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Western's
offense outshines Lights By CURT BACKA |
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HAVRE -- At the start of
the 2003 season, UM-Western was ready, willing and seemingly able to
challenge NAIA national champion Carroll College for supremacy in the
Frontier Conference. Unfortunately for the
Bulldogs, they sputtered to an 0-3 start -- with losses to Idaho State,
Eastern Oregon and the Saints -- and found themselves dangerously close to
being out of the conference race before it really had begun. Thanks to the efforts of
senior quarterback Travis Kirby and sophomore defensive back Nick Prinzing,
who picked up the fortunes of the sagging Bulldogs, UM-Western vented some
early-season frustration with a 49-7 victory over outmanned MSU-Northern Saturday
afternoon at Blue Pony Stadium. "This was a real
good win for us," said a relieved UM-Western head coach Tommy Lee.
"We haven't really executed very well the the past two weeks and I
stressed all week that we needed to execute better." The Bulldogs took heed as
Kirby threw four touchdown passes and scored another himself, while Prinzing
came up with a pair of momentum-changing pass interceptions as UM-Western
pulled away from the Lights with 42 unanswered points to claim its first win
of the season. "The O-line gave me
the time I needed today and our receivers came up with some good
catches," said Kirby, who completed 21-of-29 passes for 330 yards. "We finally got some
rhythm in our offense and we were able to capitalize on Nick's
interceptions," Lee said. "That made the difference." "I was able to come
up with a couple of big plays and better yet, our offense was able to
capitalize," said Prinzing, who starred at C.M. Russell. "It was
nice to get a win under our belts." Lee and his offensive
staff may have got some early encouragement from UM-Western's first drive of
the game. Kirby marched the
Bulldogs on a 16-play, 88-yard drive, which culiminated on an 11-yard scoring
pass from Kirby to Seth McLean. On the drive, Kirby, who
suffered a sack on the opening play of the possession, went 4-for-4 passing,
including a key fourth-and-one, 14-yard completion to junior receiver Dallas
Mock. "Again, I have to
thank the offensive line for giving me the time," said Kirby. The Bulldogs had a chance
to make it a 14-point margin on their next possession, but MSU-Northern's
L.D. Matthews interception thwarted the drive deep in MSU-Northern territory.
Northern freshman
quarterback Neil Crandell impressively guided the Lights on a 13-play,
64-yard march. Tanner Cochrell, a freshman from Drummond, went over from a
yard out followed by Chris Nagel's conversion and the game was tied 7-7. Crandell was able to keep
the UM-Western defense off-balance with a variety option plays. "They did a good job
on that drive," Lee said. Lee may have gotten even
more encouragement from UM-Western's next possession. The Bulldogs responded
with their own 67-yard drive to retake the lead, with Kirby finding a
wide-open Mock in the end zone on a 20-yard TD reception. On the next MSU-Northern
possession, Prinzing stepped in front of a Crandell pass to put the Bulldog
offense back in business at the Light 45-yard line. Prinzing's interception,
along with Kirby's 40-yard toss and run by Josh Shrum, may have sapped all of
the energy out of the Lights, who took a 28-7 deficit in the lockerroom at
halftime. "It was key for us
to convert after Nick's interception," said Lee. "We haven't been
able to convert turnovers into touchdowns." In the second half, after
fumbling away their opening possession, the Bulldogs reeled off 21 straight
points to put the Lights away. The confident Kirby added
a 45-yard scoring pass to Cory Creighton, who had six receptions on the day
for 105 yards, and dived in from a yard out to make it 35-7 with 12 minutes
left in the third quarter. A 6-yard TD run by Shrum
and a 53-yard pass from reserve redshirt quarterback Travis Blome to freshman
Akamu Aki capped the the UM-Western scoring. "This was one
victory, and we have seven more to go," said Prinzing, whose second
interception snuffed out a promising MSU-Northern drive early in the third
quarter. After their
second-quarter scoring drive, the Lights were never able to muster anything
more on offense. They lost Crandell, who
threw for 89 yards and rushed for 27 more, with a leg injury midway through
the third quarter, but by then it was much too late. Cochrell finished with
67 yards on a workman-like 22 carries. The Lights, now 0-2 in
the Frontier and 0-3 overall, travel to Montana Tech for their next contest.
UM-Western, 1-1 and 1-3, plays a nonconference contest at Whitworth before
returning to conference play Oct 4 at home against Rocky Mountain. |