DILLON, Mont. — The Montana Western football team (5-1, 3-1) defeated the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears (3-4, 1-4) by a score of 27-20 this afternoon on Vigilante Field.
Bulldog defensive lineman
Tanner Harrell broke the Montana Western career tackle for loss record (37.5) after he recorded a total of 3.5 in the game and 1.5 sacks. He now has a career total of 39.5 and will continue to add to the total on the season.
"Poorly done and disappointing that we would come out and play so poorly after such a good win at Montana Tech last week," Head Coach
Ryan Nourse said. "If we were playing Monopoly, we got a get out of jail free card. We will use that and we have got a mountain to climb next week and make some really good improvements so we can get back to playing a cleaner, directed, and focused game."
How it Happened
The Battlin' Bears were the first to put points on the scoreboard, hitting back-to-back field goals on their first two drives. RMC kicker Austin Drake put it through the uprights from both the 34 and the 35-yard line.
The Bulldog offense saw little success in the first quarter, putting just 36 yards of total offense together.
At the start of the second quarter, Bulldog kicker
John Mears hit a field goal of his own for the Bulldogs with 9:10 remaining in the half.
Down 6-3, Bulldog runningback
Jake Humphrey broke out a 35-yard rush to put the Bulldogs in favorable field position. A few plays following,
Michael Palandri threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to
Eli Nourse for the first touchdown of the game to push the Bulldogs to a 10-6 lead with 3:36 left in the first half.
On the following drive, Bulldog defensive back
Aiden Prado picked off Battlin' Bears quarterback Graedyn Buell to bring the UMW offense back on the field.
The pair of Palandri and Humphrey rushed for 34 yards on back-to-back plays, putting the Bulldogs on the Rocky 15-yard line. The scoring drive was capped off by a touchdown rush from Humphrey to take a 17-6 lead into the half.
Despite an unsuccessful first drive of the second half, the Bulldog defense forced RMC to punt following a big sack from
Tanner Harrell on third down to fuel a UMW scoring drive. Mears would hit his second field goal of the game on a 34-yard kick.
Up 20-6 heading into the fourth, the Bulldog defense stopped Rocky Mountain short of a touchdown on the 1-yard line and forced a turnover on fourth down.
With 8:02 left in the game, Bulldog runningback
Pete Gibson broke out a 61-yard touchdown rush to push the Bulldogs up 27-6.
On the following drive, Rocky capitalized on a 31-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Dwyer to close the gap to 27-13. The Battlin' Bears followed up on the next Bulldog offensive drive with a forced UMW fumble. They then marched down the field to score on a 24-yard pass to Dwyer with 1:55 left in the game.
Holding a slim 27-20 lead with under two minutes to play, the Bulldogs claimed a pair of first downs to seal the victory behind a pass to Nourse and a rush from Palandri.
Notables
- Bulldog defensive lineman Tanner Harrell broke the Montana Western career tackle for loss record (37.5) after he recorded a total of 3.5 in the game and 1.5 sacks. He now has a career total of 39.5 and will continue to add to the total on the season.
- Reese Artz picked up two sacks on the way to a team total of 10 tackles for loss. Artz trails Harrell's record by three tackles for loss.
- The UMW offense totaled 399 yards of offense, with 242 rushing yards as a team. Gibson was the leading man, rushing for a career high of 128 yards and a touchdown.
- Palandri passed for 159 yards and a touchdown. Nourse led the receiving corps with 85 yards in the air and a touchdown.
- Kameron Rauser totaled 11 tackles, with two tackles for loss and a sack.
- The Bulldogs struggled behind 10 penalties for 93 yards in the game.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will hit the road to play first year Frontier Conference opponent Arizona Christian University (2-4). Kickoff will be at 8pm MT in Glendale, Ariz.
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