DILLON — Making his first start of the season, quarterback Blake Thelen threw three touchdown passes Saturday to lead Montana Tech to a 33-24 victory at No. 17 Montana Western.
Thelen, formerly a QB at Montana State, threw touchdown passes to Kaleb Winterburn and Blake Counts to give the Orediggers a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter. Thelen’s 13-yard TD pass to Trevor Hoffman put Tech ahead 23-7 in the second.
After losing at home last week to Rocky Mountain College, Tech bounced back to improve its record to 3-1. The loss puts Western at 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Frontier. Thelen was subbing for quarterback Jet Campbell, who was out with an apparent leg injury.
Counts rushed for 120 yards on 17 carries. His 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter gave the Orediggers’ a 30-7 lead that proved to big for Western to overcome.
The Bulldogs pulled within 30-24 on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Jon Jund to Trey Mounts and a 29-yard field goal by John Mears, but Tech’s Ryan Lowery iced the game with a 31-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining.
Jund finished with 217 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. He rushed for a team-high 101 yards. Reese Neville and Colten McPhee each scored TDs on the ground for Western.
Elsewhere in the Frontier …
No. 25 Rocky 56, MSU-Northern 0
BILLINGS — Starting in place of Nate Dick, Rocky quarterback George Tribble threw for 206 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Battlin’ Bears to a 56-0 rout of MSU-Northern on Saturday at Herb Klindt Field.
Trae Henry caught two scores from Tribble for No. 25 Rocky, which improved to 3-1 with the victory. DeNiro Killian and Joseph Dwyer also had TD catches for the Bears.
Rocky running back Zaire Wilcox rushed 18 times for 94 yards and a touchdown. Ben Rooney added 55 rushing yards and a TD of his own. As a team, the Bears rushed for 282 yards.
The Bears’ defense only allowed Northern three first downs and a mere 20 yards of total offense. Northern rushed the ball 31 times for zero net yards. The Lights completed just four passes and punted 10 times.
RMC’s Ethan Hurst had 1½ sacks to lead a defense that dropped the quarterback eight times. Cade Reynolds recovered a fumble and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown for the Bears.
Northern dropped to 0-4 with the loss.
Carroll 26, Southern Oregon 14
HELENA — Carroll College’s defense pitched a first-half shutout and the Saints went on to defeat Southern Oregon 26-14 on Saturday at Nelson Stadium.
Spencer Berger, the reigning NAIA special teams player of the week, booted field goals of 20 and 32 yards in the opening half, and Cormac Benn scored on a 1-yard run as the Saints took a 13-0 lead into halftime.
Gunner Yates had a 29-yard TD run for SOU early in the third quarter, but Carroll quarterback Jack Prka answered that with a 3-yard scoring run to put the Saints in front 20-7.
The teams traded touchdowns again in the fourth, as Southern Oregon’s Bryce Goggin caught a 9-yard scoring pass from Blake Asciutto and Carroll’s Baxter Tuggle found the end zone on a 41-yard run. The latter score came with 1:52 remaining and sealed the win for the Saints.
Carroll improved its record to 3-1 while Southern Oregon slipped to 1-3.
No. 11 College of Idaho 41, Eastern Oregon 0
CALDWELL, Idaho — Allamar Alexander rushed for 145 yards and three touchdowns Saturday as No. 11 College of Idaho rolled over Eastern Oregon 41-0 at Simplot Stadium.
C of I quarterback Andy Peters threw for 181 yards and a pair of scores for the Yotes, who remain the only undefeated team in the Frontier Conference at 4-0. Eastern Oregon is now 0-5 overall and 0-4 in the Frontier.
Hunter Gilbert added 93 rushing yards for the Yotes, who piled up 291 yards on the ground overall.
C of I’s defense limited Eastern Oregon to 194 total yards and an average of just 3.7 yards per play.
