Wilson, Cirglia power Montana Tech over upset-minded Carroll

BUTTE — Jarrett Wilson and Jamal Cirglia each ran for touchdowns and Alex Swenson recovered a muffed punt for another score as Montana Tech downed Carroll College 24-14 in a Frontier Conference football showdown Saturday.

The No. 5 Orediggers (2-0) fell behind 7-0 when Carroll quarterback Kaden Huot hit Peter Minnaert for 36 yards and the touchdown in the first quarter. The No. 11 Saints (1-1) had a short field because of an 18-yard punt. 

Tech scored the next 24 points in the defensive battle. Wilson, a junior out of Polson, capped a 73-yard march with a 1-yard run, and a 77-yard drive ended in a Casey Kautzman field goal for a 10-7 Oredigger lead. 

Kautzman had a hand in the next score: Carroll muffed his punt near the goal line and Swenson recovered the ball in the end zone. That made it 17-7 at 7:11 of the third quarter. 

Tech forced another fumble on Carroll’s next possession, with Christian Hansen popping the ball loose from a receiver and Asher Feddes recovering at the Saints’ 13-yard line. Cariglia scored from a yard out three plays later. 

Huot then capped a 77-yard Carroll drive with a 9-yard touchdown run at 1:18 of the third quarter, but neither team scored again. Huot was 11 of 26 passing for 72 yards; Carroll had just 99 yards of offense.  

Ikaika Ho ran for 94 yards and Cariglia for 74 for Tech, which had 199  yards on the ground. Wilson was 19 of 30 passing for 130 yards and an interception; he rushed for 28 yards. 

Montana Western 49, MSU-Northern 35

HAVRE — Eli Nourse caught five touchdown passes in the first half while Montana Western built a 43-7 lead, and the Bulldogs cruised from there. 

Quarterback Kaden LaPlaunt threw for five TDs — four to Nourse — and finished 15 of 21 passing for 272 yards for Western (1-0). Nourse’s touchdowns covered 21, 44, 20 (from Sam Wulff), 63 and — on the last play of the first half — 1 yard. He had nine receptions for 170 yards and Seth Shook caught five balls for 100.  

Northern’s Malakhi Statler threw three touchdown passes to Isaiah Woodley in the second half, covering 40, 88 and 53 yards, and had 362 passing yards. The Lights (0-2) scored three fourth-quarter TDs, including a 39-yard run by Sadik Sadik. 

College of Idaho 63, Rocky 13

CALDWELL, Idaho — Rylie Byington ran for 127 yards and five touchdowns for the Coyotes, who led 42-6 at halftime. 

Byington had 11 carries and C of I rolled up 250 rushing yards. Coyote quarterbacks Caden Young and Rex Larson combined to complete 12 of 18 passes for 180 yards. 

Ty Battle had a 33-yard scoring run for Rocky (0-2) in the second quarter, and Garrett Deatherage threw a TD pass to Eric Thomas in the second half. The Bears gained 205 yards, 69 through the air. 

In Saturday’s other Frontier games, Western Oregon beat Southern Oregon 65-35; Panhandle State (Oklahoma) beat Mayville State 30-17; and Black Hills State beat Dakota State 44-31. Simpson and Whittier (Calif.) College played a late game, as did Arizona Christian and Fort Lewis (Colo.) College.