The Western Address Volume 2 Issue 11
Covering the games through November 9, 2024
Once again, the Carroll College Fighting Saints were involved in the headlining game of the week and gave us tightly contested drama into the final minutes.
I'll get into the playoff talk later, but it is looking like we could see two Frontier programs hosting games in the second round instead of being forced to face each other, but time will tell.
Everything else went approximately as expected without too much trouble, though some exceptional performances snuck in as one record in particular is still within reach…
Carroll College Fighting Saints 14 | Montana Western Bulldogs 27
After grinding out a tough victory last week, Carroll College appeared ready to mount another upset as they came out with their defensive line on fire, barely allowing the Bulldogs to execute a play.
While Montana Western forced a 3 & out to open the game, the Saints’ defensive line opened with a sack on QB Michael Palandri then stripped RB Jake Humphrey on the second play, scooping up the loose ball and returning it for a touchdown.
Getting the ball back on offense, Palandri had his first successful play brought back on a holding penalty and he would be subsequently sacked and stripped on the repeated first down, setting up Carroll in prime position to take a two-possession lead.
The Bulldogs' defense would stand strong, forcing Carroll to go for a 4th & 1 over a field goal attempt, but QB Jack Prka's bootleg attempt would be blown up for a turnover on downs. This is where the tide would shift.
Montana Western began to move the ball from this point, missing a field goal on their next drive then driving down the field and finishing with a 32-yard touchdown from Palandri to star WR Eli Nourse. Nourse would finish the game with 9 receptions for 114 yards in the defensive battle.
At the end of the first quarter we had a 7-7 tie while Carroll was held to negative yardage.
The second quarter would continue to be a struggle on both sides as Carroll missed a field goal, WR Jon Kirkley fumbled a reception for Montana Western, and the Bulldogs kicked a field goal in the final seconds of the half to take a 10-7 lead.
Montana Western carried that momentum into the second half, taking the opening kickoff and turning it into another field goal and a 13-7 lead. The rest of the 3rd quarter was fairly uneventful as the teams traded punts, but the Bulldogs opened the 4th quarter with another helping of disaster.
From their own 20-yard line, Montana Western fumbled another reception, giving the ball to Jack Prka at the 22, and he would need only a single play to find TE Carson Ochoa for the touchdown - their first offensive score of the game - and a 14-13 lead.
After 3 quarters of defensive dominance, there was a sudden deflation in the stadium as it felt like settling for field goals had finally come back to haunt them.
But quality teams don't fold that easily and after a 3 & out from the Bulldogs’ offense, their defense would find a way to fool Jack Prka into pushing the ball into advantageous coverage and intercept him, returning it to the Carroll 29-yard line which quickly became a Pete Gibson touchdown. They would go for 2 to take a 7-point lead but an illegal formation penalty would negate that they would settle for the PAT.
With 9 minutes remaining, the Saints weren’t quite in desperation mode, but they would be unable to get a first down before punting the ball back to Montana Western.
The Montana Western offense has changed in the second half of the season and they are now much more committed to running the ball and they stuck to that down the stretch to bleed the clock as much as possible, but also found solid production between Palandri, Humphrey, and Gibson which led to a final touchdown with less than a minute remaining and a 13-point lead.
Prka would be intercepted once again near the Montana Western goal line to end the game and put their playoff push in doubt while the Bulldogs have all but guaranteed themselves a second consecutive Frontier Conference Championship.
After an excellent 8 games from Jack Prka, he was forced back to a passing line closer to what he often had last season as he completed only 14/33 attempts for 131 yards with a TD, 2 INTs, and took 3 sacks. By the final whistle, his offense had only accumulated 167 total yards and that sort of suffocating performance for Montana Western has to put some concern in the rest of the NAIA as their top-4 ranking should have them comfortably sitting at home through the quarterfinal round.
There appears to be a small error in the official box score as Palandri’s lost yardage was entered as a negative value, so the formula flipped that to add to the gained yardage instead of subtracting. Regardless, from my numbers, it appears that the ground game for the Bulldogs netted 160 yards in 42 attempts which included 5 sacks against Palandri. Even with that overwhelming Saints’ pass rush to open the game, he still finished 23/32 for 239 yards and an undefeated regular season home record in the new Bulldog Stadium.
