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Rocky Mountain College Athletics

Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears

Events and Results

Events and Results

Nobach and Waddell Celebration '23
Brandon Stinson
19
Dickinson State (ND) DICKINSO 0-1 , 0
20
Winner Rocky Mountain ROCKY MO 1-0 , 0
Dickinson State (ND) DICKINSO
0-1 , 0
19
Final
20
Rocky Mountain ROCKY MO
1-0 , 0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
DICKINSO Dickinson State (ND) 13 0 0 6 19
ROCKY MO Rocky Mountain 0 13 7 0 20

Game Recap: Football | | Brandon Stinson | Sports Information & Media Coordinator

Rocky Football Defeats #19 Dickinson State 20-19 in Dramatic Fashion

BILLINGS, Mont.- The Battlin' Bears stopped the #19 ranked Blue Hawks on a two point conversion in the final seconds to begin their 2023 campaign with a victory. 

The first quarter was one to forget for the Battlin' Bears, as Dickinson State got their offense humming early, as Will Madler found Noah Sickler for a 40 yard touchdown to get things going. The Battlin' Bears got a hand on the point after attempt, however, keeping the early score at 6-0. 

Dickinson State kept rolling, as the third play of the Battlin' Bears resulted in a Blue Hawk interception by Jayden Heartwell. Dickinson State would take that turnover and produce it into points, as Will Madler found Galen Brantley from 14 yards out to give Dickinson a 13-0 lead going into the end of the first quarter. 

Ty Reynolds set the tone early in the second quarter, as he grabbed an interception of his own on the third play of the quarter to give the ball back to the offense. Trent Nobach led the Battlin' Bears into Dickinson State territory, eventually setting up Wyatt Brusven, who muscled a field goal from 46 yards out to get Rocky on the board, down 13-3. 

Momentum began to build for the Battlin' Bears, as the defense forced a three and out on the ensuing possession. A bad punt from the Blue Hawks set up the Rocky offense inside Dickinson State's 40 yard line. After two strong rushes from Zaire Wilcox, Trent Nobach found DeNiro Killian Jr. over the middle to get into the endzone, bringing the score to 13-10 in the second quarter. 

The defense continued to make plays in the second quarter, as the following possession for Dickinson State ended in another turnover, as Ethan Hurst got into the backfield quickly and forced out a Dickinson State fumble, which was recovered by Jasper Djouma right around midfield. 

The Battlin' Bears put together a long drive to finish off the half, as Wyatt Brusven tied things up as the clock hit zeros with a 21 yard field goal. 

Trent Nobach came into the second half in control of the offense, as the first possession of the half was a 12 play, 75 yard drive that included Nobach throwing 9/9 for 73 yards, finishing the drive off with a four yard strike to Jack Waddell, giving the Battlin' Bears a 20-13 lead to open up the second half. 

Both teams traded possessions to finish the third quarter, but the Blue Hawks finished the quarter driving into Battlin' Bear territory. 

Opening the fourth quarter, Ty Reynolds made another game-altering play, as the Blue Hawks tried to quarterback sneak on fourth and two, Reynolds escaped from the pile with the football, giving the Battlin' Bears the ball back on their own 14 yard line. 

Dickinson State got one last chance down seven with less than three minutes to go. Quarterback Will Madler put together an impressive drive that included two fourth down conversions, eventually finding Noah Sickler again for a one yard touchdown, bringing them a point away from tying the ball game with only six seconds left on the clock. Coach Pete Stanton decided to leave it all on the field, going for the two point conversion to win the game. Madler scrambled to the right and found Sickler again, only this time his throw was just above the reach of his receiver and the Battlin' Bears secured a 20-19 victory over Dickinson State. 

"What a team win." Coach Chris Stutzriem said following the game. "Our kids were resilient tonight, Dickinson State is a great team who tackles well and are physical. Our guys put the late touchdown behind them and stopped the two point conversion and I'm proud of them. We have a lot of things to fix but that was a fun and good team win."

"We started off slow offensively," Sophomore quarterback Trent Nobach said. "I'm really proud of the guys though, we all rallied around each other. The defense made a clutch stop at the end and overall I'm just really proud of this team tonight."

Nobach finished the night 27/39 for 284 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Zaire Wilcox finished the night with 17 rushing attempts for 49 yards, while also grabbing two catches for 23 yards. Jack Waddell was the Battlin' Bears leading receiver with five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown, while Joseph Dwyer grabbed five catches for 57 yards. 

Defensively, Prince Johnson led all players with 12 total tackles, including one tackle for loss. Mason Browning added eight tackles, while Ty Reynolds added four along with his interception and fumble recovery. 

Dickinson State was led by Will Madler's 24/37 for 251 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, while adding 20 yards of rushing on the ground. Braden Zuroff rushed nine times for 49 yards. Receiver Noah Sickler led all players with 10 receptions for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Jayden Heartwell was the team's leading tackler with six to go along with his first quarter interception. 

The Battlin' Bears (1-0) will travel to Havre, Montana next weekend to take on MSU-Northern (1-0) in a non-conference matchup. 
 
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