The Western Address Volume 2 Issue 8
Covering the games through October 19, 2024
This was a more exciting slate of games than some of the final scores may make you believe, but there was a line which came to mind as one game in particular slipped away…
Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.
Conference games are such a different animal than out-of-conference matchups, especially when the underdog is hosting. You never know what might happen, but the better team still does often prevail.
There were also some impressive performances on the day, starting with Jake Humphrey out of Walla Walla, Washington…
Montana Western Bulldogs 42 | Rocky Mountain Battlin’ Bears 24
While some teams run to set up the pass, Montana Western used the specter of passing to set up the run. There were multiple times in the game where the threat of Palandri's arm caused the Rocky Mountain defense to be late or misaligned against a simple run play which led to Jake Humphrey having rushing touchdowns of 4, 60, 16, 70, and 1 yards on his way to a grand total of 215 yards on only 20 carries.
Outside of Humphrey's antics, the Battlin' Bears did battle on defense, especially against the pass as Palandri & Co were limited to only 147 yards and a single touchdown on 9/16 passing while 97 of those yards came on only 3 Dylan Shipley receptions.
Rocky Mountain would go into halftime trailing by a score of only 14-10 as Quarterback JT Allen and RB Kyan Jesperson gave the Bears a more balanced attack than they are used to.
Allen would pass for 218 yards and 3 TDs while Jesperson had a rare 105-yard game for an offense which has struggled to produce on the ground.
One could take the yardage to suggest that the Bulldogs' defense is their weakness which will betray them 6 weeks from now, but that unit has shown an ability to be flexible and resilient when it needs to be.
As close as the score was to open the second half, that Bulldogs defense came out flying and clamped down on Rocky Mountain until the score quickly became 35-10 for Western mid-way through the 3rd quarter. It is a difficult task to contain an offense with a proven track record of production and the ability to feature a different element each week.
College of Idaho Yotes 28 | Montana State-Northern Lights 7
The Lights are a first-half team, of that I am certain. They have made a habit of finding a way to score early and limit the opposing team just enough to make them sweat, but wear down as the game goes on as their skill deficit on offense keeps them from producing with any consistency.
The Lights would open the scoring with a 40-yard passing play 6 minutes in but that would be it for offense production as hope was bled from them by Andy Peters.
The Lights always feel well-coached on defense, but lack the talent and depth to compete for a full game against this iteration of the Frontier Conference. The shift to divisions next season should help soften some of their schedule.
After falling behind, the Yotes took 6 and a half minutes off the clock grinding their way down the field to tie the game and they would not look back. The game still felt within reach as the clock ticked down in the first half with the score 14-7 but a final back-breaking drive of the first half made the deficit feel insurmountable with a 21-7 score.
Peters has continued to distribute the ball quite well with 5 receivers catching 3 or 4 passes as he completed 23/37 for 349 yards and 2 TDs without a turnover. He was well-contained on the ground by the Lights with only 12 net yards though RB Hunter Gilbert was efficient with 63 yards on only 10 carries.
It is hard to look at the Lights week after week looking for some promise of a better future but there are some quiet hints - it is just unclear if anything will ever be actualized.
Eastern Oregon Mountaineers 19 | Carroll College Fighting Saints 24
This was a curious matchup as neither team was ranked or really in consideration of being in the running for the Frontier championship, yet Carroll was undefeated and in first place while Eastern Oregon had only a single conference loss.
It is now safe to say that Carroll is still the superior team, though it will take a huge effort down the stretch to disrupt a few team's seasons if they are to make a playoff push.
The box score for Eastern Oregon is fascinating as the ball was either carried or thrown by Quincy Glasper on every play outside of 4 carries from RB Brody Macmillan which did not go well with a net of -2 yards.
Glasper was tasked with being Mr Everything which turned into 21 carries (including 6 sacks) for 54 net yards while completing 31/54 passes for 302 yards and 2 TDs. Malachi Spurrier was a target sponge as always with 13 receptions for 116 yards.
Even without any turnovers and winning the penalty yardage battle, the Mountaineers found themselves down 24-6 to open the 4th quarter.
The big story has to be the continued strong play from QB Jack Prka.
I had quite a reserved opinion of him last season as the Fighting Saints offense struggled in many games as he failed to have a completion percentage above 60% but he has been excellent this season making major strides in efficiency and making close to zero errors. If they do happen to come out of their final 4 games with an upset or two, he will be a major reason why.
On this occasion, he completed 21/28 passes for 339 yards and 2 TDs, though he was sacked 4 times. He has now completed over 70% in his last 4 games and sits at 73% on the season.