I am not going to say that I was wrong about proclaiming that Carroll College is back in the national conversation of NAIA football. This is still a program that looks to be on the upswing with a bright future under the current coaching staff.
This is a much more balanced Bulldogs team than a year ago and one that should be able to compete for a national championship.
Montana State-Northern Lights 14 | Montana Tech Orediggers 54
The Lights were able to keep Montana Tech at bay for one quarter, but that quickly fell apart before halftime.
The Orediggers have been excellent at home, and with a schedule back-loaded towards home games, they appear ready to take on anyone as the playoffs approach.
Quarterback Blake Thelen has been on an incredible stretch since the unfathomable 97-0 romp over Simpson (CA) completing 57/70 (81.4%) for 945 yards and 14 touchdowns in 4 games, but despite his 17/19 effort in this game, the run game was the more explosive element.
Landers Smith continued his excellent senior campaign with 140 yards and 3 TDs on only 13 carries while Ethan Renner added touchdowns of 54 and 75 yards.
On the other sideline was possibly the most underrated running back of conference in Mason Dionne who has begun to make a habit of breaking through the 100-yard threshold as a Flexbone fullback, adding 127 yards and a TD on 22 carries to his season totals.
If the Orediggers can convincingly defeat Carroll for a second time this season they should finish the season ranked high enough to host a second round playoff game while a loss could put their playoff hopes in jeopardy.
Arizona Christian Firestorm 24 | Rocky Mountain Battlin’ Bears 49
With Graedyn Buell returning to start at quarterback for Rocky Mountain, expectations may have been raised, but it took at least a half for things to open up for him.
After the Firestorm took a 10-0 lead with less than 6 minutes to go in the first half, Buell took his group down inside the red zone but an interception would end that threat. A quick defensive stand would give them the ball back in enemy territory and this time they would score with less than 2 minutes remaining, quickly force the Firestorm to punt from near midfield and get a great return to the 17, and score again before halftime for a 13-10 lead.
Arizona Christian would come out of the break executing and drive down the field in 12 plays and take a 16-13 lead, but poor punting and turnovers would do them in the rest of the way as Buell & Co would score touchdowns on 5/6 second half full drives before the clock ran out, a number of which began on the positive side of 50.
The Firestorm offense was solid in this one, rushing for 255 yards though Beau Devens and Johnny Herrera could only complete 15/29 for 129 yards and 2 interceptions. Finding improvement under center will be paramount to their future.
Graedyn Buell finished with 5 touchdown passes and another on the ground as he completed 16/26 for 266 yards and that sole INT while the run game combined for 186 yards on 33 carries. This was closer to the performance that the team was hoping to see all season.
Both teams have a lot of questions to answer this offseason, but next season will look quite different as the conference expands to 14.
Eastern Oregon Mountaineers 21 | Southern Oregon Raiders 49
Eastern Oregon came out of last week looking like a potential Cinderella, but those plans pumpkin’d against a Raiders offense that had something to prove after being shut out in the second half by Carroll College.
Gunner Yates had another signature game on the season with 269 yards and a TD on only 21 carries. He has run for 1376 yards through 10 games leading into a must-win at College of Idaho whom he victimized for 293 yards in September. The one concern is that Yates lost 2 fumbles in the 3rd quarter and cleaning up his ball security will be of great importance as the weather continues to worsen.
Outside of Yates, backup RB Isaiah Hidalgo also contributed 46 yards and a TD on 8 carries while QB Blake Asciutto was back to his dangerous self with 202 yards and 3 TDs on 22/29 passing. Yates is clearly the key to their offense and as soon as a defense struggles to contain him, everything else opens up.
