Lights' season ends with a loss at Rocky

What started off with such excitement, ended on another difficult note, as the Montana State University-Northern football team saw its 2023 campaign come to an end with a ninth straight loss.

The Lights lost at Rocky Mountain College 54-6 on Saturday afternoon in Billingss.

Northern tallied 143 yards of total offense (145 passing), while the Battlin' Bears accounted for 618 yards, of which 618 yards were in the air.

Northern quarterback Ashton Platt went 15 for 22 through the air for 145 yards. Jeramiah Benson caught three passes for 77 yards. Mason Dionne ran the ball 18 times for 18 yards. Northern's defense was led by Braydon Cline who had 11 tackles and two and half sacks. Dylan Wampler added 10 tackles. The Lights defense had six sacks all together.  

Rocky Mountain quarterback Graedyn Buell completed 23 of 30 passes for 449 yards with five touchdowns. Ja'Varien Salte carried the ball three times for 68 yards. Joaeph Dwyer had 10 catches for 167 yards with two touchdowns. The Battlin' Bears defense was led by Jayden Fletcer and Wyatt Brusven each added six tackles. The Battlin' Bears had three sacks on the day.

The loss ended Noorthern's season at 1-9 overall and 0-8 in the Frontier Conference. The Lights opened Jerome Souers' second season in Havre with a win over Mayville State, but couldn't find the win column again this fall.

Rocky finished the season at 4-4 in the Frontier, while Montana Western captured the league championship with a 7-1 record. College of Idaho and Montana Tech tied for second, while Carroll College and Southern Oregon tied for fourth. Rock was sixth, followed by Arizona Christian and the Lights.