DILLON — Montana Western kept its unbeaten record at its new home intact, and did so against arch rival Montana Tech.
The No. 7 Bulldogs built a 14-7 halftime lead over the No. 12-ranked Orediggers and then used a pair of second-half field goals from John Mears, a fourth-quarter scoring run from Michael Palandri and a stout defensive effort to pull past and then fend off Tech 27-21 on Saturday at Bulldogs Stadium as Western ran its record at its new stadium to 3-0.
PHOTOS: MONTANA WESTERN HOSTS MONTANA TECH IN TOP-12 FOOTBALL MATCHUP
Western collected its third straight win over Tech and improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in Frontier Conference play and joins Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho as the four teams with that 2-1 mark in league play.
Carroll College, which was idle this week, is still unbeaten in the Frontier at 3-0. The Orediggers, who head earned a pair of top-10 wins this season before facing Western, fell to 4-2, 2-2.
But after opening conference play with three of its four opponents (No. 7 Western, No. 7 Southern Oregon, and No. 19 College of Idaho) ranked in the Top 20 or higher, three of its final games will be against teams with losing records in Rocky Mountain College, Arizona Christian, and MSU-Northern.
Western quarterback Michael Palandri completed 20 of 34 passes for 238 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. His scores were a 41-yard catch-and-run to Jake Humphrey in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7, and a 14-yard strike in the right corner of the end zone to Coby Tanioka to give Western a 14-7 lead at the end of the first half.
Mears' field goals in the second half were from 49 and 22 yards as the senior kicker improved to 5 for 5 this season.
Senior running back Landers Smith was the focal point of Tech's offense, piling up 163 yards on 25 carries while scoring twice. Tech's other touchdown was a 23-yard fourth-down scoring pass from Blake Thelen to Nick Michelotti to pull Tech within 27-21 with 53 seconds remaining.
The Orediggers converted three of its four fourth-down conversion attempts, but were held to 1 of 10 on third down. Western senior defensive back Braden Swank also intercepted Thelen twice in the first half.
Western is at Rocky Mountain College next Saturday while Tech will host Simpson (Calif.).
