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Wulff vs Simpson 2026
Grace Schalk Photography

Football Claire Gay, UMW Sports Information

Montana Western Football Set for Road Contest at Eastern Oregon Saturday

DILLON, Mont. – The Montana Western football team (3-5, 1-3 FC) heads to La Grande, Ore., this week to take on Eastern Oregon (5-2, 2-1 FC).
 
GAME COVERAGE 
@ Eastern Oregon – 2 p.m. MT | Live Stats | Watch Live
 
LAST WEEK ON...
Montana Western got back in the win column last week with a 47-28 victory over Simpson.
 
The Bulldogs registered 430 yards of total offense (245 passing, 185 rushing), six touchdowns, one field goal, one safety, and 24 first downs in the contest.
 
Sam Wulff led the game with 176 passing yards and four passing touchdowns on 13 completions, including a long of 32. Rashard Boone had seven completions for 69 yards with a long of 40.
 
Santana Luna posted a team-high 84 rushing yards on 11 carries. Jakob Humphrey ran for 78 yards and one rushing touchdown on 15 carries. Boone also had one rushing score on two carries.
 
Seth Shook caught nine receptions for a game-best 152 yards and two touchdowns. Eli Nourse registered eight catches for 77 yards and one TD while Colton Cornwell one TD on one reception.
 
The Bulldog defense posted for 73 total tackles, including 37 solo efforts, 9.0 tackles-for-loss, 7.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, three pass breakups one QB hurry, and one safety.   
 
Bryson LeCoure registered a game-best nine tackles. He and Drew Humphrey tied for the team-lead in solo takedowns with five each.
 
LeCoure and Tyler Schoen tied for the game-high in both TFLs (2.0 apiece) and sacks (2.0 apiece).
 
LeCoure rounded out his stellar day with a forced fumble and fumble recovery and one QB hurry.
 
Romeo Simpson and Cartre Petre tied for the team-high with two breakups each.
 
Maclain Burckley was perfect on the day in kicking, going 1-for-1 on field goals and 6-for-6 on PATs.

FROM THE DAWG HOUSE 
The Bulldogs are averaging 27.5 points, 419.9 yards of total offense, 275.8 passing yards, and 144.1 rushing yards per game on the campaign. They have put up 28 touchdowns and 163 first downs.
 
Western has scored on 21-of-28 red zone attempts and converted on 34.4 percent of third downs.
 
The defense has posted 62.6 total tackles, 3.4 TFLs, and 1.6 sacks per game.
 
THE BIG BAD WULFF
QB Sam Wulff had a career day against the Red Hawks. He registered career bests in passing yards (176), passing touchdowns (four), and completions (13).
 
BOONE'S BIG DAY
Rashard Boone had his best outing this season against Simpson, boasting career-highs in completions (seven), passing yards (69), rushing yards (31), and rushing touchdowns (one).
 
STUFFING THE STAT SHEET
Bryson LeCoure led or tied for the game-lead in 6 categories against the Red Hawks, including total tackles (nine) solo tackles (five), tackles-for-loss (2.0), sacks (2.0) fumbles forced (one) and fumbles recovered. He posted career-highs in all six categories as well.

TAKING IT INTO HIS OWN HANDS
Drew Humphrey registered a career-high five solo tackles against SU. He has four multi-tackle games this season.
 
TACKLE 'EM, TYSON!
Tyson Beckles posted a career-best seven total tackles against Simpson.
 
RUN, COLTON, RUN!!
Colton Cornwell posted one kickoff return against the Red Hawks, taking it for a career-best 87 yards.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE RANKINGS
As a team, the Bulldogs rank 13th in the nation in pass yards per game (276.0) and 24th in total yards of offense (3,358).
 
Individually, Tyler Schoen ranks third in the nation in sacks (4.5).
 
Connor Dunlea is fifth in fumble recoveries (two).
 
Eli Nourse sits eighth in receptions (51), 10th in total receiving yards (790), and 15th in receiving touchdowns (eight).
 
Seth Shook is ninth in receiving touchdowns (nine).
 
Kaden LaPlaunt is 16th in passing touchdowns (15) and 25th in passing yards (1,674).

THE OPPONENTS 
Eastern Oregon is 5-2 on the season. The Mountaineers are posting 39.4 points, 426.4 yards of total offense, 257.0 passing yards, and 169.4 rushing yards.
 
