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Rocky offense roughs up Northern
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
Montana State University-Northern head coach Walt Currie isn't a big
believer in deja vu, but on Saturday everything that was happening in
Northern's 57-3 pasting by Rocky Mountain College in Billings was very
familiar - too familiar.
A year ago, Northern came into Billings 0-1, but with plenty of optimism and
confidence only to see a passel of turnovers and penalties destroy that
optimism and confidence in a 45-7 loss.
"It was almost exactly like a year ago," Currie said.
Indeed, in last year's game Northern grabbed a 7-0 lead on a goal line stand
and a 99-yard drive for a touchdown. This year, Rocky fumbled the opening
kickoff, which Northern recovered deep in Battlin' Bear territory.
As was the case last week, the Lights could only muster a 29-yard field goal
from Chris Nagel, despite the good field position.
On the ensuing possession, Northern seemed to have some momentum as Rocky was
faced with a third down and 14, deep in its own territory.
But Rocky quarterback Adam Sanchez found B.J.
Charlton on a big play, giving his team a first down and keeping the drive
alive. It would culminate six plays later as Sanchez hooked up with Jon Owen
from 30 yards out to take the lead.
"It just kind of snowballed from there," Currie said. "If we
get a stop on that drive and have some good field position, it would have
really given us some confidence."
Instead, Rocky would reel off a total of 57 unanswered points while
accumulating 567 yards of total offense.
Currie wasn't exactly pleased whit his team's reaction after the scoring
outburst from Rocky.
"Last week, we faced some adversity early and the kids bounced
back," he said. "This week we didn't seem to bounce back. When it
started to snowball, I think the kids started pressing a little and we
started to make some mental mistakes. It's something that happens with young
teams."
Those mistakes came in the form of turnovers - five to be exact. Twice,
Northern struggled with the snap count in the shotgun formation as a howling
wind made communication impossible. Another fumble on a short pass and a pair
of interceptions never allowed the Lights to get in any rhythm offensively.
"I don't know what it is about that place, but we always seem to self
destruct," Currie said. "We turned the ball over so many times and
it just killed us every time."
Three of Northern's turnovers led to Rocky touchdowns while another resulted
in a Jeremy Duprey field goal.
Quarterback Neill Crandell finished 20 of 43 for 277 yards passing while
throwing a pair of interceptions. Tanner Woodward had a solid game catching
six balls for 115 yards.
As for the mistakes, they could have been easily avoided and were the type
that tend to happen when games get out of hand, Currie said
"It's a mental thing," he said. "You need to keep your head in
the game still and not make those mistakes even when things are getting out of
hand."
Northern will try to regroup this week and prepare for homecoming weekend and
a very good team in UM-Western.
"It's about pride," Currie said. "We knew there were going to
be some growing pains, but nobody likes to be embarrassed. We'll see how they
react from this."
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.
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