DILLON — The Bulldogs have now completed two sweeps in as many weeks.
Jon Jund threw three touchdowns passes and Colten McPhee rushed for a pair of scores as No. 25 Montana Western used a second-half surge to beat Montana Tech 35-21 on Saturday afternoon at Vigilante Stadium.
The win gives the Bulldogs (7-3 overall, 6-3 in the Frontier Conference) the sweep over the Orediggers after routing Tech 45-21 on Sept. 25 in Butte. Western also completed the sweep over MSU-Northern last week with a 63-7 win.
Tech (4-5, 4-5) saw its two-game win streak snapped a week after upsetting No. 13 Rocky Mountain College at home.
Western opened the scoring on a 5-yard touchdown screen pass from Jund to Trey Mounts before Tech responded less than five minutes later with a 7-yard rushing touchdown from Blake Counts. The game was tied at 7-7 after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the teams trade touchdowns with Tech going up 14-7 on an 8-yard scoring pass from Jet Campbell to Trevor Hoffman. Western then knotted things up on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jund to Nate Simkins, who finished with 106 receiving yards, in the right corner of the end zone.
The Orediggers regained the lead less than three minutes into the third quarter, with Campbell and Kyle Torgerson connecting for a 53-yard touchdown pass.
Western then scored the final three touchdowns of the game, including McPhee's two scores (7 and 2 yards) and a second touchdown pass from Jund to Simkins.
Tech's final possession — which ended in a turnover on downs — consumed 8:29 of game time and was a 19-play, penalty-filled drive with multiple flags thrown against both teams that at one point saw the Orediggers facing a 3rd down and 50.
Reese Neville had 101 rushing yards for Western and Jund had 88 yards on the ground.
Western's defensive effort was led by Joe Caicedo with six tackles and Jaden Amasiu with five. Reese Artz had 2.5 sacks.
With the College of Idaho beating Eastern Oregon 21-3 on Saturday, the Frontier Conference title is now out of reach for the Bulldogs, as the Yotes (7-2 in conference play) have the tiebreaker over Western.
If Rocky Mountain College, which will play at Western to close out the regular season next week, beats the Bulldogs, the Battlin' Bears — which also have a 7-2 conference record — will be crowned conference champions as they have the tiebreaker over C of I.
Tech will host MSU-Northern next Saturday for its final game of the season.
