Lights struggle against Montana Tech in Butte

On Saturday against the 21st-nationally ranked Montana Tech Orediggers, a young and growing Montana State University-Northern football team had its hands full. The Orediggers got off to a hot start while the Lights could not create momentum as the Lights lost 73-0 in Butte.

"It wasn't a performance any of us in our organization are really excited about. It was a tough day," MSU-N head coach Jerome Souers said. "But we're all in. There's not going to be any finger point or blaming. We're going to work our way out of this and be the foundation that rebuilds this program."

The Lights offense continued to struggle as it finished the game with 28 total yards of offense and six first downs. Starting quarterback Kaymen Cureton finished the game going 7-for-16 for 86 yards and an interception. As a team, the Lights finished the game with negative 58 rushing yards. Mason Dionne led the team with 27 yards on 10 carries.

The Northern defense could not slow down the Orediggers. Quarterback Blake Thelen finished the game going 11-for-14 for 256 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, the Ordiggers ran for 209 rushing yards on 44 carries.

The Orediggers got started quickly with Kyle Torgerson returning the opening kickoff all the way to the Northern 45-yard line. Two plays later, Thelen found Trevor Hoffman deep down the middle for a 36-yard gain to the six-yard line. After a run for no gain, Kaleb Winterburn took the direct snap into the endzone for a six-yard touchdown for a quick 7-0 lead.

The Lights got some luck on their opening drive of the game. On third and 13, a defensive pass interference gave the Lights a first down. But the Lights could not take advantage as they found themselves in fourth down. In punt formation, Hunter Riley kept the ball and tried to run for a first down but was tackled short.

Even though they started the drive at the Northern 40, the Orediggers had some trouble. A fumble put them behind the chains and a penalty took away a big gain. But on third and 15 at the 34-yard line, Thelen found Torgerson in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown to make it 14-0.

After a Northern three and out and a punt, the Orediggers got right back to work. Thelen completed back-to-back passes for first downs down to the Northern 13-yard line. Three plays later on a third and nine, Thelen found Hoffman down the right sideline of the end zone for the 12-yard score.

The Montana Tech defense then got in on the action. On a third and seven at the Lights 15-yard line, Cureton was sacked and fumbled. The ball bounced into the end zone where defensive lineman Tyler Little recovered it for the score to make it 28-0 late in the first quarter.

The Lights could not respond as they once again went three and out and had to punt. But on the punt, Riley fumbled the ball and was unable to get the ball away. The Orediggers got the ball at the Northern one-yard line, which they quickly cashed in with a one-yard touchdown run from running back Blake Counts to make it 35-0.

"When you have that many shorter fields, your defense invariably is going to be at a disadvantage," Souers said.

After another Northern punt, the Orediggers continued to move the ball down the field. After working all the way down to the Northern one-yard line, Winterburn ran it in for his second score of the day to make it 42-0.

The Lights continued to struggle on offense as they punted it away again. With the ball back, it only took the Orediggers one play as Thelen's pass to Wyatt Alexander on a screen pass went all the way for a 65-yard touchdown to push it to 49-0.

"We committed more numbers to the front that exposed some things in the back end. A few things that caused us to give up some big plays," Souers said about the pass defense.

Late in the first half, the Lights finally put a drive together. On a fourth and two in punt formation, Cureton took the fake snap and converted it for a first down. He then connected with TaVarus George on a couple of passes to get the Lights into Tech territory. But that was all the Lights could do as they had to punt it again to end the half.

The Lights got the ball to start the second half but on the second play of the drive, they fumbled the ball and Tech got it at the MSU-N 33-yard line. The Lights defense was able to get a stop, but Ryan Lowry kicked a 31-yard field goal to extend the lead to 52-0.

The Lights and Orediggers then exchanged empty possessions over the next few minutes, After another Northern punt, the Orediggers drove into Northern territory again. But it ended with Lowry missing the field goal wide left for Tech's first scoreless drive of the game.

The rest of the game followed a similar pattern. The Lights failed to move the ball while the Orediggers continued to move the ball. Even with back ups in the game, Tech scored three more touchdowns over the last quarter and a half to make the final score 73-0.

The loss dropped the Lights to 0-5 in their first season under Souers. It has not been easy for them this fall, but Souers believes if they can keep with it, everything they learn through the adversity will eventually prove beneficial for the program down the road.

"Skill and mastery comes from repetition and to apply repetition into game situations requires existence," Souers said. "It's a Rubik's cube of sorts so we have to try a lot of different things before we get everything aligned the way we want it to be aligned."

The MSU-N football team will next play Carroll College at Tilleman Field this Saturday at 1 p.m.

MSU-Northern 0 0 0 0 - 0

Tech 28 21 10 14 - 73

1st Quarter

Tech - Kaleb Winterburn 6 yd run (Ryan Lowry kick)

Drive: 4 plays, 45 yards

Tech - Kyle Torgerson 34 pass from Blake Thelen (Lowry kick)

Drive: 5 plays, 40 yards

Tech - Trevor Hoffman 12 pass from Thelen (Lowry kick)

Drive: 5 plays, 44 yards

Tech: Tyler Little fumble recovery (Lowry kick)

2nd Quarter

Tech - Blake Counts 1 yd run (Lowry kick)

Drive: 6 plays, 77 yards

Tech - Winterburn 1 yd run (Lowry kick)

Drive: 6 plays, 77 yards

Tech - Wyatt Alexander 65 pass from Thelen (Lowry kick)

Drive: 1 play, 65 yards

3rd Quarter

Tech - Lowry 31 field goal

Drive: 4 plays, 20 yards

Tech - Cade Wyant 8 yd run (Lowry kick)

Drive: 6 plays, 69 yards

4th Quarter

Tech - Christian Vetter 7 yd run (Lowry kick)

Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards

Tech - Jake Standlee 5 yd run (Lowry kick)

Drive: 4 plays, 27 yards

MSU-N Tech

First Downs 6 27

Rushing 39(-58) 44-209

Passing Yards 86 258

Total Offense 28 467

Kick Returns 6/33 1/54

Punts 6/42.33 0/0

Penalties 2/10 2/22

Possession 30:37 29:23

INDIVIDUAL

RUSHING - MSU-N, Mason Dionne 10-27, Jamari Johnson 8-8, TaVarus George 1-3, Brenden Medina 2(-2); Tech, Ethan Renner 17-91, Cade Wyant 2-33, Christian Vetter 4-24, Blake Counts 7-22.

PASSING - MSU-N, Kaymen Cureton 7-16-86-0-1; Tech, Blake Thelen 10-14-256-3-0, Cade Wyant 1-1-2-0-0.

RECEIVING - MSU-N, TaVarus George 5-52, Devin Shelton 1-28, Cannan Smith 1-6; Tech, Trevor Hoffman 5-124, Wyatt Alexander 1-65, Kyle Torgerson 2-54, Blake Counts 1-13.

TACKLES - MSU-N, Hunter Riley 9, Devin Carmona 8, Lucas Thacker 6, Dylan Wampler 4; Tech, Keyshawn James-Newby 7, Cole Wyant 5, Blake Allred 5, Ezra Gulewich 4.