Although Prka is capable of being a major contributor in the run game, he doesn't have to be when the offensive line is creating holes for the designed run game as Archie LaFurge and Jake Jeske combined for 122 yards on 18 carries.
Eastern Oregon did mount a comeback in this game, scoring twice in the final frame, but their final score came with only 19 seconds remaining and it would have taken quite a miracle to walk off with a win for the Mountaineers.
With a record of (5-1, 4-0) Carroll is very much in control of their destiny, but as they play College of Idaho, Southern Oregon, Montana Western, and Montana Tech down the stretch, they only face Southern Oregon at home and home field has been a major factor in this captivating season.
Simpson (CA) Red Hawks 0 | Montana Tech Orediggers 97
Oh dear.
It was tempting to leave it there as there is nothing to really learn from this sort of wanton destruction, but the stats still count, so credit where credit’s due.
Overall, Montana Tech accumulated 626 yards to Simpson's 30 on only 51 plays and incorporated a number of players who had previously been limited to special teams duty.
One such individual was redshirt freshman RB Ikaika Ho who has been a solid contributor on kick coverage units but took his first career rushing attempt for a 52-yard touchdown in the 4th quarter. Although there is a lot of seniority in the Orediggers' backfield, there is legitimate excitement about Ho’s future at running back in Butte.
As for the usual suspects, Levi Torgerson brought the opening kickoff back for a touchdown for the second consecutive home game while also catching 3 passes for 113 yards and 2 TDs. He was joined by his running mate Wyatt Alexander who also had 2 TDs on 3 receptions for 57 yards. In limited duty QB Blake Thelen finished 7/9 for 174 yards and 5 TDs.
Ethan Renner lead the team in rushing with 95 yards on 10 carries, but surprisingly did not get into the endzone while starter Landers Smith enjoyed a lighter workload of 7 carries for 59 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Orediggers may have come into this game planning to make a statement as they barely let off the gas after a 43-point first quarter as they finished with 415 yards and 5 TDs on the ground. They are in a great position going into the final 4 weeks of the regular season with 3 games at home and they should be a lock for the postseason if they win out.
Southern Oregon Raiders 48 | Arizona Christian Firestorm 7
Southern Oregon wasn't as overwhelming as the final score looks, they were simply very consistent as their points by quarter was an even 14/10/14/10. There wasn't a whole lot that stood out in this game other than the physicality in the trenches and the explosive ability of Gunner Yates.
Yates had another 3 TDs on the ground as he totaled 148 yards on 18 carries as he continues to lead the NAIA in rushing, crossing the 1000-yard threshold with 20 touchdowns through 7 games.
For Blake Asciutto, he had another solid outing with 273 yards on 15/25 passing which included a 66-yard TD to Brandon Barthel and 103 yards on 6 receptions by Sawyer Cleveland.
Although they struggled to score, Arizona Christian was the more interesting offensive unit to me.
They largely operate out of a condensed under center formation similar to the Flexbone but with split backs and a single wide receiver. There is a lot of potential for the option game and misdirection, they just don't have the requisite talent to trade punches with the top of the conference.
In this game they would end up relying on their #3 QB, Beau Devens, by the start of the second quarter as Johnny Herrera appeared to get his leg folded up on a 4th down attempt that went poorly and Corbyn Vasily struggled to make anything work.
The Firestorm running game finished with 10 players touching the ball for 113 yards on 31 carries while Devens was 8/16 for 84 yards through the air. I hope they stick with this system and work to find pieces that work within it.
Mayville State Comets 14 | Dickinson State Blue Hawks 49
This was a bit of a surprise.
Not that Dickinson State won, but just how poorly the early stages of the game went for the Comets and how dominant the Blue Hawks were.
The Blue Hawks chewed through half of the first quarter on their opening possession as Mayville State just couldn't get them off the field until RB Braden Zuroff took a 4th & 1 handoff 21 yards for a touchdown. He would finish the game with 3 TDs and 110 yards on only 16 carries.
Mayville's first possession would quickly go 3 & out, but a poor snap would result in their punter scrambling to throw the ball away to give Dickinson a short field. They took this opportunity to score immediately on their first play, a 17-yard pass from Will Madler to Darion Brown, and the rout was on.
The Comets' next snap was another poor one that evaded Dylan LaMont who would recover at the 1 but any sort of damage mitigation was eventually pointless as Dickinson State scored on every possession of the first half for a 42-7 lead at halftime.
Madler's 168 passing yards were nothing to get too excited about but he was as good as he needed to be as he completed 16/19 with 3 TDs and gave the home crowd a lot to cheer about.
