Lights fighting to bounce back at Carroll

The first game of the 2019 season at Blue Pony Stadium didn't quite go the way the Montana State University-Northern Lights were hoping. It wasn't all bad, but the Lights are only after one thing - wins.

Now, Northern will have to chase that elusive Frontier Conference W by going back on the road, and the Lights will try to do it in a stadium they've never won in.

Saturday, the Lights (0-2, 1-2) pay a visit to Carroll College (1-1, 1-1) with kickoff coming at 1 p.m. inside famed Nelson Stadium.

The game will be the first Northern will play against former Havre Blue Pony head coach Troy Purcell, who is in his first season as the Saints' head coach after Mike Van Diest retired last winter.

But Northern isn't worried about the stadium, or who is working the sideline across the way. After a 38-13 loss to Montana Western last Saturday, the only thing Northern head coach Andrew Rolin is worried about is his team moving forward, getting better and learning from the mistakes the Lights made against the Bulldogs.

"It's all about how you respond, right?" Rolin said. "And we will respond the right way. We'll learn from the mistakes we're making. We have to, we don't have a choice. We're faced with the task of continuous effort, continuous improvement, always, so that's what we're going to do. We're going to move on, and we're going to get it fixed."

The mistakes the Lights are making, and did make against Western, are fixable, too. Northern turned the ball over four times against the Dawgs, and committed way too many penalties that killed promising drives, or prevented the Lights' defense from slowing down Western's offense.

"We're a good football team," Rolin said. "We have guys on this team that can get the job done. We just have to learn that, to win, you have to execute at a high level all of the time, not some of the time. You have to do your job right all of the time, not just some of the time. The bottom line is, when we do our jobs, we can play with anybody, but we've got to prove that for 40 minutes."

The Lights do have the talent to hang in the Frontier Conference, including at Carroll. Northern has an exciting young quarterback in Brendan Medina, a deep WR group, led by Bryce Bumgardner and Marvin Williams Jr., but also featuring emerging young players like Jake Horner and Keagan Stroop. The running back group is becoming deeper with senior Jett Robertson as steady as ever, but freshman Cameron Taylor proving he can play, too.

On the other side of the ball, MSU-N's is showcasing a stout run defense, led by tackles Justin Pfeifer and Trendae Umi-Tuato'o, while linebacker Jaren Maki is already among the league leaders in total tackles. Safety Japerri Powell, who missed last week's game, has also shown flashes of brilliance already, while freshman safety Hunter Riley had two picks last week.

There's no denying Northern's talent. But, like MSU-N, Carroll is also seeing its talent quickly emerge.

Purcell took over a Carroll program that suffered three straight losing seasons, and the Saints lost Purcell's debut in Dillon two weeks ago. However, back at home last Saturday, Carroll exploded offensively, bashing Rocky Mountain College 44-7.

And the Saints battered RMC with weapons at every position. Transfer QB Devan Bridgewater threw for 230 yards and ran for 79 more, while the two-headed monster at RB, of newcomer Matthew Burgess and senior star Major Ali, combined for nearly 200 more yards on the ground.

Defensively, the Saints were looking like the Carroll of old against a Rocky team that was averaging nearly 40 ppg coming in. Carroll limited the Bears to just 242 yards of offense, while the Saints secondary picked off three passes and the DL got to RMC quarterback Drew Korf twice.

So, at least for one week, Carroll really did resemble the kind of team Saints fans had long grown accustomed to watching, and now, they get to see their team inside Nelson Stadium for a second week in a row, as they host the Lights.

Still, as good as Carroll looks, and Rolin fully understands how tough a road trip to Nelson is, the Lights are remaining focused on themselves. Their goal is to be 1-0 each week, and to do that, Rolin says, the Lights have to stick to the plan.

"There are no easy games in this league," Rolin said. "Every single week, you're playing a great football team. We understand that. But we have got to worry about what we can control, who we are, and not lose sight of that.

"I know this, our team has a lot of character," he continued. "This is a great group of young men, and that character will be a big reason why we respond the way we're going to respond. This group will stay focused, they'll work hard and they'll do whatever it takes to go out and get the job done."

Saturday's game between the Lights and Saints will kick off at 1 p.m. in Helena. Northern returns home to host Montana Tech next Saturday.

Tough Trip

MSU-Northern Lights (0-2, 1-2) at Carroll College Fighting Saints (1-1, 1-1)

Saturday, 1 p.m.

in Helena

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