Lights build chemistry, prepare to break in the new field as fall camp rolls on

Building a team is a big part of fall camp. It's a normal process, and one that takes time. But in this new normal that has gripped college football this fall, for now at least, one thing the Lights have is time.

With the NAIA and Frontier Conference seasons postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Lights are in the middle of a two-week fall camp, but after that things will be different for Northern for the remainder of the first semester. The Lights will hit the field again this fall, but third-year head coach Andrew Rolin said last week that he didn't know what that schedule would look like. So for now,  the Lights are taking advantage of the time they do have together, and being together is the most important part.

"You can tell how much they missed this," Rolin said last week. "They are just so happy to be out there, being a team, being together again. We haven't been together on a football field in a long time, and you can see it, you can just tell how much it means to them."

The Lights are grinding away through a two-week fall camp session, that happened to fall right in the middle of one of Havre's hottest heat waves in quite some time. But while Rolin said last week that he's having his team practice like they do have a game coming up, bonding and chemistry is another crucial aspect of what the Lights have been working on this last two weeks.

"Our leadership is really good," Rolin said. "And I feel the chemistry we had amongst the older guys on this team is very good. These guys are very bonded. But we also have a lot of new guys in the program, and young guys that just got here, so this two week is huge from that aspect. We need to build that total team chemistry, and being able to still have a fall camp has been big to that end."

Something else Rolin said about fall camp, now that the Lights are more than halfway done with it, is how the players and his coaches have responded to all of the ups and downs that college football and all sports are going through right now.

"We were all disappointed to find out we weren't going to have a fall season," Rolin said. "But the first thing we did was make sure we respond the right way to it. And the attitude amongst these kids has been great. They're handling this all the right away. They are dealing with it, they are going to work every day, and they're getting better every day. That's what we can do right now, is worry about the things we can control. We know we'll have games to play eventually, so we're going to stay focused on what we always preach, which is continuous improvement through continuous effort. So I'm really proud of the kids for how they're handling it, and it's just been a blast to coach this team during this camp."

Breaking in the stadium

Northern announced Tuesday that there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new stadium, as well as a commemoration honoring the Tilleman family for their generous contributions to MSU-Northern over the years.

"MSU-Northern invites the media to join the MSU-Northern 2020 Annual Faculty and Staff We Love Northern BBQ. As part of this year's BBQ, MSU-Northern will be showing their appreciation to the Tilleman family for their dedication to MSU-Northern athletics," a press release said.

"Join us as we take this opportunity to celebrate the new field and honor Mike Tilleman, long-time NFL legend and athletic supporter, for his many contributions to MSU-Northern. Meet up with MSU-Northern's football team and the Tilleman family tonight at 6 p.m., on the 'N' in the center of MSU-Northern's new football field.

"Please plan to attend and to help us celebrate the completion of our new football field and recognize the excellent contributions that the Tilleman Family have made to Northern over the years," it said.