Bear Trap

No. 15 Lights punish RM, 49-0

By George Ferguson

Havre Daily News

Six-for-seven. That is the first of many astonishing stats that jump out of the boxscore in No. 15 Montana State University-Northern’s demolishing of Rocky Mountain College Saturday afternoon at Blue Pony Stadium.

With a howling wind coming out of the west, Northern scored touchdowns on of six of its seven possessions with the wind at its back in a historic 49-0 thumping of the RMC Bears in the Lights’ home opener.

The Lights scored 21 points in the second quarter and 28 in the third, and the MSU-N defense easily pitched a shutout against a struggling RMC offense that never got started on what was a nasty day weather-wise.

And just for good measure, the Lights got another herculean effort from senior quarterback Kyle Samson, who threw a school-record five TD passes against the Bears’ secondary.

Saturday’s game was the first time a Lights’ team has been on the right end of such a dominating performance.

“It really was a game we pretty much dominated from beginning to end,” MSU-N head coach Mark Samson said. “The kids played with a lot of emotion and intensity, and they were really excited to be playing at home in front of our fans.

“We played extremely well on offense in the second and third quarters,” he added. “And I thought our defense just played excellent football.”

In fact, it is pretty hard to decide which side of the football Northern played better on Saturday.

After a scoreless first quarter in which the Lights’ offense was going into a brutal 30 mph wind, the Lights started the second quarter with a first down on the MSU-N 46-yard-line.

And in that one play, everything changed.

Kyle Samson hooked up with receiver Nick Bodeman on a deep post pattern that resulted in a 54-yard touchdown pass that put the Lights ahead 7-0.

The TD pass to Bodeman was part of a scoring theme that would last until the gun sounded on the third quarter, and the Lights had buried the Bears in an avalanche of points.

“We were pretty concerned about throwing the ball into the wind,” Mark Samson said. “But with the type of coverage Rocky was playing against us, we knew we would have some opportunities to throw the ball down the field. And when we changed ends, that just seemed like a good time to take a shot.”

The Lights would capitalize on RMC’s safeties playing up several more times as Samson connected on five TD passes on the day, including three to Bodeman, one to former Havre High standout Coda Tchida and another to Jeff Van Nest.

“I thought as a whole our receivers played a great game,” Mark Samson said. “I thought our offense looked very good. We ran the ball well and our passing game was very sharp.”

Northern’s defense also got into the act.

And even though linebacker Kennedy Anderson’s 40-yard interception return of an errant Vance Vincent pass at the 9:12 mark of the second quarter only put the Lights ahead 14-0, it was a shining example of why the Bears were doomed early on.

Northern intercepted Vincent three times, and as a whole, Rocky turned the ball over six times. Junior safety Marc Samson had the two other picks of Vincent. The Bears’ offense crossed the 50-yard-line just once in the first half and only twice in the second half, and they netted just 122 total yards and picked up just seven first downs against a stingy MSU-N defense.

“Our defense was amazing to watch,” Tchida said. “I think it was just a really dominating performance. I am just glad we played so well on both sides of the ball. It is fun to stand on the sidelines for the whole fourth quarter and watch all of our guys get in the game and get some good experience.”

Indeed, there were a lot of firsts on Saturday.

It was Northern’s most convincing win in the Samson era. The win marked the first time an MSU-N program started 3-0. Kyle Samson set a school record for TD passes in a game, Tchida and Van Nest caught their first TD passes as MSU-N players, and even backup QB Kelly McBryan completed his first pass as a Light.

“That was something that was really nice to see,” Samson said. “I was really glad that Coda and Jeff caught touchdown passes and really got involved in the offense. That is only going to make both those guys better players down the road.

“And we got a lot of kids a lot of playing time,” he added. “That is the only way those young guys are really going to get better, and we were able to play our No. 2’s the whole fourth quarter on both sides of the ball.”

Statistically, the Lights completely overwhelmed Rocky. Kyle Samson was 11-for-15 for five TDs and no interceptions. Bodeman went over 100 yards for the second straight game, catching four balls for 120 yards. Tchida caught three passes for a score and Van Nest had a pair of grabs and a TD.

Northern also rushed for 282 yards led by Kyle Samson’s ridiculous 11 carries for 123 yards. Saxton Shearer also ran hard for 38 yards.

“Our offense really clicked on all cylinders,” Tchida said. “We ran the ball well and our passing game seemed like it couldn’t be stopped.

“But this was a total team effort,” he added. “Everyone who got on the field played really well.”

Defensively, Northern got standout efforts from Kennedy Anderson, who had an interception for a score and a host of tackles. Dilan Saisbury was also in on a number of tackles, as was the entire Lights’ defense.

“It feels pretty good to win a game like this,” Mark Samson said. “We just really played well the entire game, and this is another big step for our program because we really have never dominated a game like this before. I think in the long run, it just gives our kids even more confidence for the rest of the season.

The Lights are 3-0 overall and a perfect 2-0 in Frontier Conference play. Northern will now prepare to go to Helena and square off against the undefeated and four-time defending national champion Carroll College Fighting Saints.

The game between MSU-N and Carroll will kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Nelson Stadium in Helena.

Lights 49, Bears 0

RMC 0 0 0 0 — 0

MSU-N 0 28 21 0 — 49

FIRST QUARTER

No scoring

SECOND QUARTER

MSU-N — Nick Bodeman 54 pass from Kyle Samson (Luke McKinley kick), 14:50

MSU-N — Kennedy Anderson 40 interception return (McKinley kick)

MSU-N — Don Saisbury 2 run (McKinley kick)

MSU-N — Coda Tchida 7 pass from Samson (McKinley kick)

THIRD QUARTER

MSU-N — Jeff Van Nest 30 pass from Samson (McKinley kick)

MSU-N — Bodeman 57 pass from Samson (McKinley kick)

MSU-N — Bodeman 4 pass from Samson (McKinley kick)

FOURTH QUARTER

No scoring

RMC MSU-N

First downs 7 23

Rushes-yards 30-37 48-282

Passing 95 235

Comp-Att-Int 10-24-4 1 12-18-0

Return Yards 72 37

Punts-Avg. 9-32.5 4-26.1

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-Yards 3-27 9-95

Time of Possession 23:45 47:20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING— MSU-N, Samson 11-123, Saisbury 6-36, Wermers 4-20, Shearer 10-38, Largent 3-25; RMC, Beal 11-40, Hansen 2-11, Cooney 10-34, Scolatti 1-4, Vincent 1-(-6).

PASSING— MSU-N, Samson 11-15-0-220, McBryan 1-2-0-15, Saisbury 0-1-0. RMC, Vincent 7-19-3-63, Hedrick 3-5-1-32.

RECEIVING— MSU-N, Tchida 3-28; Bodeman 4-120; Ahrens 1-4; Van Nest 2-36; Wermers 1-22; Cornwell 1-15; RMC; Airola 4-35; Hagadone 1-32; McDougall 1-12; Vincent 1-(-3); Harris 1-12; Rundle 1-8; Beal 1-(-1).