Frontier Notebook: Five Frontier teams ranked in Top 25

Just when it looked the Frontier Conference might be a forgone conclusion, the Frontier title is now anything but.

And we owe the big question marks ahead to the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears.

The league returned from the bye week last Saturday, and the Bears, who have had a roller coaster of a first half of 2018, did the unthinkable and shocked the No. 2 Southern Oregon Raiders 34-21 Saturday at Herb Clint Field in Billings.

The result itself was stunning considering how both teams had trended in the first half of the season with SOU rattling off four straight wins to start the year while Rocky was coming off a split in its last two games, including having to survive a 41-40 thriller at College of Idaho.

Saturday however, trends mattered little and Rocky, all of sudden, looks like the team that came storming out of the gates this season and had everybody wondering whether or not the Bears might just run the table.

Meanwhile, the loss in Billings snapped a 14-game Frontier winning streak at SOU. The streak was the longest in the league since Carroll's streak ended in 2012.

Rocky didn't turn the Frontier upside down Saturday, though. In another matchup of the nationally ranked squads, UM-Western beat bitter rival Montana handily 32-19 in Dillon. The win, perhaps Western's biggest during its four-year resurgence in the Frontier, was a dominating one by a Bulldog squad that is relatively young.

What does all this mean now that the halfway point of the Frontier season has been officially reached? For starters, it means the Frontier title is really up for grabs. Western and SOU each have one loss, while Tech and Rocky each have two league losses. SOU is still in the driver's seat since it doesn't play Rocky again, and the Raiders get Western at home on the final day of the regular season. But it also means that if the Bulldogs get to Ashland having won five straight, they might just have clinched a playoff berth whether they beat the Raiders or not.

Saturday's results also mean the Frontier is as represented in the current NAIA Coaches Poll as it can be with five of the eight teams in the league now natinally ranked. With Eastern Oregon's win over Northern last Saturday, the Mounties jumped into the Top 25 and even they are not completely out of the Frontier title chase just yet.

Of course, a lot can happen between now and Nov. 10, however. Western visits Rocky on Oct. 27 while SOU has big games against EOU this Saturday and at Montana Tech Oct. 27.

So buckle your seatbelts. It's gonna be a fun ride down the stretch.

Back in Billings

Rocky gets to play at home again this Saturday when the Batllin' Bears host the Montana State University-Northern Lights. And thanks to College of Idaho's dominant 28-7 win over Carroll College last week, Northern is now the last Frontier team without a conference win.

And getting one in Billings will be no easy task. The Lights were crushed by the Bears 51-7 last month in Havre, and since that time, Northern has really been struggling on defense. But if you want a little karma then remember this - the last two road wins Northern has in the Frontier, they've both come at Herb Klindt Field.

Of course, to get a third win at Rocky in the last six years the Lights will have to slow down Rocky's offense but, more importantly, find a way to move the ball against the Bears' stingy defense. Northern did have some success in the passing game the first time the two met and Tommy Wilson continued his impressive season with a 300-yard game against EOU last Saturday night, but overall, the Bears are stingy and lead the league in both sacks and interceptions.

So it goes without saying, breaking into the win column will be tough for the young Lights, but Saturday could also be a true trap game for the Bears after they come off their biggest win of the season.

Halfway Leaders

Of all the statistical leaders in the Frontier at the halfway point, Rocky's Ryder Rice might be the most impressive. He's got 9.5 sacks and still has five games left to play this season. As expected, Rice is having a huge year and is the heavy favorite to win the Frontier Defensive Player of the Year at season's end.

UM-Western's Jason Ferris leads the league in tackles with 64, while EOU's Zach Jacobs has a league-best five interceptions. Rice also leads the Frontier with 10 tackles for loss.

On the offensive side, EOU's Kai Quinn is having a huge season. He leads the Frontier in passing at 319 yards per game, and total offense at 355 ypg. Tech's Jed Like is well out in front in rushing with his 126 ypg and a total of 631 yards on the season, while EOU's Brendan Kelly leads the conference with 6.6 catches per game and a whopping 750 receiving yards. He's also averaging an incredible 22 yards per grab.

Frontier Honors

Rocky Mountain College quarterback Jacob Bakken was named the Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week. UM-Western's Riley Martello of UM-Western was named Defensive Player of the Week, and Montana Tech defensive lineman Arthur Flynn was named Special Teams Player of the Week.

NAIA Coaches Poll

1 1 Morningside [15] 6-0 366

2 3 Marian (Ind.) [1] 5-0 351

3 4 Northwestern (Iowa) 6-0 339

4 6 Reinhardt (Ga.) 5-1 308

4 7 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 4-1 308

6 8 Evangel (Mo.) 7-0 299

7 2 Southern Oregon 4-1 282

8 9 Grand View (Iowa) 4-1 267

9 10 Bethel (Tenn.) 6-0 246

10 11 Kansas Wesleyan 6-0 226

11 14 Concordia (Mich.) 5-1 220

12 12 Benedictine (Kan.) 5-1 214

13 5 Saint Francis (Ind.) 4-2 198

14 13 Langston (Okla.) 4-1 189

15 15 Georgetown (Ky.) 4-2 167

16 21 Rocky Mountain 4-2 152

17 17 Baker (Kan.) 4-2 151

18 18 Cumberlands (Ky.) 6-1 143

19 22 Montana Western 4-1 117

20 23 Siena Heights (Mich.) 5-0 102

21 16 Dickinson State (N.D.) 4-2 65

22 NR Ottawa (Kan.) 5-1 50

23 NR Webber International 4-1 43

24 NR Eastern Oregon 3-2 37

25 20 Montana Tech 3-2 33

Others Receiving Votes: Arizona Christian 27, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 22, Avila (Mo.) 10

HDN Week 7 Frontier Power Rankings

Southern Oregon

UM-Western

Rocky Mountain

Eastern Oregon

Montana Tech

College of Idaho

Carroll College

MSU-Northern