Box Score Butte, Mont.- The Montana State University Northern Lights football team traveled to Butte on Sept. 10 to take on the No. 7 Butte Tech Orediggers in a Frontier Conference matchup.  The Lights looked to come back strong after a 31-21 loss to the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears on Aug. 27 in Havre.

The Northern defense allowed two touchdowns (16-yards and 8-yards) within the first few minutes of the game. The offense responded with a 4-yard touchdown pass of their own from junior quarterback Jess Krahn to sophomore fullback Wyatt McKinlay.  The touchdown was the only one made by Northern for the rest of the game.  The Lights battled with the Orediggers for the first half heading into the locker room down 7-14.  At halftime Northern tallied 163 total yards to Techs 123 total yards.

Northern gave up 21 points over the next two quarters.  Junior kicker Tommy Langley converted a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.  Montana Tech won the game with a score of 35-10.
Offensive leaders were senior running back Zach McKinley with 107 yards on 22 carries (also had 2 receptions for 9 yards) and freshman wide receiver Mike Cocke 59 yards on 3 catches.
Sophomore linebacker Alec Wagner and junior linebacker Garet Fowler each tallied 8 tackles, with Wagner also forcing a fumble.  Junior defensive back Dujuawn Jones recorded 7 total tackles and another forced fumble.  Another key play on defense was a 20-yard interception return by senior defensive back Garrett Jericoff.

Senior punter Dillon Barnes finished the game with 6 punts for 224 yards.

The Lights drop to 0-2 in Frontier Conference play. Their next game will be Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. against No. 22 Carroll College at Blue Pony Stadium.