Mayville State is still a much improved team over last season, but the Blue Hawks made it clear that they won't entertain any opposition to their conference crown.
Dakota State Trojans 13 | Jamestown Jimmies 21
The other North Star matchup was a little bit of a surprise as well as both offenses produced both running and passing but the difference came down to a Jimmies fumble return TD late in the first quarter. This was a result of a poor snap which shot past AJ Donovan that he failed to jump on before the defense could scoop it up.
Outside of this play, Donovan had a much less eventful game than a week ago as he completed 21/34 for 162 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
There was very little notable about this game, but Jamestown finally found themselves a win while Dakota State spirals downward.
Pacific (OR) Boxers 37 | Lewis & Clark Pioneers 51
I was quite happy to see Oa Kamakawiwoole return to his role as starting QB for the Pioneers and he was excellent once again.
Although there are the occasional off-target passes that should not be unexpected for a true freshman, he completed 25/38 attempts for 414 yards, 4 TDs, and an interception. In 3 career starts he has now completed 66.7% of his passes for 1040 yards and 10 TDs to 1 interception.
A major contributor to these statistics was Devon Guest who turned his 8 receptions in this game into 236 yards and 3 touchdowns.
As for the rest of the game, Lewis & Clark controlled the Boxers’ run game in the first half as they got out to a 27-7 lead before the 2nd half fireworks got started.
Pacific would outscore the Pioneers 30-24 in the second half as Bantolina found the endzone twice along with his running mate Kalai Pasi and receiver Josiah Chaffin. For QB Braeden Titus, he was once again solid with 232 yards, but completing only 15/29 is not enough to carry the team while the running game is limited.
And it does seem unreasonable to say that Bantolina was limited as he still had 136 yards on 21 carries, but it was below his season average though he still leads all of D3 with 980 yards in 6 games.
Lewis & Clark also had their running game working as Chili Stephens came through with 109 yards and a TD on 18 carries.
Mike Machado’s offense has shown a flexibility and willingness to stick with what is working and they will gladly run the ball if the holes are there to run through. They may not be in the running for for a spot in the playoffs, but they have averaged over 35 points/game over their past 16 games with a variety of quarterbacks pulling the trigger.
Willamette Bearcats 0 | Pacific Lutheran Lutes 50
Willamette has now been outscored 170-0 in conference play.
Last season they were outscored 191-28 against these same 3 opponents, so take from that what you will.
Quarterback Alex Rivera IV has gone through a trial by fire in his time at Willamette and it feels like that experience is wearing him down. He struggled to hit open receivers when the opportunity arose but they may not have a better option.
Pres Juarez and Diego Franco would also make an appearance at QB for the Bearcats and the group finished 13/33 for 119 yards and 3 interceptions. The running game was likewise stymied with only 68 yards on 28 carries against the defensively sound Lutes.
Darius Chaffin had a strong game, leading the team in rushing with 57 yards and a TD while completing 17/21 passing attempts for 254 yards and 3 TDs. His top receiver on the day was the undersized but quick Thor Stepina with 7 receptions for 105 yards and all 3 TDs.
The rest of the running game was successful as well behind Jacob Schuh and Raysen Motoyama who combined to turn their 8 carries into 77 yards and 3 TDs.
I will be excited to see Chaffin face Oa Kamakawiwoole this weekend in a game which should solidify 3rd place in my conference rankings for the rest of the season.
Whitworth Pirates 42 | Puget Sound 24
For a team which has struggled to be competitive in many games, I was shocked to see Puget Sound trailing by a score of only 15-9 at the half.
How did they get to this point? The simple answer seems to be strong situational defense.
Although Puget Sound allowed some longer drives, they resulted in a field goal and some punts while the biggest play of the half was an 87-yard catch and run by Evan Liggett - a sign of things to come.
The Loggers responded to falling behind 15-0 with a big play of their own as Mason Binning hit Tommy Milton for a 66-yard touchdown in response and closed the gap with a field goal to end the half.
Coming out of the break, Puget Sound was prepared to shock the world as they took the ball and drove down the field punctuated by Binning taking the ball on 4th & 3, skipping away from would-be tacklers and getting around the edge for a 14-yard touchdown and 16-15 lead.
The Loggers quickly forced the Pirates to punt, but their defense would get to Binning on the first play and force a fumble, flipping the field and shifting momentum back to Whitworth.
The two teams would trade touchdowns to give the Loggers a 24-21 lead, but then disaster would strike, highlighting the difference in talent between the Whitworth offense and Puget Sound defense.
