Two Frontier Conference football teams will do battle in a non-conference showdown. This is because the Frontier Conference added football-only school Arizona Christian University, meaning that there is now an odd number of teams in the conference. There is still a home-and-home series for each Frontier Conference team, but now each first matchup will not count towards the conference record.
The Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears (1-0) will take on the MSU-Northern Lights (1-0) on Saturday afternoon at Tilleman Field. RMC is coming off of a (20-19) escape against Dickinson State University last Saturday. The Battlin’ Bears came back from 13 points down and were able to fend off a two-point conversion with eight seconds left after giving up a touchdown.
“Our resiliency with our guys was phenomenal,” Rocky Mountain coach Chris Stutzriem said to New Media Broadcasters. “We’re always going to believe in our players and make sure that what we call is what they expect to execute to the best of their abilities.”
“I’ve been a part of a lot of (close games),” Stutzriem continued. “Our defense could have folded after the touchdown, but didn’t.”
For the Lights, all eyes will be on the quarterback for Rocky, Trent Nobach. The Junior signal-caller went 27-39 for 284 yards and two touchdowns last time out, which led him to win the Frontier Conference Player of the Week. MSU-Northern coach Jerome Souers was complimentary of the “Bear-Raid” offense that the Battlin’ Bears run.
“They have a lot of perimeter guys who are talented,” Souers said. “They have speed, a strong quarterback and a running back who has given people fits.”
Names to look out for on Rocky defense are linebackers Prince Johnson (12 tackles last week) and Mason Browning (eight tackles last week) as well as defensive back Ty Reynolds, who had four tackles, a pass breakup, a forced fumble, and an interception. Reynolds’ performance earned him Frontier Conference Player of the Week honors.
“Defensively, they’re aggressive and attacking. They throw a lot of different looks at you in pursuit of the football,” Souers said. “We’ll have our hands full, no question about it.”
The defensive performance by the Lights against Mayville State last Saturday turned a lot of heads throughout the Frontier Conference after pitching a shutout. Coach Stutzriem isn’t taking the scouting of the team lightly.
“They fly around on defense. They play extremely hard,” Stutzriem said. “They’ve got skill guys all over the field. They’re just a well improved football team.”
“We understand that from the first game last year to the second that Northern got better,” Stutzriem continued.
Northern recorded a two-touchdown victory against a bottom-of-the-North Star Athletic Association Mayville State last week. Rocky Mountain squeaked by the best team in the NSAA from last season in Dickinson State. Souers knows that the games are improving week to week.
“It’ll be an uphill matchup initially for us,” Souers said. “We’ll see how much better we get this weekend.”
The Battlin’ Bears and Lights will have a 1pm kickoff from Tilleman Field on Saturday. Tune in on KPQX-92.5 FM with Noah Friedman on the call.
