Rocky turns out Northern Lights

September 14, 2003

Last modified September 14, 2003 - 2:10 am

Rocky turns out Northern Lights

By BILL BIGHAUS
Of The Gazette Staff

Quarterback Adam Sanchez and linebacker Jade Small made sure Rocky Mountain College's first home football game of the season was a good one.

Sanchez had a hand in four touchdowns and Small returned a fumble for another score as the Bears roughed up Montana State-Northern 57-3 Saturday afternoon in a Frontier Conference game at windy Herb Klindt Field.

Sanchez, a junior from Miles City, passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as Rocky evened its season record at 1-1. Small, a junior from Colstrip, recovered two fumbles - returning one 19 yards for a touchdown - and also intercepted a pass as the Bears dropped the Lights to 0-2.

"I think today we came out and played with the kind of intensity they couldn't handle," said Sanchez. "We also played as a team, and I think that was the biggest thing."

Rocky trailed 3-0, after fumbling away the game's opening kickoff, but then went on to unload on the Havre school. The Bears amassed 467 yards of offense and took full advantage of five Northern turnovers.

"Hopefully this is exactly what we're going to be playing like for the rest of the season," said Small.

Sanchez, who sat out the game's final 17 minutes, completed 20-of-38 passes for 278 yards. He had first-half scoring passes of 30 yards to Jon Owen, 15 to Mike Hanson and 15 to Weston Birkeland. He also ran eight yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter.

B.J. Charlton caught seven balls for 96 yards, Hanson finished with six receptions for 82 and Owen snagged five passes for 71.

Junior placekicker Jeremy Duprey also contributed three field goals, covering 39, 24 and 45 yards.

"I think it would be wrong to say we played the perfect game, because we didn't," said Rocky coach Clay Moose. "But we played much better overall than we did against the University of Mary (in a 34-9 loss at Miles City the week before). Our players had very good intensity for the whole game. They never let up."

Sanchez, who also rushed for a team-high 57 yards, wasn't sacked during the afternoon and didn't throw an interception. He was decisive, accurate and effective.

"We had very good protection and Adam made good reads," said Moose. "We also ran the ball for 159 yards. That's what we emphasized last spring and it's nice to see that pay off."

The Bears were also energized by a defense that made a big impact.

Safety Eric Reis was in on 14 tackles and recovered a fumble. Linebackers Small and Tyler Holly were credited with seven stops apiece. Cornerback Simon Bergen chalked up five tackles and several big hits.

The 6-foot, 235-pound Small got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter when he alertly picked up the football - after recognizing a Northern pass attempt was actually a botched lateral - and rambled 19 yards to paydirt.

"Those lateral passes are kind of dangerous, so I didn't want to chance it and took it in," he said.

Small's TD and the point-after kick by Duprey made it a 17-3 spread with 12:30 left in the second quarter.

Small had a fumble recovery earlier in the quarter, and his interception of Neill Crandell early in the third quarter also set up a 22-yard scoring drive by the Bears.

"It happened to be my day today, I guess," said Small. "Our defense was executing really well and just put me where I needed to be."

Linebacker Justin Helvik also recovered a fumble for the Bears. Glenn Plenty Hawk and Spencer Cooney recorded sacks, resulting in a loss of 16 yards for the Lights.

Rocky scored touchdowns following three of Northern's five turnovers.

Crandell, the Lights' redshirt freshman quarterback, completed 20-of-43 passes for 277 yards. Tanner Woodward reeled in six of them for 115 yards.

Rocky's Sanchez threw for 253 yards in the first half. He thrived behind the protection of offensive linemen Cody Cotten, Matt Nelson, James Ammar, Keith Keating and Rob Christie.

"This was the Adam Sanchez I fully expect to see every time he takes the field," said Moose.

"My line did awesome today," noted Sanchez. "When I think of offense, I think of them first. They were going at it on every play."

After the Bears fumbled the opening kickoff and fell behind 3-0, Sanchez turned right around and guided the Bears 77 yards in 11 plays for the go-ahead touchdown. He connected with Owen over the middle, and the wide receiver then scampered to the outside and out-raced defenders 30 yards to the end zone.

Rocky added a field goal by Duprey on its next possession to move ahead 10-3 after one quarter. It was 38-3 at halftime as Mike Vicars ran for one TD and Sanchez threw for two more.

The Bears are picked to finish fourth in the five-school Frontier this year. Northern is predicted to take fifth.

"We're kind of coming through the backdoor," said Small. "Nobody expected us to shine like this. We've got the whole season to prove ourselves yet."

"I think with this win, our players proved to themselves what they're capable of," said Moose. "Now the trick is taking that confidence into a game against a nationally-ranked opponent - and unlike the Mary game - sustaining it for four quarters."

The Bears will get their chance this coming Saturday when they play No. 11-ranked Azusa Pacific University in a non-conference home game. The California school won the 1998 NAIA national championship.

Rocky 57, Northern 3

MSU-Northern	3	0	0	0	-	3
Rocky Mountain	10	28	10	9	-	57

Montana State-Northern (0-2) - Chris Nagel 29 FG, 11:53-1Q.

Rocky Mountain College (1-1) - Jon Owen 30 pass from Adam Sanchez (Jeremy Duprey kick), 8:25-1Q; Duprey 39 FG, 1:08-1Q; Jade Small 19 fumble return (Duprey kick), 12:30-2Q; Mike Vicars 2 run (Duprey kick), 9:23-2Q; Mike Hanson 15 pass from Sanchez (Duprey kick), 5:10-2Q; Weston Birkeland 15 pass from Sanchez (Duprey kick), 3:50-2Q; Sanchez 8 run (Duprey kick), 14:20-3Q; Duprey 24 FG, 5:26-3Q; Cory Albin 27 pass from Marc Rogers (Duprey kick blocked), 9:24-4Q; Duprey 45 FG, 4:35-4Q.

	MSU-N	Rocky
First downs	17	25
Rushes-yards	31-59	40-159
Passes	21-47-1	22-42-0
Passing yards	287	308
Total offense	346	467
Fumbles-lost	4/4	5/1
Punts	6-28	4-40
Penalties-yards	10-81	8-61

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING - MSU-Northern, Tanner Cochrell 11-38, Ryan Utterback 6-9, Chad Olson 4-23, Neill Crandell 4-(-19), Kyle Elliott 1-0, Colt High 1-5, Jeff Fischer 2-8, Kris Marshall 2-(-2). Rocky Mountain, Adam Sanchez 10-57, Justin Venn 11-37, Mike Vicars 12-30, Rogers 7-35.

PASSING - MSU-Northern, Neill Crandell 20-43-1, 277 yards, Jeff Fischer 1-4-0, 10 yards. Rocky Mountain, Adam Sanchez 20-38-0, 278 yards, Marc Rogers 2-4-0, 30 yards.

RECEIVING - MSU-Northern, Tanner Woodward 6-115, Kris Marshall 2-27, Nick Arnold 5-53, Clint Herrera 4-59, Seth Woodhouse 3-32, Tanner Cochrell 1-1. Rocky Mountain, B.J. Charlton 7-96, Jon Owen 5-71, Mike Hanson 6-82, Justin Venn 1-7, Weston Birkeland 2-25, Cory Albin 1-27.