Frontier Notebook: No bye this week for MSU-Northern

The Frontier Conference football season started with a few surprises. Four games in, however, the only surprise left is the league is more top-heavy than anyone could have imagined this season.

At the top sits Montana Tech and Southern Oregon. Both teams are undefeated, ranked in the NAIA Top 10, and are winning their Frontier games by an average margin of 29 and 22 points, respectively.

The two teams closest to Tech and SOU are Rocky Mountain College and UM-Western, and those two clubs are also coming off blowout wins last weekend. Rocky also has played Tech the toughest this season, but still lost at home, while Western had lost three straight before beating up on MSU-Northern last Saturday in Blue Pony Stadium.

Both Western and Rocky are also not nearly putting up the kinds of offensive numbers the Orediggers and Raiders are, and conversely, SOU and Tech are the No. 1 and No. 2 defenses in the Frontier, respectively.

So while it looked like parity might once again reign in the Frontier, the landscape appears to have changed. For right now at last, it appears the Orediggers and Raiders are miles ahead, and while there’s certainly a lot of football left, the lone showdown between Tech and SOU, scheduled for Nov. 11 in Butte, might be the only game that settles the Frontier title this year.

Bye Week for Some

Most of the Frontier will have Saturday off. Tech, Western, Eastern Oregon, Carroll College and College of Idaho all have byes this week. And there is only one Frontier game on the slate as RMC heads west to take on Southern Oregon.

However, there is also one final non-conference game to be played as Northern will look to rebound from its brutal homecoming loss to UM-Western, with a victory at Mayville State.

Saturday’s game in Mayville, North Dakota, will be the first-ever meeting between the Lights and Comets. Mayville is a member of the North Star Athletic Association and was a charter member of the old Dak 10 Conference. The game, which was scheduled late in the summer, is Northern’s first non-conference affair since the Lights opened their 2105 season at Dickinson State, and, according to head coach Aaron Christensen, it’s not a home-and-home matchup, as Northern is only scheduled to play the Comets this season, as of now.

Still, Christensen noted earlier this fall, that he liked having a non-conference game on the schedule and was excited about the opportunity to go play the Comets.

“I’m not a big fan of the bye week,” Christensen said. “This game will be good for us. When you’re trying to improve every week, the best thing is to get right back out there and play another game, so we’re looking forward to going and playing Mayville.”

While the Lights have struggled mightily since a near-win at RMC to open the season, the Comets are having struggles of their own this season. They are currently 0-2 in conference play and 0-4 overall. Last Saturday, the Comets were thumped by arch rival Dickinson State, 49-7. The game with Northern will be Mayville’s third non-conference game this season. The Comets also played Buena Vista College and Sterling College in non-conference games to open their season.

Frontier Honors

Montana Tech’s Quinn McQueary was named Frontier Offensive Player of the Week. In No. 5 Montana Tech’s 62-14 conference home win over No. 23 Eastern Oregon, McQueary, went 23 of 38 passing for 341 yards and five touchdowns. The five touchdown passes tie an Oredigger school record. He rushed five times for 34 yards and one touchdown. Also nominated were Jacob Bakken of Rocky Mountain College, Bennett Gibson of Montana Western, Brenden Kelly of Eastern Oregon and Jordan Suell of Southern Oregon.

SOU linebacker Isiah Carter was named Frontier Defensive Player of the Week. In No. 13 Southern Oregon’s 35-14 conference home win over Carroll College, Carter recorded six solo tackles, one assisted tackle, three tackles for loss (-8) and three quarterback sacks. Also nominated; Nate Masterson of Montana Western, Ryder Rice of Rocky Mountain College, Hunter Temple of College of Idaho and Connor Wines of Montana Tech.

Montana Tech WR Levi Lynde was named Frontier Special Teams Player of the Week. In No. 5 Montana Tech’s 62-14 conference home win over No. 23 Eastern Oregon, Lynde had five punt returns totally 134 yards including an 88-yard return for a touchdown. The 88-yard return set a new school record. He also had two kick returns for 29 yards.