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August 31, 2018
www.havredailynews.com
Notebook: Jett Robertson shines in season debut ■ From Page 11 interesting to see if the EOU defense can be as stingy against the Raider passing attack, as it was against the C of I running game. Montana Tech and UM-Western also make their season debuts this weekend. The Orediggers travel to C of I, where they ended the season a year ago with a horrific loss to the Yotes. UM-Western goes to Helena to face a reeling Carroll squad that will try and rebound from its dismal offensive performance at Rocky last Thursday night. Both Tech and Western are also breaking in new starting quarterbacks, and doing that on the road in the Frontier is never easy. Frontier Honors Jett Robertson's huge season debut earned him Northern's first Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor in several years. Robertson is a 5-foot-11, 195-pound junior running back from Glendale, Ariz. In North-
ern’s opening season non-conference win over Mayville State (N.D.). Robertson rushed for 167 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries. He also caught five passes for 82 yards and one touchdown. Also nominated, and listed in alphabetical order, are Victor Dias of Eastern Oregon and Lucas Overton of Rocky Mountain College. Rocky's Ryder Rice was named Defensive Player of the Week. Rice had four sacks in RMC's win over Carroll College last Thursday. MSU-N's Joe Fehr was also nominated. EOU's Nathan Harden was named Special Team's Player of the Week. In the Mounties' 24-21 win over C of I last Saturday, Harden made a field goal, was perfect on PATs and had five punts for 291 yards. Northern's Diego Morales was also nominated. Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson MSU-Northern's Jett Robertson was named Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 167 yards and scoring four touchdowns in Northern's win over Mayville State last Saturday.
Rewind: Northern rolls in Andrew Rolin's debut ■ From Page 10 to truly make a game of it. Northern answered the Mayville score with no time left on the clock in the third when Wilson hit a streaking Jordanoglou, and he did the rest, taking it to the house from 41 yards away. That score put the Lights up 42-20, and Northern tacked on an insurance score in the fourth, with newcomer Andrez Trahan-Proctor bulldozing his way into the endzone on a 13-yard run with 5:58 left. Proctor’s first touchdown as a Light was
also indicative of not just how well the Lights played offensively, but just how tough MSUN’s running game looks to be. Northern rushed for 220 yards, with Robertson gaining 167 on 28 carries. His huge day also included five catches for 82 yards to go with his four touchdowns. MSU-N’s passing game was just as good, with the Lights throwing for 431 yards, and Wilson accounting for 397 on 26 completions. Both were career high’s for the senior, as was Robertson’s rushing total. “Jett and Tommy really led this team today, along with how well our offensive line
played,” Rolin said. “Tommy was operating the offense all day. He was just doing his job, and he played at such a high level. And Jett, he’s the man. He’s the toughest, hardestworking guy on this team, and he showed everybody exactly what he can do today. Those two guys were awesome.” And Northern’s offense was awesome, too. The Lights had over 36 minutes of possession time, were efficient on third down, and made plays from everywhere. Nine different receivers caught passes, led by Jordanoglou, who had seven catches for 131 yards. Bryce Bumgardner, Marvin Williams, Pugh and freshman tight end Jared Eisenbarth also had key grabs on clutch third-down plays, while Seth
Havre Daily News/Colin Thompson The Lights charge onto the field for last Saturday's season-opening game against Mayville State. In their Andrew Rolin debut, the Lights won 49-20. Northern hosts nationally-ranked Rocky Mountain College Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium.
Roemmele, Wyatt McKinlay and Sam Mix also got into the act. The young Northern defense made its presence felt, too. Pfau did wind up throwing for 351 yards and Momon caught 10 balls for 154 yards, but Northern held the Comets to just 42 yards rushing, forced two fumbles and limited the Comets to just three scores. Caymus Thomas led the Lights with six tackles, but 11 different Northern defenders had at least four stops, while Joe Fehr and B.J. Hatcher each had a sack. “There’s plenty we can work on,” Wagner said. “We know we need to get better. But the defense took a big step forward today.” As did the entire Northern football program. The Lights had lost their last six games of 2017, and that sequence also included the resignation of then head coach Aaron Christenson. It was certainly a tough time. But, on Saturday, with a new season just beginning, the past was way behind the Lights. It was all about the present, and eventually the future. In front of over 2,000 fans at Blue Pony Stadium, a new era of Northern football began, and it began in one of the most exciting ways possible, with a thrilling, electrifying and intense win over Mayville State. “How cool is this?” Rolin said. “It was an exciting day. All these fans, the student section was awesome, it was loud and exciting and a lot of fun. This is the type of home atmosphere we want to have here. We want this stadium to be a very tough place for our opponents to play and it was today. “It was a great win,” he continued. “And we’re excited about it. We know we have a lot of work to do. We have a lot to clean up, a lot of areas we can improve, and a tough Frontier Conference schedule ahead of us. But today, this is what it’s about. This is special. This team is special, and I’m just really excited about what we did today. It was a great, great day for Northern football.” The Lights (1-0, 0-0) begin that tough Frontier schedule right back at home when they host No. 20 Rocky Mountain College (1-0, 1-0) this Saturday at 1 p.m.