DILLON — Montana Western's first football season in its new on-campus stadium was one to remember.
The Bulldogs went undefeated at home in the regular season, claimed consecutive Frontier Conference titles and then — at home against Dickinson State in the second round of the NAIA Football Championship Series — surged past the Blue Hawks as Western secured its first playoff victory since 1994 and second postseason win ever.
The Bulldogs bowed out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals in a home loss to Morningside University, but the Bulldogs' 2024 campaign was certainly a memorable one.
"It was satisfying, it was a great season, we had a really excellent team and group of guys," said Western head coach Ryan Nourse. "We got to win a big home game in the playoffs in a big way. And then we played the No. 4 team in the country right down to it.
"It was a satisfying season, but as a program this team is not satisfied. It was hard to get over and, once we got over it, it was easy to get back to work. I'm looking forward to what this team in 2025 can accomplish."
The Bulldogs opened the helmet-and-pads portion of spring camp on April 7 and are now looking to shore up positions that have seen players graduate or transfer. But Western returns a plethora of starters and leaders including: quarterback Michael Palandri (3,670 yards, 34 touchdowns), leading running back Jake Humphrey (948 yards, 12 touchdowns), leading receiver Eli Nourse (1,205 yards, 12 touchdowns) and the Bulldogs' top two tacklers last season in Keegen Muffich (98 tackles) and Jace Fitzgerald (81).
"It's been an awesome ride," said Palandri, who has been Western's starting signal caller the past two seasons and was tabbed as the NAIA national offensive player of the week after a six-touchdown performance — four passing, two rushing — over No. 3 College of Idaho in September.
"We're gonna keep it going. We got a bunch of guys left — Eli Nourse, (wide receiver) Jon Kirkley. Defense came back strong. This offsesason was really good and we just did everything together. We're coming back strong."
With the Frontier Conference set to expand this season by absorbing most members of the former North Star Athletic Association, Western football is now a member of the West Division with Carroll College being the only other Montana member. The Bulldogs will open the 2025 season at Montana Tech on Aug. 30 in what will be a non-conference game.
"We get to fly twice instead of once, so it doesn't necessarily change things that much," said Nourse. "We're not going to be going anywhere new except Redding, California, (to face Simpson University) and I was born there so it's nothing new to me."
