HELENA – The Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears took care of business Saturday with a 42-21 win over Carroll College – a win that will count this time after Rocky had to forfeit its season-opening 19-0 victory over Carroll after using an ineligible player.
“We learned from the mistake and, you know, in life things don’t always go your way,” said Rocky head coach Jason Petrino. “You can do everything right and there’s something that could go wrong. It’s how you respond and react, and all year we’ve challenged our team to do that.”
Now, Rocky’s focus shifts to the biggest Frontier Conference football game of the year. The Bears (5-2) will host league-leading Montana Western next Saturday, the only team to beat Rocky on the field this year. The Bulldogs (6-1) scored a touchdown with 32 seconds left to claim a 24-21 win back on Sept. 15. Rocky has since won four in a row, and climbed as high as No. 15 in the NAIA national rankings. Western’s only loss, meanwhile, was a 54-51 triple overtime defeat at Eastern Oregon, which is tied with the Bears at 5-2 in the Frontier. So Petrino knows he’s in a for fight.
“(Montana Western) has been playing exceptionally well, and it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us as we prepare this week,” Petrino said.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Herb Klindt Field.
