Dillon, Mont. — It was rainy, it was muddy and it was ugly.

For Montana Western, however, it was all worth it. In the NAIA Game Of The Week and the one-hundredth ever meeting between the two rivals. No. 22 Bulldogs topped No. 20 Montana Tech 32-19  to move to 4-1 on the year, and hold a slight edge in the all time series 50-49-1. 

Pushing through off-and-on rain throughout the game, the first half for Montana Western was especially messy. Quarterback Jon Jund threw three interceptions in the first 30 minutes while Kylar Prante fumbled once, though Montana Tech (3-2) was only able to turn it into 10 points.

Western head coach Ryan Nourse certainly didn't mince words about what he thought of his team's performance.

"That was one of the worst wins I've ever got," Nourse said. "We had so many pathetic mistakes and turnovers. Thankfully they're all controllable things and things we can fix.

"Our guys got heart and our guys got fight."

Trailing 19-6 to the Orediggers entering the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs were in trouble. Then Jund and the rest of the Western offense woke up.

The Bulldogs went 75 yards in just five plays early in the final frame and cut the lead to six with a 15-yard touchdown from Jund to junior wideout Nate Simkins. Nourse said he felt good about his receivers getting open throughout the game, it was just a matter of finally executing.

For Simkins, who finished with four receptions for 54 yards, it was just a relief.

"We knew the crosser was going to be open over the middle, caught it, got in the end zone," Simkins said. "We're really athletic at receiver. We get some space, we can make big plays happen, we just have got to catch the ball."

A muffed Oredigger punt on the torn-up grass field gave the Bulldogs the ball inside their red zone, which Prante pounded in from four yards out. That gave Western a 20-19 lead and pried the very last bit of momentum from Tech's fingers.

Prante finished with one more touchdown and Western returned an interception for touchdown to push the score to its final. Walker McKitrick finished with six receptions for 163 yards and Jon Jund rebounded in the second half and threw for a total of 307 yards, adding another 28 on the ground.

"He's a warrior, he's a competitor," Simkins said of Jund. "He doesn't like to lose. We trust Jon and we know he's going to do good things, put the ball right where we need it."

For the Orediggers, it was a frustrating fourth quarter from its special teams in an otherwise spectacular game. Tech blocked a punt, a field goal and two separate PATs. The blocked punt was returned for a touchdown, while one of the PAT's was returned 100 yards by Damaree Morris for two points.

James Madison transfer Nik Nunez had a solid day punting the ball, with five of his nine kicks ending inside the Western 20-yard line. But the muffed punt gave Western a touchdown and Tech's return game struggled, hampering the Orediggers.

"I thought our guys did a great job in the first half defensively, taking the ball away, just getting after it and being in attack mode," Montana Tech head coach Chuck Morrell said. "There's obviously some positives to come out of what happened today."

Tech scored its only offensive touchdown in the second quarter, as quarterback Tanner Kump found running back Jed Fike for a three-yard strike. It came after safety Justin May picked off a pass — his second of the day — and returned it to the eight-yard line.

Fike's touchdown gave Tech a 10-0 lead, which they took into halftime. The running back finished with 23 carries for 143 yards, but fumbled on a long run before halftime.

Tech struggled to get much going on offense after the break, switching quarterbacks often throughout the game. Tanner Kump, returning from injury, got the start, but Jet Campbell and Cole Hauptman also saw time in the first half.

Kump finished 14-of-25 for 90 yards, Campbell finished 2-of-6 for three yards and Hauptman was 1-of-7 for 1 yard. Hauptman did add 19 yards on the ground, but the Tech offense struggled to find its footing — and offensive consistency — in the second half. Kump also was seemingly injured late in the game and did not play in much of the fourth quarter.

The Tech signal callers are still relatively inexperienced players and the Oredigger coaching staff still feels there's plenty of growth in front of them.

"They're young guys, they're out there giving it everything they've got," Morrell said. "We've got to find ways to execute a little bit better and find some rhythm and obviously throughout the day today we did not have good offensive rhythm." 

The Win moves the Bulldogs into a tie for first place in the conference with Southern Oregon. The Bulldogs will be back in action on Oct. 13 when they host Carroll College at 1 p.m.