Football September 18, 2026 Claire Gay, UMW Sports Information

#21 Montana Western Football Welcomes Rocky Mountain Saturday

DILLON, Mont. – The #21 Montana Western football team (1-1) plays host to Rocky Mountain (0-2) Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT.

GAME COVERAGE
vs Rocky Mountain – 1 p.m. MT | Watch Live | Live Stats

LAST WEEK ON...
Montana Western fell to then-no. 5 Montana Tech 34-7 last week, moving to 1-1 on the season.

The Bulldogs tallied 287 yards of total offense (220 passing, 67 rushing), one touchdown, and 14 first downs.

Kaden LaPlaunt and Eli Nourse connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

The Bulldog defense accounted for 64 total tackles including 38 solo tackles.

FROM THE DAWG HOUSE
The Bulldogs are averaging 28.0 points, 452.5 yards of total offense, 304.5 passing yards, and 148.0 rushing yards per game in 2026. They have put up seven touchdowns and 41 first downs.

Western has scored on four-of-six red zone attempts and converted on 50.0 percent (13-26) of third downs.

The defense has posted 50.5 total tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss (18 yards), and 1.5 sacks per game. They have also tallied two safeties, six pass breakups, and three QB hurries on the campaign.

FIRING THE CANNON
Five of QB Kaden LaPlaunt's six touchdown passes this season have been over 20 yards, including a long of 75 yards.

THE COMPASS POINTS NOURSE
Wide receiver Eli Nourse set another program record against Montana Tech, surpassing Nate Simpkins (2017-21) for most career touchdown receptions with 40.

He is also the program record holder in several other categories, including career passes caught (270), career receiving yards (3,867), single-season passes caught (90), single-season receiving yards (1,205) and single-game touchdown receptions (five).

NOT "DUN" YET
Defensive Back Connor Dunlea leads the Bulldogs defense with 11.0 tackles on the year. He also paces the team in solo tackles with 9.0.

CODE RED
19 Bulldogs recorded at least one tackle against the Orediggers, with 10 registering three or more. Tyson Hirrlinger, Connor Dunlea, Bodie Smith, and Canyon Sargent shared the team-lead with seven tackles apiece.

BULLDOGS IN THE RANKINGS
After two games, the Bulldogs are ranked in the top 25 in the nation in three categories. They sit 13th in the NAIA and fourth in the Frontier in both pass yards per game (304.5) and third down percentage (50.0). They are also ranked 20th in the country and fifth in conference in yards per game (452.0).

Individually, Eli Nourse is ranked third in the country in receiving touchdowns (six), eighth in points (36), 12th in receiving yards (284), and 22nd in total receptions (14). Kaden LaPlaunt is 21st in the NAIA in passing touchdowns (six).

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.

THE OPPONENTS
Rocky Mountain is 0-2 in the young season falling to NCAA Division II opponent UMary (10-23) and then-no. 3 College of Idaho (13-63).

The Battlin' Bears have averaged 11.5 points, 133.5 passing yards, 114.0 rushing yards, and 247.5 yards of total offense so far. They have tallied three touchdowns, one field goal and 37 first downs. They have scored in three-of-four red zone entries and converted of 12-of-32 (37.5) third downs.

Jae'sean Pete is averaging a team-high 50.5 rushing yards per game. Ty Battle (33.5) and Tuff Adams (33.5) rank second and third in the category, respectively. Battle has earned one rushing touchdown.

Bergen Mysse is posting a team-best 44.5 receiving yards per game followed by Tyler Abbott at 31.0.

Quarterback Jhett Schwahn is recording 125.5 pass yards per contest. He has gone 28-of-53 (52.8%) with a longest completion of 27 yards. He has also run in one touchdown on the year. Backup QB Garrett Deatherage has tossed one touchdown.

On the defensive side of the ball, 30 players have registered at least one tackle with 24 earning two or more.

Sean Tutty leads the Battlin' Bears with 14.0 total tackles, followed by Cohen Groener (12.0), Wayne Queen (11.0), and Sa'mar Turner (10.0). Tutty also paces the team in solo tackles with nine.

Aaron Alvarez has a team-high 1.5 tackles-for-loss while Queen and Cade Lamb have posted 1.0 sacks apiece.

DeAndre Reed has tallied a team-high two pass breakups while Queen has forced one fumble.

Jordan Legg drained the lone field goal of the season for RMC (34 yards) and has gone 2-of-3 on point-after attempts. He has 12 punts for 410 yards (34.2 per punt) with a long of 52.

SERIES HISTORY
The Bulldogs are 65-49-2 all-time against the Battlin' Bears. In the 2025 iteration of the matchup, UMW won 35-21 on the road in Billings.

UP NEXT
Western heads back on the road next week when they face off at Dickinson State (9/26) for the final non-division matchup of 2026. Kickoff is slated 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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