Frontier Notebook: Northern offense is flying out of the gate

The Montana State University-Northern Lights haven't played a home game since November of 2018. So there's obviously reason to believe that the Lights will be fired up to play the Montana Western Bulldogs this Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium.

And Northern fans should be fired up, too.

That's because, even with their 53-34 loss at Rocky Mountain College last Saturday, the Lights are looking like they're turning a major corner. Especially offensively, where they are scoring 11 points more per game after two contests in 2019 than they did when the 2018 season ended. A year ago, Northern finished the Frontier Conference last, averaging just a shade over 15 ppg, but, thanks to the emergence of red-shirt freshman quarterback Brendan Medina, veteran running back Jett Robertson and a slew of talented wide receivers, the Lights are putting the light in lighting up the scoreboard so far.

"Our guys are very excited for this game, and I'm excited, too," Northern head coach Andrew Rolin said. "It's been a long road to get to our home-opener, so we're looking forward to it."

Of course, being fired up won't be enough to get past the No. 25 Bulldogs, who are fresh off a season-opening win over Carroll College last Saturday.

And while Northern's offense is thriving thus far in 2019, Western might just have the single best defensive player in all of NAIA football on its side.

Senior linebacker Jason Ferris is the reigning Frontier Defensive Player of the Year, and he easily led the league in tackles last season. So what will Ferris do for an encore? Well one game into the season, it looks like the former Dillon Beaver All-Stater is even better.

In Western's win over Carroll, Ferris set a school record with 19 tackles, including 11 solo stops. It was a remarkable performance by the 2018 NAIA All-American, and it served notice that Ferris isn't just out to be the best defensive player in the Frontier Conference this season, he's looking to be the best in the NAIA, and perhaps, even earn a shot in the NFL this time next year.

A future in pro football remains to be seen for Ferris, but it will be a fun dynamic to keep an eye on Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium - a surging Northern offense against a one-man wrecking ball at linebacker.

Gone, but not forgotten

In both 2017 and 2018, it could have been said that Rocky Mountain College's Ryder Rice was the most productive defensive player in the Frontier. After all, in those two seasons, Rice racked up a remarkable 25 sacks.

Rice still had one year left to play at RMC, however, he chose to exercise the NCAA's Graduate Transfer Rule, which allowed him to move up from the NAIA and play NCAA football this season without having to sit out a season.

Rice wanted to test himself at a higher level, so, late in the summer, he landed at the University of Montana, and in just four weeks of fall camp, Rice grabbed a starting DE spot for the Grizzlies and has played well in UM's 2-0 start.

Back in Billings, Rice has been missed.

While Rocky is off to a 2-0 start this fall, the Bears, as a team, have registered just four sacks, while they've given up seven. In the first two games of 2018, Rice already had three sacks to his name. So, while it's still early, the Battlin' Bears are still searching to fill the big shoes Rice took with him to Missoula.

Fast start, slow start

It wasn't that long ago that, after two weeks of Frontier Conference football, it was conceivable that, Southern Oregon would be undefeated and the College of Idaho would have a pair of losses on its slate.

But, oh, how times have quickly changed. After beating Montana Tech 28-14 Saturday in Butte, the Yotes, picked to win the Frontier title, are indeed off to a fast start, sitting at 2-0 in league play. On the other end of the spectrum is SOU.

Sure, the Raiders had to play FCS Sacramento State to open the season, and a loss was to be expected, but it's doubtful a 24-21 home loss to rival Eastern Oregon was expected as well. Now at 0-2 overall, and 0-1 in league play, the Raiders have to try and right the ship at C of I this Saturday. The two teams will meet at Simplot Stadium and, while there's a ton of season left, it's a huge game for both. If C of I comes away with a win, not only will the Yotes take a big leap forward in the Frontier standings, but SOU also will be in an even bigger hole, and it might just be one the Raiders won't be able to climb back out of.

Frontier, NAIA honors

Nick Calzaretta was named Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Calzaretta is a junior running back from Larkspur, California. In No. 15 College of Idaho's 28-14 road conference win over (RV) Montana Tech, Calzaretta rushed for 247 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries.

Also nominated and listed in alphabetical order; Major Ali of Carroll College, Trevor Hoffman of Montana Tech, Wyatt Hutchinson of Southern Oregon, Jon Jund of Montana Western, Drew Korf of Rocky Mountain College and Saige Wilkerson of Eastern Oregon.

Eastern Oregon's Sage DeLong was named Defensive Player of the Week. DeLong is a junior defensive end from Vale, Oregon. In addition to his conference honors, DeLong was named the NAIA National Football Defensive Player of the Week. In (RV) Eastern's 24-21 upset road win over No. 20 Southern Oregon, DeLong recorded seven solo tackles, one assisted tackle, five tackles for loss (-26), three sacks and one pass block and he helped EOU hold Southern to under 300 yards of total offense.

Also nominated and listed in alphabetical order are Isaiah Abdul of College of Idaho, Michael Chisley Jr. of Southern Oregon, Jason Ferris of Montana Western, Jimmy Henderson of Rocky Mountain, Craig Kein of Carroll College and Carter Myers of Montana Tech.

Chase Van Wyck of EOU was named Special Teams Player of the Week. Van Wyck is a junior linebacker from Napavine, California. In addition to his conference honors, Van Wyck was also named the NAIA National Football Special Teams Player of the Week. In (RV) Eastern's 24-21 upset road win over No. 20 Southern Oregon, Van Wyck blocked a first quarter SOU punt that led to an Eastern field goal. In the fourth quarter, he blocked a potential game-tying Southern Oregon field goal.

Also nominated and listed in alphabetical order; Tony Huebner of College of Idaho, Mark Kharchenko of Montana Western, Josh Kraft of Carroll College and Tyler Padilla of Montana Tech.