For the Mountaineers, Quincy Glasper was once again asked to be Mr. Everything for them as he completed 19/32 for 218 yards and 3 TDs, though he also threw 2 interceptions and was sacked a deflating 7 times. This contributed to his net production of only 49 yards on 25 carries. Malachi Spurrier was once again the main beneficiary of Glasper's exploits as he caught 8 passes for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Southern Oregon defensive linemen Gabe Foster has been a menace over the past 2 weeks with 6.5 sacks between Carroll and EOU. A rabid pass rush will always be invaluable and makes the Raiders a legitimate concern for playoff competition.
Going into next week they should have “win and you're in” on their minds as a loss would surely see them slip outside of the playoff picture.
Dickinson State Blue Hawks 42 | Valley City State Vikings 24
After some struggles while being given full reign of the offense, it appears that QB Avery Thorsgard was benched in favor of Noah Chambers for the Vikings.
The first quarter was quite quiet, but Dickinson running back Braden Zuroff appeared to leave the game after the first quarter and was replaced by Jackson Simonson, who had a very productive time turning his 22 carries into 136 yards and 2 touchdowns.
After the Vikings opened the 2nd quarter with a field goal to open the scoring, the wheels quickly fell off as Will Madler led his Blue Hawks to a 28-3 lead at halftime that would settle the game for all intents and purposes. He would finish the game with 246 yards and 3 TDs on 17/24 passing as Dickinson State has continued to simply outclass the rest of their conference with great consistency.
After a very disappointing first half, Noah Chambers started to hit his spots in the 3rd quarter and would finish the game with an impressive 352 yards and 3 TDs on 22/38 passing, but by being on the receiving end of 3 sacks he would net only 39 yards on his 20 carries in the game as the running game was largely stymied.
It will be interesting to see if Dickinson is able to host a playoff game after winning their conference, but they will be involved in the first round on November 23rd and last season they were made to travel to Butte to face Montana Tech.
Dakota State Trojans 7 | Mayville State Comets 0
As the Comets’ season came to a close, they were sadly ineffective as they came out on the losing end of a rather odd final score to see in a football game.
Aiden Marcussen was given the start at quarterback for Mayville, but he would be pulled in favor of Dylan LaMont after a wild sequence in the 2nd quarter which saw the two teams combine for 3 interceptions in the span of 8 plays. LaMont would not fare much better in this game as the two quarterbacks would combine to go 10/20 for 40 yards and 3 interceptions while taking 3 sacks.
AJ Donovan would struggle for the Trojans as well, throwing 2 interceptions of his own and completing only 11/23 for 168 yards, but the stars of the game were running backs Tyce Ortman and Preston Iverson.
Ortman has had to be the workhorse for Dakota State this year and once again he would run for 126 yards on 26 carries and the game’s only score while Iverson would add 82 yards on 11 carries.
Unfortunately, it would appear that Ortman’s eligibility is coming to a close as he is listed as a senior, but you never know these days. On the other hand, Iverson is only a sophomore and while he is listed at a slight 5’6” 165lbs, he has run for just over 400 yards this season and his ability to spell Ortman for another year would be welcome in Madison.
Pacific Lutheran Lutes 10 | Linfield Wildcats 38
This game could have potentially gone differently if Darius Chaffin had not had a disastrous first half with 3 interceptions with the halftime score 17-3 in favor of the Wildcats.
Chaffin would finish the game 21/35 for 281 yards with a final total of 4 interceptions and 4 sacks against him.
For a team which wants to have a physical run game, it is amazing that the Lutes could only net 6 yards on the ground, which includes Chaffin's 36-yard touchdown scamper late in the 4th quarter.
Once again, nothing about the Linfield offense stood out as exceptional, but their methodical approach combined with their defensive performance brought them a strong differential in the final score.
Blake Eaton completed 10/14 for 172 yards with 2 TDs while throwing an interception and taking 2 sacks. Luke McNabb was arguably the more important member as he led the team in rushing with 73 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries while passing for 101 yards and a TD on 12/17 passing.
Outside of McNabb, the Linfield ground game could only produce 30 yards on 22 attempts, which is a concern.
I'm looking forward to see Linfield travel to Whitworth as the victor should be well-suited to represent the conference on the national stage, but neither feel convincingly dominant to have optimism past the round of 16.
Lewis & Clark Pioneers 55 | Puget Sound Loggers 28
This was my personal game of interest, though some would argue that it was quite meaningless.
