Lights hope to make it a special snowcoming day

Homecoming is a unique and special time on any college campus. And it's no different at Montana State University-Northern.

And that's why the Northern football team is focused and determined to make Saturday's 2019 homecoming game a rousing success.

The Lights (0-3, 1-3) host the No. 25 Montana Tech Orediggers (2-1, 2-1) Saturday inside Blue Pony Stadium. And with a huge announcement set to be made prior to kickoff, and a forecast that calls for cold, wind and snow, not to mention a Tech team that comes to Havre having won two straight, the game promises to be a memorable one.

"We're excited, we're fired up about this one," Northern head coach Andrew Rolin said. "It's a big day for our program, our campus and our community. And it's a big game against a very good team. So we're looking forward to it, and our guys will be ready to go."

Northern will need to be ready. The Lights, coming off a road loss at Carroll College last Saturday, have to brace for a Montana Tech squad that is bringing the top defense in the Frontier Conference to Havre.

Following a narrow win over Southern Oregon last week, the Diggers are allowing just 17 points per game, and 321 yards of total offense. They also are in the top 15 nationally in pass defense, which, on the other side of the ball, is Northern's strength. That pass defense is also anchored by former Chester-Joplin-Inverness star Justin May, who is a junior safety for the Diggers, and a three-year starter. Add to that standouts like Carter Myers at linebacker, and Jesse Sims and Chase Barta on the defensive line, and there's a reason why the Diggers are so stingy.

And that presents a challenge for a Northern offense that has shown plenty of flashes, including last Saturday when red-shirt freshman quarterback Brenden Medina threw for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns, while receivers Marvin Williams Jr., Bryce Bumgardner and Damari Caul-Davis were hard for even Carroll's tough defense to stop.

"When we're good, we're really good," Rolin said. "We've shown that. When we're clicking, when we're making plays and taking care of the football, our offense is very hard to defend. We have a lot of weapons, and we can play with anybody when we're executing like we're supposed to. But, we have to be consistent. We can't make the kinds of offensive mistakes we've been making and expect to win in this league. So it's that consistency we're still searching for."

The Lights are good offensively. Northern is second in the Frontier in passing, and fourth in total offense. But, MSU-N has also turned the ball over 11 times in three league games, and that has certainly hindered its chances of winning. And with Tech having one of the best defenses in the Frontier, Northern will have to execute at an extremely high level Saturday.

The same can be said for MSU-N's defense.

The Lights have come a long way in one season, especially with the emergence of Japerri Powell at safety, strong play from Jaren Maki at linebacker, and a defensive line that has been very tough against the run this season - Northern is third in the Frontier in rush defense, allowing just 151 yards per contest.

But, with all that said, the Lights are up against the premier running back in the Frontier in Tech senior Jed Fike. The standout has led the league in rushing in each of the last two seasons, and he comes into his final game in Havre averaging 103 yards per game this fall. Tech is also versatile, with quarterback Jet Campbell being a dual-threat, and wide receiver Trevor Hoffman leading the Frontier with his 123 yards per game. And of course, they have former Lights great and offensive innovator Kyle Samson now calling plays, as well.

"Tech is very talented," Rolin said. "They are big and strong on both lines. They have great skill players, they're very physical on both sides of the ball. They have all the pieces in place, and they're very well coached."

No doubt. The Orediggers, after losing their season-opener to College of Idaho, have been very good. They're back in the NAIA Top 25 since early last season, and while they were picked to finish just fifth in the Frontier this season, it appears they have no intention of finishing that low again.

However, as good as Tech is, the Lights have already proven they are no longer an also-ran in the Frontier. In all three league games thus far, the Lights have been on the verge of breaking through. They haven't yet, and Rolin makes no excuses for that.

"The goal is to be 1-0 every week," Rolin said. "We haven't accomplished that goal the last three weeks. We've just made too many mistakes, and shot ourselves in the foot too many times. So we have to get better, we know that, I know it. Fortunately, the kinds of mistakes we're making are fixable, it's just a matter of our guys being willing to do what it takes to make those corrections in practice and carry that over to Saturday."

As much as Rolin knows the areas his team needs to get better, and as tough as MSU-N's homecoming opponent is, he also sees the bigger picture. He sees how close his Lights are to climbing over a major hurdle.

And he believes Saturday could be the day they do just that.

"I know where we're headed," Rolin said. "We're close. We haven't done it yet, but you have to keep things in perspective, and I believe this team is really close. We have the guys to do it, we have the culture. This is a very tight team, they love each other and play for each other, and they're not going to hang their heads. So, because of the culture and because of the guys on this team, it's going to happen. We just have to do the things to make it happen, and we want it to happen on Saturday. The goal is the same as last week - we want to be 1-0 this week."

Saturday's homecoming game between the Lights and Orediggers will kick off at 1:07 p.m. inside Blue Pony Stadium. At 12:40 p.m., Northern will be making a special presentation, so fans shouldn't miss that. The Lights have a bye next week, and don't play at home again until an Oct. 19 bout with Rocky Mountain College.

Big Day

MSU-Northern Lights (0-3, 1-3) vs #25 Montana Tech Orediggers

(2-1, 2-1)

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Blue Pony Stadium

Streaming: golightsgo.com

Radio: 92.5 KPQX FM

Twitter: Twitter/Havredaily

Game Day

Inside