The MSU-Northern Lights dropped another football game on Saturday afternoon, this time to the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers, (28-3).
The Lights let up a huge play on defense to start the game, when Mountaineers quarterback Quincy Glasper found Malachi Spurrie for a 61-yard catch and run for a score one minute and three seconds into the game. Northern responded a 12-play drive that took them down the field, where Tate O’Neill kicked a 25-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
Eastern Oregon then had the final laugh as they put up three unanswered touchdowns throughout the contest. Glasper connected with Blake Davis on a 70-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 14-3 in the second quarter. There was a moment when Northern could have driven down the field and scored in the second quarter after getting an interception from linebacker Dylan Wampler, but couldn’t capitalize on that turnover or another takeaway later in the ball game.
Dante Maiuri got the start for the Lights in the place of Oakley Kopp, who was injured towards the end of the first half of the game last week against Carroll and didn’t return. Maiuri also suffered an injury close to the end of the first half, but played into the third quarter before freshman quarterback Ashton Platt saw his first collegiate action.
The positives for Northern were 253 yards of total offense after averaging 83 yards through four games. Mason Dionne ran 31 times for 120 yards. For the Mountaineers, Glasper had another solid outing, 18-28, 257 yards and three touchdowns, while Spurrie caught six balls for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
Eastern Oregon is on a two-game winning streak (2-4, 2-2 in the Frontier), while MSU-Northern has dropped four in a row (1-4, 0-3 in the Frontier). The Lights will be back on the road when they face the College of Idaho next Saturday in Caldwell. Stay tuned to New Media Broadcasters for stories throughout the coming week.
