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Nov. 7, 2014
www.havredailynews.com
Notebook: Lights motivated to beat the Bulldogs on senior day n From Page 11
players on offense. But they run the ball extremely well with sophomores Sam Rutherford and Dylan Kramer, and senior quarterback Tyler Hulse makes few mistakes. He’s thrown 15 touchdowns on the season, while only throwing five interceptions in 262 pass attempts this fall. Western’s defense is just as steady. Led by safety Jess McCloud, defensive end Phil Selin, and a rabid group of linebackers, the Dawgs allow just 28 points per game, 401 yards of offense and a Frontier-best 122 yards rushing per game. The Bulldogs have also garnered 15 takeaways this season, meaning their defense is just as steady and rock solid as their offense. And while some teams with no hopes of finishing high in the conference standings will generally mail in their last game, the Bulldogs won’t. With a win in Blue Pony Stadium
Saturday, Western will finish off one of its best seasons in a long, long time, and with tons of talent returning, would establish itself as a major player in the Frontier in 2015. Great Falls Production Saturday will be senior day for the MSUNorthern Lights when they take on UM-Western. And interim head coach Jake Eldridge says the goal will be to make sure the seniors leave Blue Pony Stadium with one last win. “We have to go out represent these seniors and get em’ out of here with a win on senior day,” Eldridge said. “So we just have to go back to work and I think we’ll have a good week of practice and be ready to play Western next Saturday.” And while Northern’s 15 seniors will do everything they can to make sure that hap-
pens Saturday, it’s a couple of sophomores from Great Falls who can really help lift the Lights to a win. Running back Zach McKinley is now smashing Northern records every time he steps on the field. The former CMR product has already broke five different MSU-N single-season and all-time rushing records, and he’s nowhere near done. On the other side of the ball, sophomore defensive end Tyler Craig is doing the same. With two games left in the season, Craig needs 1.5 sacks to tie the Northern singleseason record, and he’s averaging one sack per contest, which means he could break the record over the next two weeks. Craig has a Frontier best 10 sacks so far and is certainly a candidate for Frontier Defensive Player of the year.
Lost season The Montana Tech Orediggers were picked to finish fifth in the Frontier Conference this fall. It was a modest pick, but certainly, the Orediggers didn’t think they’d be where they are now. Tech has lost eight straight games since beating MSU-Northern on Aug. 30 in Butte. It’s become a season that everybody in Butte will want to forget. And things don’t get any easier for Tech, which is last in the Frontier in almost every single offensive category. Tech finishes the season with a home game against No. 5 Southern Oregon this Saturday. And if the Diggers’ can’t find a way to upset the potent Raiders, it will be Tech’s worst finish in two decades, as well as the second time the Orediggers have finished in last place in the Frontier in the last four seasons.
Havre Daily News/Eric Seidle Trevor Baum and the Montana State University-Northern seniors willplay for the last time at Blue Pony Stadium when the Light shost the UM-Western Bulldogs Saturday at 1 p.m.