As great as Oa Kamakawiwoole has been at quarterback for Lewis & Clark, he gave us a classic freshman “making a bad situation worse” moment in the first quarter as he got out of a sack by throwing an interception. Puget Sound would quickly capitalize Mason Binning found Joe Gallagher for a long pass down to the 1 before they would punch it in and tie the game at 7 in the first quarter.
With those nerves out of the way for Kamakawiwoole, the Pioneers would quickly run away with the game as they scored 35 unanswered before Binning would find his sole touchdown of the day to Jake Elorduy in the final seconds of the half.
Unfortunately, Binning would leave the game at the half due to an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. His line for the first half was 16/21 for 184 yards and that touchdown with no turnovers or sacks against him. I am hopeful he will be able to play in his final game next weekend as he is still 392 yards away from 3000 on the season.
The beneficiary of Binning leaving the game was junior QB Hayden Teeter who will be the expected starter for next season going into the offseason. He left the game in the Loggers' final drive of the game to give some snaps to Connor Ridenour who did lead them to a touchdown to end their day on offense.
The final line for Teeter was 12/20 for 177 yards with an interception, but his first drive ended on a Joe Gallagher touchdown pass to Jake Elorduy, his second of the day. Overall, the Puget Sound passing game produced 400 yards.
On the ground, RB Henry Hernandez led the team with 64 yards and 2 TDs on 16 carries and added 45 receiving yards.
This all distracts from Joe Gallagher having a hugely productive day with 19 receptions for 252 yards. This brings him to 122 receptions on the season and they will surely be trying to feed him the ball in their final game as 17 more will put him in the national record book.
As for the Pioneers, they were unsurprisingly varied and explosive as Kamakawiwoole's day ended with 272 yards, 4 TDs and that interception on 18/25 passing which included a 75-yard touchdown to Devon Guest.
The ground game was just as productive as Chili Stephens ran for 134 yards on only 13 carries while Jordan Lahusky added 90 yards and 2 TDs on only 4 attempts. I am quite excited to see this offense next season with Kamakawiwoole having a full offseason under his belt.
As for Puget Sound, Hayden Teeter seems capable of replacing Mason Binning next season as he moves into his senior season as the presumed starter.
Pacific (OR) Boxers 24 | Willamette Bearcats 10
Although Willamette has not been able to win their way out of the basement of the conference yet, they are no longer deeply subterranean in danger of geothermal immolation.
They could not break through, but they threatened to tie the game in the second half as Pacific clung to a tight lead until they separated themselves with just under 3 minutes remaining.
The first half was largely concerning for the Boxers' offense as the Bearcats opened the scoring with a 99-yard drive which culminated with a Pres Juarez touchdown run nearly 5 minutes into the 2nd quarter. That celebration would be cut short as Josiah Chaffin returned the kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown and reset the game.
Pacific would take a tenuous 10-7 lead with 2 minutes remaining in the half, then take the 2nd half kickoff and drive down the field for a 17-7 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Willamette has seemingly found something to build on in their secondary as they limited Braeden Titus to only 93 yards with a TD and INT on 14/22 passing. The issues came on the ground as Brody Bantolina turned his 26 carries into 191 yards while his reliable backups - Kalai Pasi and Lucas Voss - combined for 112 yards and a TD on 16 carries. Bantolina is now at 1400 yards through 9 games in the most impressive NWC rushing performance in some time.
Unfortunately, Bantolina is no longer the national leader as Montie Quinn of Curry College passed him with 381 yards on Saturday.
As for the Bearcats, their offense is still a pile of question marks stitched together with concern as no single player has emerged as a block to build upon.
Pres Juarez completed only 8/22 for 90 yards, throwing an interception and taking 5 sacks while Gabriel Herrera and Jerrick Little combined for 89 yards on 20 carries.
It will be interesting to see what pieces they can find this offseason but I am happy to see improvements.
Whitworth Pirates 31 | George Fox Bruins 0
This was a hopelessly dreary offensive performance from George Fox while their defense handled Ryan Blair as well as any other team has this season.
