Story by Damon Turbitt
Dillon, MOnt. – Never underestimate a rivalry game.
The NAIA's fifth-ranked Montana Tech Orediggers looked well on their way to another easy Frontier Conference victory against Montana Western Saturday afternoon, leading the game 14-0 less than six minutes into the first quarter. The Orediggers' Jed Fike scored an 11-yard run to open up the game, and he scored again on the next possession with a 38-yard touchdown reception.
The turning point in the game came in that first quarter, when on the Diggers' third possession, a Quinn McQueary pass was tipped and intercepted by the Bulldogs' Tristan Clark. The ensuing return set up a touchdown pass from Bennett Gibson to Walker McKitrick.
The Bulldog defense settled in, while the offense began to have its way with Tech's defense. A touchdown pass from Gibson to Melvin Walser tied the game, and Western found itself up 21-14 in the second quarter when Gibson snuck in a run from inside the one-yard line. Tech would score once more in the first half–a direct snap to Fike–to tie the game at 21 apiece.
The Bulldogs took advantage of another McQueary interception in the third quarter, taking a touchdown lead on a short Hunter Thomsen touchdown reception. McQueary threw three picks on the day.
Touchdown runs from McQueary and Fike gave Tech a 35-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Western quickly responded to Fike's fourth touchdown of the game with a Kyler Prante 12-yard run to tie the game.
Gibson would give Western the clinching touchdown with his fifth individual score of the day, a five-yard run with 1:59 remaining. McQueary threw his third and final pick on the final drive to end the game, a 42-35 Bulldog victory.
Fike led the way for Tech with 206 total yards of offense (122 rushing, 84 receiving) to go along with his four touchdowns. Gibson led the quarterbacks with 365 yards passing.
"It was a great game." stated head coach Ryan Nourse, "We knew we were better than what we had performed (previously), Tech is a great team, the number five team in the country, but as coach Beers used to say 'it's not how good you are, its how good you play'. so, paper don't win games."
The loss drops Montana Tech to a 4-1 record in the Frontier, while the Western win improves its record to 3-2.
The Bulldogs will travel to Caldwell, Idaho to face the College of Idaho Yotes on Oct. 14. Kick off is set for 1 p.m.
