MSU-Northern football is coming off of its worst outing during this 2024 campaign, losing to Southern Oregon on the road, (57-15) last week. The team was down (43-0) at halftime and could not keep up with a top-10 Raiders squad. New Media Broadcasters asked head coach Jerome Souers how he analyzed the performance and he kept it real by saying the effort from the time the Lights left Havre to the end of the game in Ashland was not what he envisioned, but said the team is hard at it once again.
“We’re all really disappointed in the way that we played and you can look at a lot of different variables,” Souers said. “We’re learning about travel, about handling tough road games, (and) how we need to elevate our intensity when (not) playing at home.”
“That’s just not something that we’ve had much of an advantage this year is playing at home,” Souers continued. “We’re excited to be coming back. Our guys are not letting up.”
“They’re staying hard at it. We’re coaching our tails off,” Souers said. “We just have to elevate our play as we’re playing these bigger, higher ranked opponents.”
Speaking of higher ranked opponents, one of the best teams in the history of the NAIA poll is coming to town this week. The No. 4 ranked Montana Western Bulldogs will drive up from Dillon and play the Lights in Havre. Souers outlined the program that Western has and how he would like his guys to go up against said team to the level that they’re capable of playing.
“They’re a mature program,” Souers said. “They’ve done a good job of restoring their talent and their depth every year. They’ve got guys that are full grown men.”
“They’re very highly skilled. They don’t beat themselves a lot,” Souers continued. “They’re lethal. And that’s what it takes to be a nationally ranked team.”
“Our guys, we’ve got to be on our toes,” Souers said. “We’ve got to have great pad level. We’ve got to be getting off of blocks. We have to communicate what we’re seeing and make the adjustments that are necessary to play a high caliber team.”
The Lights (0-7, 0-5 in the Frontier) will host the No. 4 Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 in the Frontier) for Homecoming this Saturday at Tilleman Field. Kickoff will be at noon and Noah Friedman will broadcast the contest on KPQX-92.5FM and HiLineToday.com.
