Tech digs in Havre: Orediggers 23, Lights 13

Over the past two weeks, the Montana State University-Northern football team had been making strides, even in their losses. On Saturday at Tilleman Field against Montana Tech, the Lights looked to finally push through for their first win in the Frontier Conference in several years.

Unfortunately, the Orediggers had the final say in a 23-13 win.

"We made too many mistakes as a team," MSU-N head coach Andrew Rolin said. "We're just hot and cold right now. I think we have the ability to be pretty good and compete in this conference at a high level but we've got to be consistent."

The loss dropped the Lights to 0-5 this season. On the other sideline, the Orediggers improved to 2-3 this season. The win also punctuated the homecoming of Montana Tech head coach Kyle Samson, who returned to his alma mater MSU-N in his first game as an opposing head coach. He played quarterback for the Lights from 2004-06 where he was an all-conference player. He also coached on the MSU-N staff from 2007-14.

Samson made sure to make his return worth the trip as his offense scored on their opening drive of the game. After Tech forced the Lights to punt, the Orediggers got the ball at their own 41-yard line. Tech quarterback Jet Campbell showed his ability to stretch the field early with a 23-yard completion to Mark Estes on his first pass of the day. Later in the drive on third and six, Campbell scrambled to his right and found Blake Counts open who carried it 23 yards for the score. The Orediggers missed the extra point but they led 6-0 with 10:02 left in the first quarter.

It did not take long for the Lights to respond. On their second play of the ensuing drive, MSU-N running back Izayah Boss took the hand off 75 yards down the right sideline to the end zone. Niels Getts then hit the point after to give MSU-N a 7-6 lead early in the game.

Over the rest of the quarter, both defenses stiffened up. The Lights were able to get to the Tech 37-yard line, but Kaymen Cureton's pass to the end zone was intercepted by Angel Sanchez III.

Later in the quarter, the Lights recovered a muffed punt at the MT 32-yard line. However, the Lights failed to gain any traction on offense and were forced to punt. Unfortunately, the Orediggers blocked the MSU-N punt and started their drive at the MSU-N 25-yard line. The MSU-N defense stood strong as they stopped the Orediggers on fourth down and gave the ball back to their offense.

"They played their guts out. I thought they played awesome," Rolin said about his defense. "Really proud of them. We got to score more points."

The Lights continued to struggle moving the ball on offense and gave it right back to Tech. With the ball back, the Orediggers were able to get their offense going late in the first half. Campbell continued to throw the ball well as he ended the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Torgerson to take a 13-7 lead.

After another three-and-out by their offense, the MSU-N defense still did their best to keep them in the game. When he got the ball back, Campbell tried to complete a pass deep down the left sideline but MSU-N safety Hunter Riley intercepted the pass. However, the MSU-N offense again went three and out.

Tech marched down the field again as Campbell ended the drive with three straight completions of 20-plus yards. He capped off the drive with a 34-yard strike to Trevor Hoffman down the left sideline for the score to make their lead 20-7 heading into halftime.

The Tech offense carried their momentum into their opening drive of the second half. They eventually got to the MSU-N 14-yard line but had to settle for a 34-yard field goal attempt. But Jared Griffith missed the kick wide left to leave the score unchanged.

When the MSU-N offense got on the field for the second half, they were missing Cureton at quarterback. The transfer quarterback had started every game for the Lights this season but Rolin decided to go with Devonte Armstrong to lead the offense at quarterback in the second half.

"I just felt like I needed to do it," Rolin said. "(Devonte) has prepared like a starter his whole career and I felt like it was just the time to try something new and I was proud of the way he played in the second half."

On Armstrong's first drive of the half, the MSU-N offense went three and out. However, he showed what he can bring to the offense later in the third quarter. On a third and 16 on their side of the field, Armstrong scrambled to pick up yards, However, he found a hole and ran for 72 yards down to the Tech 7-yard line. Two plays later, Armstrong connected with Jake Horner in the end zone for a touchdown. While the Orediggers blocked the ensuing extra point, the Lights had cut their deficit to 20-13 with 5:07 left in the third.

The Lights got the ball back early in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie the game. They were able to get into Tech territory with a 40-yard catch from Tyrese Rios. A 14-yard scramble from Armstrong then made it first and goal at the MT 9-yard line. But negative plays and penalties pushed them back and eventually made it fourth and goal at the 26-yard line. The Lights went for it but Armstrong was sacked to end the drive.

With the ball back, the Orediggers sought to run out the clock. The Lights eventually stopped them on a third down during the drive, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play gave MT a new set of downs. The MSU-N defense did keep Tech out of the end zone but Griffith nailed the 35-yard field goal for the 23-13 lead with just under three minutes left in the game. The Lights tried to keep their game alive but they failed to convert the fourth down on their last drive of the game.

Izayah Boss had another 100-yard game for the Lights, while Tech got 104 yards on the ground from Blake Counts. Campbell also threw for 300 yards as Tech outgained the Lights 404-322. On the other side of the ball, Dylan Wampler had a huge game for Northern with 17 tackles.

Coming into the 2021 season, the Lights were looking to make a jump in Rolin's fourth year at the helm. But with an 0-5 record so far, they have yet to put together a complete game for a win. While he believes his team could have played better against Tech, Rolin also believes his team plays and works hard and that a win is not far out of reach for them.

"We're competing until the end. Our guys fight," Rolin said. "We're good enough to do it. We just got to put it all together."

MSU-N football will next play Saturday at 1 p.m. on the road at Carroll College.

Lights are 0-5 in Frontier; Next: at Carroll Saturday

Lights Notes: The MSU-N secondary intercepted the opposing quarterback for the third straight week and now have eight total picks through the first five games of the season. The 23 points they allowed to the Orediggers was a season low for the MSU-N defense as they had allowed 39.25 points per game in their previous four games. However, the Lights offense failed to gain traction as it was the third game this season where they scored less than 15 points.