On the first play in response, Nathan Owens took a short pass from Ryan Blair 73 yards for a touchdown, the Loggers would turn the ball over on downs at their own 44 which led to Luis Salgado running 44 yards for another touchdown which essentially ended the game as the 3rd quarter came to a close. Although the Loggers’ defense had played sound for much of the game, they couldn't handle the Pirates’ speed in space.
Ryan Blair finished with 5 TDs on 20/34 passing and 363 yards while RB Luis Salgado had a smooth day with 168 yards and a TD on only 15 carries. This game was closer to being an upset than the pure numbers might make you think.
On the other side, Binning continues to embrace an almost historical workload at quarterback as he threw for 382 yards on 37/68 passing with 2 TDs and has not thrown an interception in his past 4 games. He has attempted 53.8 passes per game through 6 games and will need to attempt another 253 to break the D3 single season record (63/game in his final 4) or 242 passes to set the pass attempts per game record.
Wide receiver Joe Gallagher is also chasing his own volume record as he caught 20 passes for 162 yards and a TD against Whitworth to reach 80 receptions through 6 games. He will need another 61 receptions in 4 games to break the single season record or 57 to break the receptions per game record.
Last season, WR Izaiah Jerenz had 115 receptions and 1313 yards for the Loggers in only 9 games.
This record pursuit may be within reach out of necessity as the Loggers' #2 receiver, Isaac Tran, had only a single reception in this game late in the first half before leaving with an apparent arm injury.
I have enjoyed this extreme “shooters shoot” offensive approach and will miss Mason Binning as he runs out of eligibility.
He reminds me of the sort of quarterback that Mike Leach would have loved as he seems to keep a level demeanor against the stresses of being a high-volume passer.
Linfield Wildcats 47 | George Fox 7
Linfield does not present as exceptional in any one way, but they are a meat grinder to play against and do just enough to churn out drives and minimize errors.
George Fox is too much of a boom-or-bust group to succeed against the Wildcats who punted only twice as they ran 78 plays for 446 yards without any one player truly standing out.
Quarterback Blake Eaton was solid but unspectacular, distributing the ball all over the field which led to RB Jackson Pfeifer leading the team in both rushing (12 carries, 63 yards, TD) and receiving (4 catches, 59 yards). The Wildcats seem to be able to swap out parts at will without a noticeable drop-off in production.
I really want to like George Fox, but there's just nothing very interesting about their offense and their success is based purely on whether or not they can control the trenches without any outstanding athletes that can take over a game. At least there should be some changes for next season.
La Verne Leopards 14 | CMS Stags 57
In this rendition of “How bad can La Verne’s run defense be?” the Stags racked up 312 yards and 4 TDs on 48 carries, led by Justin Edwards with 122 yards and 2 TDs of his own on 21 carries.
There isn’t much more to know about this game; the Leopards couldn’t pass the ball and they have the dubious honor of being the first team this season to allow CMS to score more than a field goal in the second half.
Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens 21 | Chapman Panthers 17
In the rematch of last season's SCIAC Championship Game the Sagehens escaped with a win out of a game full of errors.
Pomona-Pitzer has struggled to find a consistent identity on offense and they tend to revert back to a spread scheme which will use multiple passers in a variety of roles.
The first score of the game was a double pass as Nick Kim slung the ball across to Sander Wimmer who launched it down the field for a 75-yard catch and run to Matthias Olson.
Chapman responded with a TD pass to RB Gio Ursino, but would then have a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown on their next possession.
Although the Panthers took a 17-14 lead to open the 4th quarter, a few minutes later the Sagehens would retake the lead on a short 39-yard drive and survive to take victory.
Chapman would be driving in the final seconds but turn the ball over on downs with only 2 seconds remaining.
It is amazing that Pomona-Pitzer won this game without a single drive with more than 5 offensive plays while their 2 offensive scores came on drives of 1 & 3 plays.
Nick Kim started the game at QB for the Sagehens and he finished 9/15 for only 54 yards with a TD and INT while Grady Russo and the Wimmer twins combined to go 3/4 for 83 yards with a touchdown, interception, and 2 sacks. Their collective ground game could only net 37 yards as well.
On the other side, the Panthers did not struggle to produce yards - led by Gio Ursino who carried the ball 31 times for 156 yards and added 3 receptions for 33 yards and a TD but couldn't overcome the mistakes from QB Joey Yellen.
Yellen did throw for 241 yards on 23/41 attempts with 2 TDs, but also threw 2 interceptions including a back-breaker at the goalline. This result is unlikely to keep the Panthers from the SCIAC Championship Game but it will end any chance of seeing them sneak into the Top 25.
Redlands Bulldogs 17 | Cal Lutheran Kingsmen 15
This was a ugly sort of game which stumbled into an entertaining finish.
