Box Score The Montana State University-Northern Lights fell 35-21 to the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears on Saturday afternoon in Frontier Conference football action in Havre.
The Lights came out fast, striking first midway through the opening quarter when Braydon Cline punched in a two-yard touchdown run to give Northern an early 7-0 lead. The Battlin' Bears responded with two quick scores — a short touchdown run and a 19-yard pass from Trent Nobach to Darius Haskin — to take a 14-7 advantage after one quarter.
Rocky extended its lead in the second quarter with a 61-yard touchdown strike from Nobach to Dylan Flatt, giving the Battlin' Bears a 21-7 lead heading into halftime.
Northern fought back in the second half as Ethan Maroni connected with Colter Woldstad for a 46-yard touchdown in the third quarter to close the gap to 21-14. The Bears answered again with another touchdown pass from Nobach to Haskin.
In the fourth quarter, Maroni found Mason Ahrins on a 16-yard scoring strike to bring the Lights within 28-21, but Rocky sealed the win late with a 72-yard touchdown run from Brock Ping to close out the game 35-21.
Offensive Leaders
MSU-Northern (309 total yards)
Rocky Mountain (404 total yards)
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Trent Nobach: 22-for-39, 260 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
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Brock Ping: 11 carries, 104 yards, 1 TD; 2 receptions for 11 yards
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Darius Haskin: 7 catches, 96 yards, 2 TDs
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Dylan Flatt: 4 catches, 82 yards, 1 TD
Defensive Leaders
MSU-Northern
Rocky Mountain
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Jabari Madison Jr.: 9 tackles, 1 sack
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John Aragon: 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
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Sean Tuffy: 5 tackles, .5 Sack, 2 Breakups
Team Comparison
| Category |
Rocky Mountain |
MSU-Northern |
| First Downs |
20 |
21 |
| Total Yards |
404 |
309 |
| Passing |
260 |
212 |
| Rushing |
144 |
97 |
| Turnovers |
1 |
2 |
| Penalties |
6–75 |
9–86 |
Northern's defense made several key stops throughout the game and held Rocky to just 4-of-11 on third-down conversions, but explosive plays through the air and on the ground proved to be the difference.
With the loss, the Lights fall to 1-7 overall and 0-3 in Frontier Conference play. They'll be back on the road next weekend, traveling to Dickinson State on November 1.
