Football September 11, 2026 Claire Gay, UMW Sports Information

#18 Bulldog Football Hosts #5 Montana Tech for 2026 Home Opener

GAME NOTES (PDF)

DILLON, Mont. – The #18 Montana Western football team welcomes rival #5 Montana Tech to Bulldog Stadium Saturday for the first home game of the 2026 season.

GAME COVERAGE
vs Montana Tech – 2 p.m. MT | Live Stats
*Game will be streamed on SWX

LAST WEEK ON….
Montana Western opened its 2026 account with a 49-35 win at MSU-Northern. 44 of the 49 points came in the first half while the defensive unit held the hosts to just seven points over the first two quarters.

UMW went deeper into its depth chart in the second half, affording younger players valuable playing experience early in the season.

The Lights kept their first-string units on the field, putting up 28 second-half points, but could overcome the first half deficit.

FROM THE DAWG HOUSE
The Bulldogs put up 49 points, 618 yards of total offense, six touchdowns, and 27 first downs against MSU-Northern. They posted 229 rushing yards (5.6 yards per carry and 389 passing yards (11.11 yards per catch).

Western scored on all four red zone attempts, including touchdowns on two of those. UMW also converted on 50.0 percent (8-of-16) third downs.

The defense earned 37 total tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss (15 yards), and 3.0 sacks (14 yards) and tallied two safeties, three pass breakups, and one QB hurry.

ELI NOURSE NAMED FC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior wide receiver Eli Nourse earned Erck Hotels / Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week after a five-touchdown performance against the Lights.

Impressively, all five TDs came in the first half to help the Bulldogs go up 44-7 on MSUN by the halftime whistle. He finished with 204 all-purpose yards (170 receiving, 34 return yards) and nine receptions on the day.

QB1
Kaden LaPlaunt impressed in his first start for the Bulldogs, throwing for five touchdowns and 272 passing yards. His longest TD pass was a 63-yard bomb to Eli Nourse to put Western up 30- in the second quarter. He connected on 15 of 21 attempts (71.4 percent) in the contest.

THE COMPASS POINTS NOURSE
Wide receiver Eli Nourse is closing in on 4,000 career receiving yards. He is currently at 3,753 yards after one game in 2026. Against the Lights, Nourse broke his own program record for single-game touchdown receptions with five. All five scores came in the first half.

He is the program record holder in several categories, including career passes caught (256), career receiving yards (3,583), single-season passes caught (90), single-season receiving yards (1,205) and single-game touchdown receptions (four).

GROUND COVER
UMW running backs Jakob Humphrey and Aiden Lammers combined for 199 yards in the win over MSU-Northern. Together they averaged nearly eight yards per carry. Humphrey's longest rush was a 19-yard effort while Lammers ran for a monster 54 yards. Both rushes came in the third period.

DANGEROUS DUO
Both Eli Nourse and Seth Shook caught for over 100 yards against the Lights. They accounted for 270.0 yards and six touchdowns between them.

CODE RED
The Bulldog defensive unit allowed just seven points in the first half against MSU-Northern, allowing for a 44-7 lead at the break.

SHARING THE WEALTH
19 Bulldogs recorded at least on tackle against the Bulldogs, with 10 registering two or more. Connor Dunlea, Bryson LeCoure, and Romeo Simpson led the way with four tackles apiece.

BULLDOGS IN THE RANKINGS
After one game, the Bulldogs are ranked in the top 25 in the nation in multiple categories. As a team, Western is ranked fourth in the NAIA in yards per game, fifth in pass yards per game (389.0), 10th in points per game (49.0), 17th in third down conversion percentage (50.0) and 18th in rush yards per game (229.0).

Individually, Eli Nourse is ranked third in the country in receiving touchdowns (five) and 23rd in receiving yards (170). Kaden La Plaunt sits 16th in passing touchdowns (five).

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
2026 football players Canyon Sargent, Eli Nourse, Jakob Humphrey, and Drew Humphrey are all second-generation Bulldogs. Their fathers, Jason Sargent, current UMW head coach Ryan Nourse, and Jim Bob Humphrey also played football for UMW (then Western Montana College).

Moreover, the Humphrey brothers and Nourse have won two Frontier Conference Football Championships together (2023, 2024), just like their fathers did as teammates in 1994 and 1995.

OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS!
Redshirt-sophomore Connor Dunlea, redshirt-junior Ethan Larson, and senior Eli Nourse have been chosen as the Bulldog football captains ahead of the 2026 season.

CALLING THE SHOTS
Head Coach Ryan Nourse is back for his 13th season at the helm of Bulldog football. His 71 wins are the most in program history.

Nourse is joined by Defensive Coordinator Riley Martello (fifth season), Co-Offensive Coordinators Jed Heffernan (sixth season) and Tyler Murray (first season), Justin Hurd (third season), Rich Coppin (second season), and Tristin Rodriguez (fourth season).

Martello, Heffernan, and Murray all played under Nourse in their collegiate careers.

THE OPPONENTS
Five-ranked Montana Tech has started the campaign 2-0, blanking OUAZ 48-0 in its season opener before defeating #11 Carroll 24-14 last week.

The Orediggers have averaged 36.0 points, 212.5 rushing yards, 155.0 passing yards, and 367.5 yards of total offense through two games. They have tallied eight touchdowns, three field goals, and 50 first downs while converting on 9-of-13 red zone entries and 46.9 percent (15-32) of third downs.

As a team, Montana Tech is ranked in the top 25 in five statistical categories. The Orediggers are 11th in the nation in first downs (50), 21st in both rushing yards per game (212.5) and total points (72), and 24th in both points per game (36.0) and third down percentage (46.9).

Jamal Cariglia and Merek Mihelish both put up 73.0 rushing yards against the Saints while Ikaika Ho (69.5) and Jarrett Wilson (64.5) are leading the team in rushing yards through two games.

Wilson leads Montana Tech and is sixth in the nation in rushing touchdowns with four on the year. He is also 11th in the country in points with 24.

Wilson also leads the Orediggers with 155.0 passing yards per game. He has 35 completions in 55 attempts (63.64 percent) with a long of 42, one touchdown, and one interception. Individually

Levi Torgerson is posting a team-high 61.0 receiving yards per game on 17 catches (7.18 per catch). Nick Mitchelotti is close behind at 56.0 yards per game on seven catches (16.0 yards per catch). Torgerson also ranks 11th in the NAIA in all-purpose yards with 311.

On the defensive side, 25 players have recorded at least one tackle, with 17 recording two or more. Kellan Beller leads the team with 10.0 total tackles, followed by Christian Hansen with 8.0. Hansen also leads the Orediggers with three pass breakups and one forced fumble.

Hansen and Tyler Kovick are tied for the team-lead in solo tackles with six apiece. Hansen and Cole Graham have both recorded a team-high 2.0 tackles-for loss (for 13 and 10 yards, respectively). Graham also tops the team in sacks (1.5).

Hansen, Jalen Perkins, Brett Grange, and Asher Feddes have all snagged on interception for Montana Tech while Dominic Umile has posted five QB hurries.

Casey Kautzman is 3-for-3 on field goals including a long of 32.

SERIES HISTORY
The Bulldogs are 58-62-2 against Montana Tech all-time. In last season's matchup, Western fell 27-38 on the road in Butte, Mont.

UP NEXT
UMW returns to Dillon next week it welcomes Rocky Mountain to Bulldog Stadium. 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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