ASHLAND, Ore. — A second-half surge on Saturday wasn't enough to prevent No. 4-ranked Montana Western from slipping up on the road against Frontier Conference foe and No. 14-ranked Southern Oregon.
Quarterback Michael Palandri threw three touchdown passes, including two in the game's final five minutes, but the Bulldogs lost 28-26 to suffer their first defeat of the year.
Western was down 28-10 with 6:19 remaining in the third quarter. The comeback began with a 33-yard field goal by John Mears, and then Palandri threw two TD passes to Eli Nourse, the second of which was a 19-yarder with 3:14 remaining in the game.
After Palandri and Nourse connected on their first touchdown, a Western two-point attempt failed.
Southern Oregon was able to run the clock out after getting the ball back with 3:10 remaining.
Western's Palandri threw for 371 yards and three touchdowns while Nourse caught eight passes for 111 yards. Western, though, was stymied by Southern Oregon's running game, as Gunner Yates rushed 31 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
SOU quarterback Blake Asciutto threw a pair of touchdowns to Sawyer Cleveland, including a 12-yard connection that gave the team a 28-10 advantage with 6:19 left in the third quarter.
Montana Western is now 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Frontier. The Bulldogs are off next week but will host rival Montana Tech on Oct. 12.