Blair did complete 29/40 attempts, but for only 214 yards with 2 TDs and an interception, and a long of only 16 yards. The Bruins nearly took the Pirates into halftime with the score only 7-0, but DeMontre Thomas II threw an interception from the shadow of his goalposts which was returned for a touchdown with only seconds remaining in the half.
It was the running game which broke the Bruins' back as Luis Salgado racked up 136 yards on only 14 carries while his backup, Kurt Solano, had 83 yards and a TD on his 15 rushes.
On the inverse, George Fox finished with a net of -10 yards on the ground as nothing positive happened. Outside of his interception, Thomas completed only 9/18 passes for 118 yards as the Bruins crossed midfield only once in the game on a drive which ended with a turnover on downs inside the Whitworth 10.
Changes must be made on offense for George Fox after 2 years of frustrating inconsistency and general lack of production as the program has higher expectations than what they have achieved.
There is little reason to not expect a great heavyweight showdown in Spokane this Saturday as Linfield rolls into town.
Cal Lutheran Kingsmen 24 | CMS Stags 41
This was a bit of a strange game which turned into an absolutely dominant performance from Justin Edwards in his penultimate game.
While the Kingsmen took a 17-7 lead into halftime, the CMS offense sputtered through the air as QB Walter Kuhlenkamp was only 2/10 for 20 yards and an INT for the game.
Edwards would also run a number of plays lined up at the quarterback position, even completing a pass for 10 yards, but the real story of the game were his 34 carries for 324 yards and 3 TDs to push him over the 1000-yard mark for the 3rd time and over 4000 yards for his career.
Cal Lutheran could barely slow down the Stags in the second half as they scored on every drive until the clock struck zero. This Justin Edwards focused offense should have been the baseline all season but unfortunately they will not be able to bring this threat to the postseason.
For better or for worse, this will probably be quite a different Stags team next season.
Chapman Panthers 42 | La Verne Leopards 21
It appears that La Verne has shored up their run defense somewhat, but the Panthers would still run for 150 yards and 4 first-half touchdowns as they moved through 3 quarterbacks in the game.
Joey Yellen once again started the game, going 11/13 for 115 yards and a TD before giving way to Luke Peterman who added his own touchdown on 5/8 passing for 83 yards. Early in the second half Nathaniel Espinoza would enter the game for his first extended action of the season and would go 10/15 for 95 yards but fail to find the endzone.
The game would briefly look promising for the Leopards as Brian Rudden opened the game with a 71-yard TD to Jimmy Rumsey, but that would be the extent of their offense until the game was quite out of reach.
The only thing standing in the way of Chapman and a playoff date is a rematch with the only SCIAC team to have beaten them this season and a repeat of last season's championship game…
Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens 21 | Redlands Bulldogs 10
The Sagehens were quite stout up front against a team that they knew would want to line up and try to shove the ball down their throats. By the end of the day they had only allowed 109 yards on 40 carries.
This total was helped by 6 sacks on QB Will Reid, but there wasn't a singular member of the Bulldogs' stable of running back which could stand out in this game.
This game would have looked even worse for the Redlands offense without the fact they opened the 4th quarter with an 80-yard touchdown to WR Ethan Knight. Overall, Will Reid still gave them a more functional passing offense than they had enjoyed under Jayden Mckey as he finished 15/25 for 173 yards and that touchdown without a turnover.
The Sagehens did attempt to run the ball more than usual but could only net 63 yards on 36 attempts - overall a rather inefficient effort. On the other hand, Grady Russo had a solid tuneup ahead of their date with Chapman as he completed 18/26 for 219 yards and 2 TDs to Quinten Wimmer. It will be more important that he avoids turnovers than force the big play after throwing 6 interceptions in last year's SCIAC Championship Game.
Pomona-Pitzer is an interesting program which runs a system which can feel somewhat experimental at times, but they also feel like a program on the rise and should give a closer effort in the conference championship game than they did a year ago as Chapman has not looked quite like the team that they once were.