Redlands has settled into their identity of avoiding throwing the ball whenever possible while spreading the ball around on the ground with a healthy amount of production in their 2 wins, though things have looked less promising in their losses.
On this evening, they got out to a 17-6 lead late in the 3rd, but failed to get a first down the rest of the way, outside of a muffed punt recovery at midfield with 3:35 remaining.
The Kingsmen would stand strong against the run and burn their timeouts to get the ball back with 2:23 remaining, down 8, with 80 yards to go.
On their previous drive they took nearly 6 and a half minutes to go 70 yards for a field goal, so momentum was on their side, if they could manage the time.
Inching their way down the field the dam broke with a 38-yard pass down to the Bulldogs’ 1-yard line, and two quick runs later they broke into the endzone. Needing to convert the 2-point conversion to tie, Jaden Casey floated the ball towards the right flat as he retreated, but the ball was off-target and caught by a Redlands defender outside of the endzone to end the threat.
Overall, Jaden Casey completed 28/50 for 250 yards and an interception while their running game added 76 yards on 29 carries and the final touchdown. Cade Cadam was the receiver who made the catch down to the 1 on the final drive and finished with an impressive 11 receptions for 135 yards.
For the Bulldogs, the running game hit their stride with 262 yards and 2 TDs on 46 carries, which included 2 sacks on Jayden Mckey. Mckey also led the team in rushing with 104 yards including a 79-yard touchdown while Calel Olicia-Aramboles added 78 yards and a TD of his own on only 12 carries.
Although Mckey likely has room to improve as a passer - he is only a sophomore - he completed just 5/9 passes for 37 yards and an interception.
I may have been too negative about Redlands at the beginning of the season, they are a well-coached program which plays a physical game on both sides of the ball, but they are limited by talent at this time. They still have room to finish with 5 wins if they can be creative and multiple with their run game and utilize their stable of backs.
Week 8 | NAIA
Saturday, October 26
Carroll College at #12 College of Idaho | 1PM MT
Rocky Mountain College at #15 Montana Tech | 1PM MT
Arizona Christian at #6 Montana Western | 1PM MT
Simpsons (CA) at Eastern Oregon | 2PM MT
Montana State-Northern at #10 Southern Oregon | 2PM MT
Jamestown at Mayville State | 1PM MT
Valley City State at Dakota State | 3PM MT
Week 8 | NCAA-Division 3
Saturday, October 26
Pacific Lutheran at Lewis & Clark | 1PM PT
Puget Sound at #20 Linfield | 1PM PT
#14 Whitworth at Pacific (OR) | 1PM PT
George Fox at Willamette | 1PM PT
Chapman at Cal Lutheran | 7PM PT
La Verne at Pomona-Pitzer | 7PM PT
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Redlands | 7PM PT
Power Rankings
It appears there were some transposition errors in the team records last week, not sure how that happened, but they're all correct now.
Frontier Conference
#6 Montana Western Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1)
#15 Montana Tech Orediggers (5-2, 2-2)
#10 Southern Oregon Raiders (6-1, 3-1)
#12 College of Idaho Yotes (6-2, 4-1)
Carroll College Fighting Saints (5-1, 4-0)
Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (3-4, 3-2)
Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears (1-6, 0-5)
Arizona Christian Firestorm (1-5, 1-4)
Montana State-Northern Lights (0-6, 0-4)
North Star Athletic Association
#21 Dickinson State Blue Hawks (6-1, 5-0)
Mayville State Comets (4-3, 3-2)
Dakota State Trojans (4-3, 2-3)
Valley City State Vikings (2-4, 1-3)
Jamestown Jimmies (1-6, 1-4)
Northwest Conference
#20 Linfield Wildcats (5-1, 3-0)
#14 Whitworth Pirates (6-0, 3-0)
Lewis & Clark Pioneers (3-3, 2-1)
Pacific Lutheran Lutes (4-2, 2-1)
Pacific Boxers (3-3, 1-2)
George Fox Bruins (3-3, 1-2)
Puget Sound Loggers (1-5, 1-2)
Willamette Bearcats (2-4, 0-3)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Chapman Panthers (4-2, 3-1)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags (5-1, 3-1)
Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (4-2, 3-1)
Redlands Bulldogs (2-4, 2-2)
Cal Lutheran Kingsmen (1-5, 1-3)
La Verne Leopards (0-6, 0-4)
Has there been any update on how the Frontier Conference is going to work out their divisions? I know when Simpson was introduce they said two groups of seven. I assume the Montana schools are going to be split up but I cannot figure a potential scenario there that makes any sense.