have not been able to keep peace in any of their losses. While the results have not gone the Lights' way, Souers has seen improvement in his team and hopes to see more of that when they get back on the field this Saturday.

"We'll get things turned around here when we're able to build this team and further develop it," Souers said. "We're still heading in the right direction we want to go but right now, it's not showing up in the win-loss column so if that's all you look at, that's all you're going to see. As coaches, we have to look deeper and I know at the core of our program, we are improving."

The MSU-N football team will kick off against Montana Tech at Alumni Coliseum in Butte this Saturday at 1 p.m.