Lights to face Rocky Mountain in conference opener

Off to a 1-0 start for the first time in four seasons, the Montana State University-Northern Lights are riding high.

And they should be. After all, the Lights gave second-year head coach Jerome Souers his first win at MSU-N last Saturday when they beat Mayville State 14-0. Now though, things will get much more difficult in week two.

This Saturday, Northern will host Rocky Mountain College in a rare non-conference game between two Frontier Conference rivals. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. at Tilleman Field, and the Lights will be fired up to play the Battlin’ Bears.

But, being fired up won’t be enough. To beat Rocky (1-0), Northern will have to be sharp in every phase of the game. Behind a great performance from new quarterback Trent Norbach, the Bears stormed back to knock off No. 19 Dickinson State last Saturday to open the season. The new Rocky QB threw for almost 300 yards, while kicker Wyatt Brusven, a Shelby native, came up big as well. Rocky’s stout defense also held DSU to just six points in the second half in the come-from-behind win.

However, as tough as RMC will be, the Lights have built up some momentum for the first time in a while. Former Havre Blue Pony Mason Dionne scored last week for the Lights, while senior Oakley Kopp completed 17 of 24 passes and a touchdown. Northern was really good on defense, too. MSU-N had three sacks and forced a turnover in the win over Mayville State, as the Lights pitched a shutout.

Of course, RMC will be much more sound offensively than the Comets were, but the Lights proved they’re ready to take another step this season, and they’ll certainly be up for Saturday’s challenge.

Northern meets Rocky at 1 p.m. in Havre this Saturday. The Lights will travel to Pacific Northwest Christian College next Saturday.