They have tallied 37 touchdowns, 163 first downs, and have a 49.5 third-down conversion percentage.
 
In the NAIA, EOU ranks 10th in third-down percentage (49.5), 15th in points per game (39.4), 21st in passing yards per game (257.0), and 23rd in total yards per game (426.4).
 
Kallen Gutridge is averaging a team-best 224.6 pass yards per game to go with 14 touchdowns. Chase Nelson is averaging 120.6 yards per game with nine passing TDs. 
 
Coby Tanioka is catching for a team-high 80.3 yards per game. He has four touchdown receptions this season and has also thrown two passing scores.
 
Dylan Shipley (68.8, five TDs), Tyler Creswick (57.9, nine TDs), Cash Weeks (24.0, three TDs), Jovon Scott (29.67, two TDs), Malakai Nutter (one TD) and Nelson (one TD) have also caught receiving touchdowns this season.
 
Butter leads the Mountaineers on the ground with 61.0 yards per game. Gutridge is second on the team with 54.6 rush yards per game and four touchdowns.
 
Waylon Riedel (three), Nelson (two), and Braden Albrecht (one) have also earned rushing touchdowns.
 
Nehemiah Medrano leads the team with 64.0 total tackles while Michael Lenke leads in solos (28).
 
Medrano also paces EOU with 7.0 tackles-for-loss (21 yards) while Adrian Magana leads in sacks with 3.0 (17 yards).
 
Payton Howe and Monte Pettichord have both snagged two interceptions to lead the Mountaineers. The duo also shares the team-lead in pass breakups with Nick Robinson, each having three.
 
Pettichord, Chase Hendren, and Renan Loper have all forced a fumble while Howe, Justin Douglas, and Kayden Mozingo have all tallied a fumble recovery.
 
The Mountaineers have registered one safety on the year.  
 
Ethan Cutler (20-22 PATs) and Tyler Bissel (14-14 PATs) have shared the kicking duties for Eastern Oregon. Cutler is also 4-7 on field goals
 
SERIES HISTORY 
Western is 18-19 all-time against Eastern Oregon. Last season, the Bulldogs took home the 56-14 victory. 

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs are on the road again next weekend when they travel to Arizona Christian for the final game of the 2026 regular season. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT.
 

For complete coverage of UMW Football, be sure to follow us on social media at @umw_football (Instagram), @UMW_Football (X), and @Montana Western Football (Facebook) or visit our official website at UMWBulldogs.com.

#GOBULLDOGS!
 
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Players Mentioned

Tyson Beckles

#0 Tyson Beckles

DL
6' 0"
Sophomore
Eli Nourse

#18 Eli Nourse

WR
5' 10"
Senior
Seth Shook

#9 Seth Shook

WR
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Maclain Burckley

#6 Maclain Burckley

K/P
6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
Connor Dunlea

#20 Connor Dunlea

DB
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Drew Humphrey

#2 Drew Humphrey

DB
6' 1"
Senior
Jakob Humphrey

#25 Jakob Humphrey

RB
5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Kaden LaPlaunt

#4 Kaden LaPlaunt

QB
6' 1"
Sophomore
Bryson LeCoure

#33 Bryson LeCoure

LB
6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
Tyler Schoen

#45 Tyler Schoen

DL
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
Romeo Simpson

#8 Romeo Simpson

DB
5' 9"
Senior
Santana Luna

#23 Santana Luna

RB
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Tyson Beckles

#0 Tyson Beckles

6' 0"
Sophomore
DL
Eli Nourse

#18 Eli Nourse

5' 10"
Senior
WR
Seth Shook

#9 Seth Shook

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
WR
Maclain Burckley

#6 Maclain Burckley

6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
K/P
Connor Dunlea

#20 Connor Dunlea

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
DB
Drew Humphrey

#2 Drew Humphrey

6' 1"
Senior
DB
Jakob Humphrey

#25 Jakob Humphrey

5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
RB
Kaden LaPlaunt

#4 Kaden LaPlaunt

6' 1"
Sophomore
QB
Bryson LeCoure

#33 Bryson LeCoure

6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
LB
Tyler Schoen

#45 Tyler Schoen

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
DL
Romeo Simpson

#8 Romeo Simpson

5' 9"
Senior
DB
Santana Luna

#23 Santana Luna

5' 11"
Freshman
RB