BUTTE — Rocky Mountain College knocked No. 21 Montana Tech from the ranks of the unbeaten Saturday with a 28-20 victory that was safeguarded by a defensive stand in the final seconds.
Needing a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie it, the Orediggers moved to the Rocky 25-yard line with 16 seconds left. But that’s when Jack Cline intercepted quarterback Jet Campbell to preserve the win for the Battlin’ Bears at Alumni Coliseum.
Quarterback Nate Dick rushed for two touchdowns and threw another to lead the Bears. His 4-yard TD run put Rocky in front 28-13 with 14:56 left.
Campbell threw a 6-yard scoring pass to Blake Counts with 2:11 remaining to make it 28-20. Rocky then pinned Tech back on its own 4 with a precision punt by Wyatt Brusven. But the Orediggers moved the ball as Counts ran for 12 yards and as Campbell hit Kyle Torgerson for 13 more, and then Campbell ran for 26 yards to put the ball on Rocky’s 25. But that’s where the drive, and the game, ended.
Rocky’s defense scored a touchdown in the first quarter when Prince Johnson recovered a fumble and ran 28 yards to the end zone. Dick found Zaire Wilcox for a 17-yard TD pass to make the score 15-3 in the second quarter.
Campbell had a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Dick countered with a 1-yard TD run of his own early in the third.
Rocky improved to 2-1 while the Orediggers fell to 2-1.
Elsewhere around the Frontier …
No. 19 Montana Western 35, MSU-Northern 6
HAVRE — Reese Neville rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown and Montana Western rolled over MSU-Northern 35-6 at Tilleman Field.
D.J. Kirven rushed for two touchdowns and Jon Jund threw for 141 yards and accounted for two TDs as the 19th-ranked Bulldogs improved to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the Frontier. MSU-Northern dropped to 0-3 overall.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Neville gave Western a 7-0 lead on a 30-yard touchdown run. Jund followed with a 1-yard scoring run and Kirven scored from five yards out to give the Bulldogs a 21-0 advantage.
In the third quarter, Jund found Dylan Shipley with a 46-yard touchdown pass. Kirven added a 9-yard TD run in the fourth.
Northern got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when Andrez Trahan-Proctor returned a botched snap on a Western field goal try to the end zone for a touchdown.
Carroll 25, Eastern Oregon 23
LA GRANDE, Ore. — Spencer Berger made a 33-yard field goal with 21 seconds left and Carroll College prevailed 25-23 over Eastern Oregon in a back-and-forth affair at Community Stadium.
The Saints trailed by one point when it got the ball back on their own 30-yard line with 3:14 remaining, when they embarked on their winning drive. Along the way, quarterback Jack Prka hit Tony Collins for 12 yards and then found Chris Akulschin for 29 yards.
A 4-yard run by Duncan Kraft set Carroll up on the 16 with 25 seconds left, and that’s when Berger made the winning kick.
EOU took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Carson Bohning scored from three yards out, but Carroll tied it on a 63-yard touchdown run by Matthew Burgess. But the Mountaineers went back up 14-7 after Malachi Spurrie caught a 46-yard TD from Bohning.
Berger and Ethan Cutler then traded field goals and EOU had a 17-10 lead at the half.
After a scoreless third, Prka tied the game with a 5-yard touchdown run. Berger later hit from 40 yards to give the Saints a 20-17 lead.
Then all heck broke loose. Blaine Shaw returned a Saints fumble 62 yards for a Mountaineer touchdown, but the extra point was blocked and Carroll returned it for two points, making the score 23-22 in favor of EOU with 6:08 left.
After a defensive stand, the Saints were set up for their winning march.
Carroll improved to 2-1 while Eastern Oregon fell to 0-3 in the Frontier and 0-4 overall.
No. 17 College of Idaho 42, Southern Oregon 24
ASHLAND, Ore. — Hunter Gilbert ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns to lead College of Idaho to a 42-24 victory over Southern Oregon.
The 21st-ranked Yotes trailed 14-7 at halftime but rallied with 14 points in the third quarter and 21 unanswered in the fourth to improve to 3-0. Gilbert scored on runs of 1, 30 and 14 yards, leading a C of I offense that rushed for 288 yards overall.
Yotes quarterback Andy Peters threw two touchdown passes and finished with 199 yards. Brock Richardson caught eight passes for 105 yards a TD for C of I.
Blake Sciutto finished with 176 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for SOU, which fell to 1-2.
