DILLON — After chewing on its playoff loss to the College of Idaho the past 10 months, Montana Western flipped the script.
The Bulldogs watched the Yotes storm to a big lead in the first half during that second-round game last November. And in their Top 10 rematch on Saturday, No. 9 Western returned the favor, storming to a 21-point lead early in the second quarter and from there cruised to a 42-25 upset over third-ranked C of I.
It was the conference opener for both teams as Western improved to 2-0 overall and the Yotes fell to 2-1.
The win gave the Bulldogs a measure of redemption after the Yotes ended their 2023 campaign and, in their Week 2 matchup last year, stunned Western on a last-second, tip-drill Hail Mary.
No late-game heroics were needed in this one, as Western's offense swiftly churned out points in the first half and quickly put C of I in catch-up mode. Quarterback Michael Palandri connected with Eli Nourse for a 36-yard score with 11:39 left in the first half to quickly give Western a 7-0 lead.
Palandri then scored on a goal-line quarterback plunge with 1:46 left in the first and then dropped a 44-yard scoring pass to Dylan Shipley in the opening minute of the first quarter to put Western up 21-0.
The Yotes responded with a 1-yard scoring run from Caden Young to cut the lead to 21-7, but Palandri and Nourse would again link up — this time for a 43-yard touchdown — right at the two-minute break to give Western a 28-7 lead and a comfortable path toward the upset.
C of I trimmed the lead to 28-16 midway through the third quarter on a 49-yard rush from Jackson Stampfl. Western then reeled off 14 unanswered points — a 66-yard scoring strike from Palandri to Jon Kirkley and a 2-yard touchdown run from Palandri — to extend Western's lead to 42-17 early in the fourth quarter.
A week after piling up six touchdowns against Eastern Oregon, Palandri — last week's Frontier Conference offensive player of the week — delivered an encore performance with four touchdown passes and scoring twice on the ground. He went 18 of 26 through the air with 397 passing yards while logging 13 carries for 40 yards.
Shipley finished with nine receptions for 179 yards, Nourse hauled in four passes for 108 yards and Kirkley added three catches for 85 yards.
Western's defense held Yotes quarterback Andy Peters to 267 yards on 23-of-44 passing and no touchdowns; 11 of his passes were delivered to Travis Marieriro who piled up 144 yards. All three of C of I's scores came on the ground and the Yotes' run game outgained Western 182 to 113 in yards.
The Bulldogs play their next two games on the road against Lewis and Clark College (Ore.) on Sept. 21 and No. 23 Southern Oregon on Sept. 28. Western is then off for a week before returning home to host No. 15 Montana Tech on Oct. 12. College of Idaho is at Southern Oregon next Saturday.
