BILLINGS, Mont., Sept. 21, 2022- Battlin' Bears football hosts MSU-Northern for homecoming Saturday, September 24th at 1:00pm, presented by Western Security Bank.
Tickets Available Now: Tickets can be purchased now online using the link
HERE. This will also be the avenue for purchasing tickets with a debit or credit card on gameday, so skip the line and get your tickets now!
Bounce Back: After a disappointing home opener loss to College of Idaho, Rocky took their bye week to reset and went to Butte to take down No. 21 Montana Tech 28-20. Rocky's defense forced five turnovers and quarterback
Nathan Dick accounted for three total touchdowns.
Among the Ranks: This win propelled Rocky back into the Top-25, putting Rocky Football at No. 25. Other Frontier Conference schools in the Top-25 include College of Idaho at 11 and Montana Westerns at 17. Carroll College and Montana Tech received votes but fell just outside the Top-25. The full Top-25 poll can be found
HERE.
Scouting the Lights: Montana State-Northern has begun the season 0-3, facing off against College of Idaho, Southern Oregon, and Montana Western. It has been a tough start for the Lights, particularly on offense, where they have only accumulated 15 points through three games and average 146 yards per game. Northern has used two different quarterbacks so far this season, redshirt-senior Brenden Medina, who is listed at the top of the Light's two-deep against Rocky, has thrown 30/61 for 227 yards this season and three interceptions. Redshirt-junior Kaymen Cureton has thrown 11/24 for 100 yards and Northern's lone touchdown, along with an interception. Cureton is also Northern's leading rusher, rushing 20 times for 44 yards so far this season. Mason Dionne, a freshman from Havre, Montana, is the second leading rusher and the starting running back rushing 31 times for 43 yards. Senior Levi Keltner is the leading receiver for the Lights with seven receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Northern's defense has allowed an average of 40.7 points per game on 478 yards per game on average. Northern's defense is allowing 244 yards on the ground and 234 yards in the air so far this season. One of the few bright spots to begin this season is the performance of junior linebacker Dylan Wampler, who is tied for the conference lead in sacks with 4.5 sacks. Wampler is also the Light's leading tackler, averaging 9 total tackles per game, has an interception, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. Junior safety Hunter Riley averages 8 total tackles per game, has an interception and a forced fumble so far this season as well.
Northern is led by a new coaching staff, highlighted by former Northern Arizona University head coach Jerome Souers in his first season as head coach of the Lights.
Battlin' Bears to Watch
Trae Henry: The redshirt-sophomore receiver has been a steady target all season so far, tied for the team lead in receptions with 12, and is second to
DeNiro Killian Jr. by a single yard in receiving yards (
Henry has a total of 169 yards, Killian Jr. has 170 yards total). Henry caught four passes for 43 yards in Rocky's win against Tech.
Wes Moeai: The senior defensive lineman had a great game against Tech, totalling 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and seven total tackles. Moeai is up to 16 total tackles on the season.
History: The Battlin' Bears won in a slugfest 19-7 in their last meeting.
Nathan Dick was 16/23 for 187 yards passing and added 55 yards rushing and a touchdown in the victory.
Rocky currently rides a 14 game win streak against MSU-Northern. Northern's last victory came on Herb Klindt Field in 2015, 41-44.
Social Media: Follow @BattlinBears on twitter for live updates as the game goes on.