Week 11 | NAIA
Saturday, November 16
Dakota State at #15 Dickinson State | Noon MT
Valley City State at Jamestown | Noon MT
Simpson (CA) at Arizona Christian | 1PM MT
#14 Southern Oregon at College of Idaho | 1PM MT
Rocky Mountain College at Montana State-Northern | 1PM MT
#23 Carroll College at #8 Montana Tech | 1PM MT
#4 Montana Western at Eastern Oregon | 2PM MT
Week 11 | NCAA-Division 3
Saturday, November 16
#17 Linfield at #16 Whitworth | Noon PT
George Fox at Pacific (OR) | 1PM PT
Puget Sound at Pacific Lutheran | 1PM PT
Willamette at Lewis & Clark | 230PM PT
Chapman at Pomona-Pitzer | 230PM PT
Redlands at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 1PM PT
La Verne at Cal Lutheran | 1PM PT
Power Rankings
Frontier Conference
A 4-bid Frontier Conference isn’t going to happen, even if 4 teams finish in the top 20.
Montana Western is likely to win at Eastern Oregon, but they have struggled traveling to Oregon so far this season, so we’ll see what happens there. A loss to Eastern Oregon and a Carroll victory would hand the conference championship to the team from Helena.
Montana Tech needs to defeat Carroll for a second time this season to ensure they stay in the playoff picture. If they happen to lose to Carroll and Southern Oregon defeats College of Idaho, the Orediggers could easily slip outside of the 7th at-large spot due to that 3rd loss.
A convincing road victory for Southern Oregon will likely keep them just inside the playoff picture, and if the cards fall right, it’s possible that they could even host a first-round playoff game much like Montana Tech last season. Their geography means that a flight will be involved no matter who they end up playing in the first round and I can’t wait to see what ends up happening next Sunday for the selection show.
It would be frustrating to see Montana Tech being forced to play Montana Western again in the second round of the playoffs due to geography if Tech ends up ranked #7 or #8 going into the playoffs, but I believe that a top 8 finish would guarantee a home playoff date.
The most interesting element that Southern Oregon's entry to the playoffs would bring is not being directly tied to playing Dickinson State. I think it's more likely we see a KCAC entrant (or OUAZ should they slip into the lineup) be flown to Southern Oregon while Dickinson State faces a GPAC or Heart conference foe.
Of course I could be way off on this and I suggest anyone who really cares about how the NAIA playoff is going to play out pay more attention to Jason Dannelly of the Victory Sports Network.
#4 Montana Western Bulldogs (8-1, 6-1)
#8 Montana Tech Orediggers (8-2, 5-2)
#23 Carroll College Fighting Saints (7-2, 6-1)
#14 Southern Oregon Raiders (8-2, 5-2)
College of Idaho Yotes (6-4, 4-3)
Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (5-5, 4-3)
Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears (2-7, 1-6)
Arizona Christian Firestorm (1-8, 1-7)
Montana State-Northern Lights (0-9, 0-7)
North Star Athletic Association
#15 Dickinson State Blue Hawks (8-1, 7-0)
Dakota State Trojans (6-3, 4-3)
Mayville State Comets (4-6, 3-5)
Jamestown Jimmies (2-7, 2-5)
Valley City State Vikings (3-6, 2-5)
Northwest Conference [D3football.com rating]
Last week I switched the AFCA Coaches Poll for my ranking, but the D3football.com poll feels more accurate and also reflects just how close the two teams should be in this weekend’s de facto NWC Championship Game.
#17 Linfield Wildcats (8-1, 6-0)
#16 Whitworth Pirates (9-0, 6-0)
Pacific Lutheran Lutes (6-3, 4-2)
Lewis & Clark Pioneers (4-5, 3-3)
George Fox Bruins (4-5, 2-4)
Pacific Boxers (4-5, 2-4)
Puget Sound Loggers (2-7, 2-4)
Willamette Bearcats (2-7, 0-6)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Chapman Panthers (7-2, 6-1)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags (7-2, 5-2)
Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (7-2, 6-1)
Redlands Bulldogs (3-6, 3-4)
Cal Lutheran Kingsmen (1-8, 1-6)
La Verne Leopards (0-9, 0-7)