Lights stopped short in Idaho

The Montana State University-Northern Lights thought they were about to complete a comeback for the ages. And win their first Frontier Conference football game of the 2014 season in the process.

But College of Idaho’s Josh Lopez had other ideas. On the final play of Saturday’s first-ever meeting between the Lights and Yotes, Lopez stopped MSU-N’s Nick Luoma one yard short of the goal line as he tried to score the game-winning touchdown for the Lights. The defensive stand lifted the Yotes to a 35-31 win over Northern in front of a sellout crowd at Simplot Stadium in Caldwell, Idaho.

It was a devastating defeat for the Lights, who erased a 28-0 halftime deficit. Northern fell to 0-5 in the Frontier and 1-5 overall. It was also MSU-N’s fourth straight loss following a win over Dickinson State back in early September.

But the defeat, or the win for C of I, which improved to 3-2 in the Frontier, and 4-2 overall, was packed full of drama.

The Yotes raced out to a 28-0 lead and looked like they were going to blow the Lights right out of Caldwell. The Yotes got a early score from Ryan Texeria and two rushing touchdowns from Teejay Gordon to lead 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. MSU-N’s defense stiffened from there, but C of I was still out in front, and the Yotes pitched a shutout on defense in the first 30 minutes.

However, the second half was a completely different story. Northern’s offense went crazy in the final 30 minutes, and wound up rolling up nearly 600 yards of total offense in the game.

MSU-N’s comeback started with a one-yard TD plunge by Zach McKinley early in the third period. After Jordan Rueschhoff added a 26-yard field goal, Mario Gobatto busted off a 30-yard TD run to bring the Lights to within 28-17 as the third quarter ended.

Then, midway through the fourth stanza, McKinley rambled 28 yards for a score after a C of I turnover, and the Lights were within four points with plenty of time left. Northern stopped the Yotes yet again, and got the ball back with just more than six minutes to go in the game, and McKinley delivered yet again, scoring on a 15-yard run that put the Lights up 31-28 with 5:16 left in the game.

It was 31 unanswered points for the Lights and a host of defensive stops by the Northern defense. But, in heartbreaking fashion, the Yotes would have the final say in the outcome.

On C of I’s ensuing possession, the Yotes ran off nearly all of the time left in the game, and punched in a short Texeria touchdown to retake the lead with just :43 left in the contest.

But Northern didn’t fold. Trevor Baum returned the ensuing kickoff into C of I territory. Travis Dean found McKinley on a screen pass down to the Yotes’ six-yard line with 12 seconds left. However, Nate Moore broke up a pass to Baum in the left corner of the end zone, setting up the wild finish. With one play left, Dean tossed a quick out to Luoma, who caught the ball on the two yard line, however, Lopez wrapped up the receiver short of the goal line to finish the game and deny the Lights a needed victory.

Northern’s offense and defense were spectacular at times in the loss. MSU-N totaled 571 yards, including 192 on the ground. McKinley rushed for 102 and three touchdowns, while Dean threw for 329 yards but was intercepted three times. Jake Messerly caught seven balls for 108 yards, while Baum had seven grabs for 74 yards and Luoma added four catches for 51 yards.

Defensively, the Lights stuffed Gordon, the league’s leading rusher, holding him to just 46 yards on 17 carries, while they held the Yotes to under 200 yards on the ground and a total of just 343. But Texeria had a big game, rushing for 151 yards on 24 carries, while also scoring the game-winning touchdown.

Butch Hyder led the MSU-N defense with 10 tackles and an interception. Malcolm Manuel also had a pick for the Lights, while Tyler Craig and Jordan Brusio had 1.5 sacks each and Patrick Barnett also sacked Gordon once.

Now, Northern will try again for its first win when the Lights return to Blue Pony Stadium to host Montana Tech this Saturday. The Lights lost at Tech in their season-opening game back in August.

Yotes 35, Lights 31

MSU-N 0 0 17 14 - 31

COI 21 7 0 7 - 35

First quarter

COI-Ryan Texeria 28 run (Luke Taylor kick), 14.22

COI-Teejay Gordon 1 run (Taylor kick), 7:06

COI-Gordon 1 run (Taylor kick), 5:35

Second quarter

COI-Gordon 18 run (Taylor kick)

Third quarter

MSU-N-Zach McKinley 1 run (J. Rueschhoff kick), 12:33

MSU-N-FG Rueschhoff 26, 6:38

MSU-N-Mario Gobbato 30 run (Rueschhoff kick), 3:18

Fourth quarter

MSU-N-McKinley 28 run (Rueschhoff kick), 8:21

MSU-N-McKinley 15 run (Rueschhoff kick)

COI-Texeria 3 run (Taylor kick), 0:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-MSU-N, Zach McKinley 21-114, Mario Gobbato 9-52, Jake Messerly 2-21, Travis Dean 3-17. COI, Ryan Texeria 24-153, Teejay Gordon 17-46, Dakota Stallions 5-17, Mike Johnson 1-0, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING-MSU-N, Dean 25-41-3-329. COI, Gordon 14-26.2-159.

RECEIVING-MSU-N, Messerly 7-108, Trevor Baum 7-74, Nick Luoma 4-51, McKinley 2-42, John Jansen 2-23, Kagen Khameneh 1-18, Jacob Criner 1-8, Sam Mix 1-5. COI, Marcus Leinhardt 7-105, Austin Diffey 2-13, Texeria 2-6, Cole Maupin 1-22, Levi Elsberry 1-8, Zach Cooper 1-5.