BILLINGS — With its high-flying passing game largely held in check, Montana Western turned to its starting running back to get the job done.
Jake Humphrey piled up 215 yards on the ground and found the end zone five times — including a 70-yard scamper in the third quarter — as the No. 6 Bulldogs pushed past Rocky Mountain College in the second half to earn a 42-24 victory at Herb Klindt Field.
Humphrey, a redshirt sophomore, did his damage on 20 carries while averaging 10.8 yards per rush. He scored from 4 yards out with 2:22 remaining in the first quarter to give his team the first points of the game.
Rocky responded with a 30-yard touchdown pass from JT Allen to Darius Haskin to tie the game on the first play of the second quarter before Humphrey ripped off a 60-yard scoring run to give his team the lead again, 14-7. The Battlin' Bears would tack on a 23-yard field goal from Austin Drake with 9:35 left in the half, but Western would lead the remainder of the game.
Humphrey scored his third touchdown with 12:16 in the third quarter from 16 yards out to give Western a 20-10 advantage. Michael Palandri then competed a 48-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Shipley as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 28-10.
Humphrey then ripped off his 70-yard scoring run with 7:36 left in the third quarter to push Western's lead to 35-10 and then found the end zone for a fifth and final time early in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice.
Western improves to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in Frontier Conference play while the Battlin Bears fell to 1-6 and 0-5. The Bulldogs will host Arizona Christian on Oct. 26 while RMC travels to Montana Tech.
