Lights
strike down UM-Western 37-19
George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports
Montana State University-Northern head football coach Mark Samson said he
was looking for some consistency out of his team heading into Saturday's matchup with the
What Samson got from the Lights was domination from beginning to end in a
37-19 Frontier Conference win over Western at Blue Pony Stadium in Havre.
The Lights were consistent on both sides of the football as they racked up
407 total yards of offense and also took the ball away from Western six times
on defense. Two of those takeaways by the opportunistic Lights defense resulted
directly in scores.
”I thought we played very solid football and we were in control of the game
pretty much the whole way,“ Samson said. ”What I like
most is the fact that the guys played with a great deal of emotion and a high
amount of energy. That is something we were sorely lacking the last couple of
games.“
Indeed, the defense controlled the game early, forcing Western into several
three-and-out situations. Although the defense surrendered 400 yards of total
offense to the Bulldogs, MSU-N wide receiver Nick Arnold had nothing but praise
for his teammates.
”I thought the defense really set the tone,“
The only moment when the outcome was still in serious doubt came early in
the first quarter. On the Lights' first possession, quarterback Kyle Samson
marched the team straight down the field and running back Zach Wermers appeared to have Northern's
first score as he plunged toward the goal line from the 1-yard line. But Wermers fumbled the ball and gave Western possession on its
own goal line. Turnovers were the only thing that coach
Samson thought his team may have done wrong on Saturday.
”I thought we turned the ball over too many times,“
Samson said. ”But Western really never capitalized on them, which was good for
us.“
It didn't take the Lights much longer to start scoring. Early in the second
quarter, Samson again drove the Lights downfield and the Lights even used some
trickery to help get in the end zone. On a crucial third-down play, Samson
pitched the ball to Don Saisbury, who then threw a
perfect pass to a wide open
”That is a play we worked on this week,“
The Lights scored again on their next possession when Samson reached the end
zone from 9 yards out. And just before the half ended, Northern upped its lead
when sophomore defensive back Marc Samson jumped a route, picked off Western
quarterback Travis Blome, and raced 60 yards for a
score that upped the Lights' lead to 21-7 at the half. The only Bulldog
touchdown came on a broken coverage when Blome hit
freshman wide receiver Travis Hartman for a 39-yard TD pass.
”I thought our defense played really well all day and so did our offense,“ coach Samson said. ”It was really nice to jump out and
get a lead and not have to play from behind in the second half. The guys just
played with a lot more confidence in this game than in the last couple of weeks.“
Western managed to close the gap early in the third quarter when Blome hit Caleb Drinkwalter for a
22-yard touchdown pass. That cut the Lights' lead down to 21-13 after Western
failed to convert the point after.
Despite the early Bulldog score, it was obvious that neither Northern's offense nor its defense was going to be denied a
crucial conference win.
The Lights answered Drinkwalter's TD with a field
goal by Chaz Kountz. In the
fourth quarter Northern tacked on 13 insurance points, the first of which came
on a 2-yard touchdown run by Saisbury. The final
score of the day came when Dylan Saisbury picked up a
Blome fumble and returned it 49 yards for a score
that put the Bulldogs away for good.
”This was a great win for us because we have several home games in a row,“
The Lights' offensive output included more than 200 yards rushing on the
day. Kyle Samson led the way with 71 yards rushing, while Wermers
and Saisbury added 48 and 43 yards, respectively.
Samson also threw the ball well. Despite not throwing for any touchdowns, the
quarterback went 13 of 18 for 171 yards.
”I thought Kyle had a good day passing the ball,“
coach Samson said. ”But I told the guys that we seem to have a lot more success
when we rush for over 200 yards. We've done that in every game we have won this
year, and we did it against Western on Saturday.“
The Bulldogs got a valiant effort from Blome, who
was returning to the starting lineup because of an injury to Justin Hartman two
weeks ago. Blome completed 24 of 46 passes for 293
yards, and threw three interceptions, including the key one that Marc Samson
returned for a score in the second quarter. Justin Hartman led all receivers
with 134 yards on seven catches.
The win pushes the Lights' overall record back to .500 at 3-3 this season.
They are now 2-3 in conference play.
”I think we're sitting pretty good right now,“
Samson said. ”We have a couple more home games and if we continue to play well,
who knows what can happen down the road.“
The Lights will step out of conference play this Saturday when they host
Lights 37, Bulldogs 19
UM-Western 0 7 6 6 - 19
MSU-Northern 0 21 3 13 - 37
Second quarter
MSUN-Don Saisbury 9 run (Kountz
kick),
MSUN-Kyle Samson 9 run (Kountz kick),
UMW-Travis Hartman 39 pass from Travis Blome (Hollen kick),
MSUN-Marc Samson 60 interception return (Kountz
kick), 2:44
Third quarter
UMW-Caleb Drinkwalter 22 pass from Blome (kick failed),
MSUN-FG Kountz 25,
Fourth quarter
MSUN-Saisbury 2 run (Kountz
kick),
MSUN-Dilan Saisbury 49
fumble recovery (kick failed), 13:18
UMW-Mike Bogy 18 pass from Blome (kick failed),
UMW MSUN
First downs 23 22
Rushes-yards 26-111 51-206
Passing yards 293 201
Comp-Att-Int 24-46-3 14-20-2
Punts-avg. 4-38.5 2-39.5
Fumbles-lost 3-3 3-2
Penalties-yards 12-91 8-59
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-UMW, Drinkwalter 15-65, Blome 9-36, Edwards 1-10, Hayes 1-0. MSUN, Kyle
Samson 10-71, Wermers 12-48, Saisbury
7-43, Shearer 10-34, Moe 3-10, Largent 1-0.
PASSING-UMW, Blome 24-46-3-293.
MSUN, Kyle Samson 13-18-1-177, Saisbury 1-2-1-24.
RECEIVING-UMW, Travis Hartman 7-134, Drinkwalter
4-44, Bogy 3-41, Larson 3-34, Schultz 3-29, Gueleff
2-4, Allen 1-10, Raisl 1 (minus 3). MSUN, Wirtzberger 5-65, Marc Samson 3-44, Arnold 2-52, Saisbury 2-13, Eldridge 1-17, Shearer 1-10.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-UMW, none. MSUN, Kountz 25.