BUTTE – The Montana Tech football team, ranked No. 24 in the country, suffered its first setback of the season on Saturday, a 44-12 loss at third-ranked Southern Oregon. The 2-1 Orediggers now set their sights on a new challenge this week with the Montana State-Northern Lights coming into Alumni Coliseum looking for their first conference win of the season.
On paper, the Diggers have almost every advantage. Their 2-1 record compared to the Lights’ 0-3 record would indicate that Tech should have no problem taking care of its opponent this week. Head coach Chuck Morrell, however, takes no opponent lightly. He knows that the Lights can easily come in and shock the Diggers at home.
“The Frontier Conference is such a good league, I don’t treat anyone different. I don’t care if we’re playing No. 1 or No. 100 in the country, this league is legit, and if you decide you’re not going to prep as hard or get a prepared as you should be on a weekly basis, you’re going to fail on Saturday,” said Morrell.
After playing Northern on Saturday, Montana Tech will look ahead to Montana Western. The Bulldogs are currently ranked No. 22 in the country after an incredibly hot 3-0 start to 2018. If Tech wins against MSU-Northern and Western beats Eastern Oregon in La Grande, it could set up a huge matchup between two ranked teams.
That matchup will just have to wait. For now, the Diggers look to pick up a win on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Butte.
