2015 MSU-N football preview: Lights geared up for a fresh start this fall

Starting over, starting something new, even something unfamiliar, it’s not easy on anyone. It’s especially not easy for a college football program. And, under first-year head coach Aaron Christensen, that’s exactly what the Montana State University-Northern Lights have been doing the last several months.

Christensen was hired as Northern’s third official head coach since the football program was re-instated nearly two decades ago. He replaces Mark Samson, who guided the Lights for 11 seasons, and in the interim, MSU-N defensive coordinator Jake Eldridge stepped in to run the show last fall, a season in which the Lights went 3-8, but finished on a high note, beating Rocky Mountain College in a thriller in the season finale last November.

And while the Lights finished with some positive momentum, in what was otherwise a very difficult 2014 season for everyone involved, since Christensen arrived in Havre in January, he’s been hard at work preparing to put his own stamp on the program. And for the last 13 days, he and his young Northern team have been preparing for their season-opening game at Dickinson State University, which is now a mere two days away.

“When I got here, it was all very exciting for me,” Christensen said. “It’s exciting knowing you’re at a good school like this and in a really good conference like the Frontier. And since that time, it’s been all about preparing for what we’re going to do now. The offseason went really well, and spring ball, I thought we accomplished a lot.

“But that’s all kind of the buildup to the season, and when fall camp got here, that’s when you really start to get excited,” he continued. “And fall camp has been great. We made it tough on the players because we had a lot of work to do and a lot to learn. With a new coach and new systems and things like that, it’s not easy, and we’ve also made it very clear to them that it’s not easy to win football games either. So we threw a lot at them in fall camp and they worked really hard, and now you try to go out and make all of that pay off.”

And the Lights are looking for a payoff Saturday night in Dickinson, North Dakota. But the payoff, as Christensen noted, won’t come easy. Again, with a new head coach, there’s plenty of change, though Christensen did maintain continuity on his staff, with Eldridge at defensive coordinator, as well as Cody O’Neil, Jorge Magana and Arthur Smith all back, and the addition of Darold DeBolt, who coached defense at Northern previously.

Still, with implanting a new offensive scheme, with over 40 new players and roster with just four seniors on the entire Lights’ team, change won’t come easy, especially in the Frontier, and Christensen understands that.

“With so many new players, a lot of younger players, and a new offense and a new head coach, there’s a lot of learning going on,” Christensen, who comes to Northern after a successful stint at Missouri Valley College said. “So one of the big things we’ve been focusing on is making sure we do the right things at the right time. That’s one of our big goals every time we’re out there. We also talk about what type of team we need to be all the time. We talk about making sure we’re a physical football team, at every single position. We talk about being a smart football team and being an efficient football team. Those are the things we’re striving for.”

Of course, especially after a grueling fall camp, and a couple of tough seasons in a row, the Lights certainly want to win, and even though they’re younger across the board, and were picked to finish last in the Frontier this fall, they definitely have the talent to win, and the leadership to do so as well.

Star running back Zach McKinley highlights a host of returning Northern players who will look to lead the way. A First-Team All-Conference performer a year ago, McKinley could reach even higher heights this season, and he’s got a stout backup in Mario Gabboto, an RB who would start for most Frontier schools. MSU-N’s running game should be a focal point this season, and that should take some pressure off of sophomore starting quarterback Jess Krahn, and a young receiver group led by the super-athletic Jake Messerly and sophomore tight end Kagen Khameneh.

The Lights are also looking sharp in the trenches, which is key to success in the Frontier. An offensive line led by Pete Morales will be key to MSU-N’s success on offense, while the defensive front, led by All-Conference defensive end Tyler Craig, as well as end Jordan Brusio and tackle Pat Barnett, could be the strength of the entire MSU-N team. Add in linebackers Tucker Dunn and Garet Fowler and cornerback Malcolm Manuel and the Lights have a defense that returns a host of starting experience and veteran leadership.

While Northern will be young from a depth standpoint, with so many new players on the roster, Christensen feels good about his first recruiting class, and about where his team is at ahead of Saturday night’s season opener.

“We have a lot of athleticism on this team. I think we got a great freshman class,” Christensen said. “We are young, but we do have good leadership and experience at key positions, too. There is a lot of talent on this football team. The big thing is just learning to play and learning to win at this level. That’s something we have to do.”

Winning right away in the Frontier will be a challenge for the Lights, who ranked at the bottom of the conference in both scoring and scoring defense a season ago. Add to that the conference boasts the defending NAIA national champion in the Southern Oregon Raiders, as well as perennial NAIA powerhouse Carroll College and nationally-ranked Eastern Oregon, and wins are extremely hard to come by.

Still, optimism is high at Northern right now, as a new era gets ready to begin, and Christensen says that while it might be cliché, the only thing that matters is what his Lights do in the present.

“I feel like we can win here, I’ve felt that way since I got here,” Christensen said. “But as far as success this season goes, it’s really hard to say what is successful and what isn’t. I know it’s cliché, but really, all we’re trying to do is win our next game. We’re just trying to be 1-0 each week. If we do that, and we consistently improve week after week, then we’ll be successful this season.”