tech
Photo courtesy of Sherry Rogers.
21
Winner Montana Tech MTT 8-1 , 8-1
17
Southern Oregon SOU 7-2 , 7-2
Winner
Montana Tech MTT
8-1 , 8-1
21
Final
17
Southern Oregon SOU
7-2 , 7-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
MTT Montana Tech 0 7 7 7 21
SOU Southern Oregon 7 7 3 0 17

Game Recap: Football | | SOU Sports Information

No. 9 Montana Tech knocks off SOU, 21-17, for Frontier title

ASHLAND – A tendency to play with fire against the Frontier Conference's best finally caught up to the Southern Oregon University football team Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium.

And for ninth-ranked Montana Tech, an already warm and fuzzy redemption story took on several new and welcomed layers.

The Orediggers – who at this time last year were wrapping up a historically dismal 1-9 season – knocked off the top-ranked Raiders 21-17 in front of 3,620 SOU faithful, clinched a share of the Frontier title and likely locked up a spot in the 16-team NAIA Championship Series.

Montana Tech (8-1 overall, 8-1 Frontier) can win the title outright and claim the conference's automatic postseason berth next week when it hosts 13th-ranked Montana Western. Should Tech lose and the Raiders (7-2, 7-2) do their part by winning the regular-season finale at Eastern Oregon, the result would be a three-way split of the Frontier crown.

As it stands, the Orediggers remain one of the hottest teams in the NAIA, now winners of six straight. Without starting quarterback Quinn McQueary for the third straight week, they performed as advertised with a wildcat look on offense that piled up 352 rushing yards.

They entered the day fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game, and Nolan Saraceni, the NAIA's top individual rusher, was lethal again with 144 yards on 30 carries. The junior has yet to be held under 100 this season.

Clay Cavender was even better with 130 yards on 13 tries. Trailing 17-14 with 5:30 remaining, Tech took over at its own 35-yard line and Cavender's 38-yard sprint put them in Raider territory on the second play of the drive. On 3rd-and-goal, Andrew Loudenback's 10-yard pass to Sean Sullivan in the back of the end zone proved to be the game-winner with 1:44 left.

Tanner Trosin put SOU in position to answer with consecutive completions of 14 and 23 yards to Jeremy Scottow, but his third try Scottow's way was picked off by Gunnar Kayser to seal the outcome.

The Raiders had been 9-1 against the last 10 ranked opponents to visit Ashland, but they've now lost three straight regular-season home finales.

They totaled 340 yards of offense, their lowest output since a season-opening loss at Carroll, and were particularly stymied on the ground, where they averaged 3.9 yards on 34 attempts. Trosin rushed 13 times for 62 yards and completed 14 of 27 passes for 209, including five to Scottow for 78 yards.

Melvin Mason, who added 46 rushing yards, put SOU on the board first with a seven-yard TD rush on the game's opening drive. Cavender capped an 83-yard drive with a two-yard score to tie it early in the second quarter, but SOU responded on its ensuing drive as Trosin hit Teran Togia on a screen pass for a nine-yard score. AJ Cooper's interception in the end zone on the last play of the half preserved a 14-7 lead.

Marcus Montano's 35-yard field goal midway through the third had SOU up 17-7 until Tech came right back with a seven-minute march that ended in Loudenback's three-yard TD pass to Cavender.

Loudenback, is listed as a tight end, completed 9 of 18 passes for 70 yards.

Luke Benz, Tyler Gavlak and Kayser led the Orediggers with six tackles apiece. Jaylenn Hart and David Weider both had nine tackles for SOU, and Hart forced a fumble early in the fourth quarter that was recovered by Grant Torgerson.

SOU can expect a drop in the polls, as No. 7 Reinhardt (Ga.) was the only other top-10 team to fall Saturday. The Raiders will need to finish in the top-eight to ensure hosting rights in the first round of the NAIA Championship Series, and last year No. 15 was the cutoff to get in at all.
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