BILLINGS, Mont. – The Rocky Mountain College football team put up a fight before falling to No. 5 Montana Tech on Saturday afternoon in Frontier Conference action at Herb Klindt Field.
 
Rocky Mountain (2-2, 2-1 Frontier) fell behind 13-0 in the first five minutes and eventually trailed 20-0 at halftime. After Mason Melby got the Battlin' Bears on the board on the team's first drive of the second half, Montana Tech (3-0, 3-0) scored 14 unanswered points to lead 34-7 after three quarters.
 
The home team wouldn't go away and they pulled within 34-14 early in the fourth quarter when Jacob Bakken hit Max gray for a 40-yard score. Rocky then forced a punt and the offense went 85 yards on 14 plays – capped with another Melby touchdown – to get within 34-21 with 7:37 to play.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, Griff Amies dribbled the ball where it hit a Tech player and was recovered by the Battlin' Bears. Bakken would then find Lucas Overton on a 41-yard pass play six plays later to close the deficit to 34-28 with 5:21 remaining.
 
Montana Tech was able to close out the game by going 51 yards on 11 plays to run the clock out.
 
The Battlin' Bears totaled 377 total yards in the game and they recorded 164 on the ground. Melby led the attack with 75 yards on 12 carries and those two scores.
 
Bakken added 69 yards rushing and went 16 of 29 for 213 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
 
Overton led all Rocky players with 71 yards receiving. Darneail Jenkins made four catches for 40 yards and Gray totaled 47 yards on his three receptions.
 
The Orediggers had 500 yards of offense and possessed the ball for 35:04 minutes.
 
Keenan Fagan made 10 tackles for Rocky and added one sack and one interception. Billy Williams also made 10 tackles and Ryder Rice had one sack.
 
The Battlin' Bears will remain at home next week as they host The College of Idaho for homecoming. The action from Herb Klindt Field will begin at 1 p.m. on September 23.