Lights stumble on the road against the Bulldogs

On Saturday at Vigliante Field in Dillon, the Montana State University-Northern football team played in its final road game of the season against Montana Western. The Lights have failed to win a game this season and that continued as they lost, 66-0, to the Bulldogs. While it was another tough loss, MSU-N head coach Jerome Souers did like how his players responded to the adversity.

“We continue to be a program that’s trying to improve and although it’s not showing in the score column or win-loss column, we overcame and adapted to a lot of adversity within our program,” Souers said. “So while we’re disappointed that we weren’t more competitive, I was pleased with some of the younger guys.”

It was another tough day of offense for the Lights as they had 62 total yards. Quarterback Kaymen Cureton went 6-for-18 through the air for 50 yards and two interceptions. The Lights again struggled in the ground game as they only had 12 total yards on the ground. Mason Dionne led the team with eight yards on seven carries.

On defense, the Lights gave up 646 yards of offense. The Bulldogs especially punished the Lights on the ground with 303 rushing yards. Reece Neville led the Bulldogs with 134 yards and two scores on 13 carries. Western quarterback Jon Jund was also efficient, going 11-for-19 for 201 yards and two touchdowns.

It has been a long season for the Lights. Not only have they had to deal with the losses on the field, but they had to deal with injuries to a roster that already had little depth. This has forced players to play out of position more often than not and to play more snaps.

“We’re an all hands on deck team and we have fewer hands this late in the season,” Souers said. “That makes growth and adjustment difficult but at the same time, it makes us better at adapting to adversity.”

The Lights started the game with a three and out and a punt to the Bulldogs. On their first three plays of the game, the Bulldogs ran the ball for a first down. Some penalties then pushed the Bulldogs back as they found themselves in a third and 20. The Lights had a chance for a stop but instead allowed Neville to run 71 yards all the way for a touchdown and the early 7-0 lead.

The Lights failed to respond as they again went three and out. The Bulldogs then went three and out themselves and punted the ball right back to the Lights. But again, the Lights could not pick up a first down and had to punt.

The Bulldogs started the drive with three straight runs from Colten McPhee for a first down. Jund then completed a 32-yard pass to Nate Masterson down to the Northern 24-yard line.

Four plays later, the Bulldogs found themselves in a fourth and one at the Northern 15. They converted with a ten-yard rush from McPhee down to the five yard line. Two plays later on second and goal, Jund completed a three-yard pass to Isaiah Thomas for the touchdown to make it 14-0.

The Lights continued to struggle as they started the second quarter with another three and out. The Bulldogs continued to move the ball as Jund completed a 58-yard pass to Trey Mounts down to the Northern three-yard line. Three plays later on third and goal, Neville ran it in for the one-yard score to push the lead to 21-0.

After another Lights three and out, the Bulldogs started their next drive at the Northern 47-yard line. After an 11-yard run from Neville to start the drive, Jund threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Thomas to make it 28-0 halfway through the second quarter.

The next set of possessions was a repeat: the Lights went three and out and the Bulldogs went right down the field. The Bulldogs got the drive going with a 30-yard pass from Jund to Neville that went to the Northern 39-yard line. Thanks to some penalties on the Lights, the Bulldogs found themselves at the Northern two-yard line. Jund ran it in himself for the score to make it 35-0.

The Lights went three and out again and punted the ball to the Bulldogs. It only took the Bulldogs one play to take advantage as McPhee ran for a 68-yard score to give Western a 42-0 lead at halftime.

The Bulldogs picked up right where they left off to start the third quarter as they marched right down the field again. Early in the drive, Neville had a 23-yard run to convert a third and 22. The Bulldogs continued to run the ball down the field. At the Northern 10-yard line, Jund ran the ball in for a score to extend the lead to 49-0.

Western then began making plays on defense. On the Lights’ second play of their opening drive of the half, Cureton’s pass was intercepted by Jaden Amasiu and returned 17 yards for a touchdown to make it 56-0.

After the turnover, Cureton completed a 31-yard pass to Andrew Rasmussen for a first down on the following drive. But that went nowhere as the Lights punted again. When they got the ball back, the Bulldogs went right down the field for another touchdown to make it 63-0 early in the fourth quarter.

On the Lights’ next drive, Cureton threw an interception to Western’s Gus Hanson. The Bulldogs converted that turnover into a field goal to make it 66-0. Both teams had possessions before the clock ran out on the game.

The Lights are now 0-8 on the season and they finish the year with an 0-5 record on the road. The Lights now only have two more games before the season comes to an end. Despite all the losses and adversity through the year, Souers likes how his team pushed through it all and hopes to see more of that going forward.

“The temperament of the guys that are on the team has been phenomenal and very positive. I watch them practice and I would not know that this team has that win-loss record,” Souers said. “I just know that they’re playing for the love of the game. They’re playing as founders for the future of this program and the sacrifices they may continue to make will be recognized.”

The MSU-N football team will next play against Rocky Mountain College at Tilleman Field this Saturday at noon.

MSU-Northern 0 0 0 0 - 0

Western 14 28 14 10 - 66

1st Quarter

UMW - Reese Neville 71 yd run (John Mears kick)

Drive: 6 plays, 73 yards

UMW - Jon Jund 3 pass to Isaiah Thomas (Mears kick)

Drive: 10 plays, 68 yards

2nd Quarter

UMW - Neville 1 yd run (Mears kick)

Drive: 6 plays, 78 yards

UMW - Jund 36 pass to Thomas (Mears kick)

Drive: 2 plays, 47 yards

UMW - Jund 2 yd run (Mears kick)

Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards

UMW - Colten McPhee 68 yd run (Mears kick)

Drive: 1 play, 68 yards

3rd Quarter

UMW - Jund 10 yd run (Mears kick)

Drive: 14 plays, 75 yards

UMW - Jaden Amasiu 17 yd interception (Mears kick)

4th Quarter

UMW - McPhee 1 yd run (Mears kick)

Drive: 12 plays, 98 yards

UMW - Mears 37 FG

Drive: 8 plays, 24 yards

MSU-N UMW

First Downs 3 31

Rushing 22-12 44-343

Passing Yards 50 303

Total Offense 62 646

Kick Returns 10/147 0/0

Punts 9/42.6 1/51.0

Penalties 5/55 9/74

Possession 24:28 33:36

INDIVIDUAL

RUSHING - MSU-N, Mason Dionne 7-8, Kai Green 5-5, Kaymen Cureton 8-1, Jamari Johnson 2(-2); UMW, Reese Neville 13-134, Colten McPhee 12-117, Jon Jund 10-49, Michael Palandri 4-27.

PASSING - MSU-N, Kaymen Cureton 6-18-50-0-2; UMW, Jon Jund 11-19-201-2-0, Michael Palandri 6-7-98-0-0, Peyton Broennek 1-4-4-0-0.

RECEIVING - MSU-N, Andrew Rasmussen 1-31, Devin Shelton 3-12, TaVarus George 1-4, Kai Green 1-3; UMW - Trey Mounts 2-62, Isaiah Thomas 4-57, Elijah Benedick 2-52, Reese Neville 3-44.

TACKLES - MSU-N, Dylan Wampler 9, Dustin Long 9, Brady Smelser 8, Johkyreian Shealey 7; UMW, Hirkley Latu 5, James Ochs 5, Tanner Harrell 5, Derek Rauch-Edwards 4.