HAVRE, Mont. – The Frontier Conference football standings are a jumbled mess again, and a third consecutive victory has Southern Oregon University right in the thick of them with three games left to play.
The Raiders straightened up following a slow start and got the result they expected against MSU-Northern, a 42-13 blowout Saturday at Tilleman Field in which they scored five of their touchdowns over the final 31 minutes of play. The wining streak is their longest in four years, putting them at 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the Frontier.
The Lights (1-6, 0-5), losers of 66 of their last 67 conference games, mustered 69 yards of offense – 21 on the ground, 48 through the air – the lowest total ever for an SOU opponent in FC play. The Raiders rang up 482yards, 156 of which
Moku Noa accumulated on six receptions, and came alive after three turnovers stalled them early.
Blake Asciutto's 10-yard touchdown pass to
Ted Wickman with 16 seconds left in the first half put them up 14-0. On the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter, Asciutto found Noa for a 75-yard score. Three plays later, the unraveling continued as
Spencer Kuffel returned hit fifth interception of the season 40 yards to the end zone to make it a 28-0 game.
Asciutto completed 18-of-34 attempts for 266 yards, helping Noa to his second triple-digit game and also finding
Jackson Clemmer for a 27-yard TD.
Avery McCuaig netted 62 yards and a TD on 11 carries, and
Champ Robertson's one-yard rush gave SOU its final score.
On the defensive side,
Gabe Thomas and
Braeden Yee both had multiple tackles for losses and a sack.
The win set up SOU for an intriguing game against No. 6-ranked Carroll (Mont.) next Saturday at Raider Stadium. The Saints were supplanted in first place by No. 9 College of Idaho, which handed them their first loss with a 35-21 decision in Helena. It left the FC with three one-loss teams: Carroll, C of I and Montana Western.
The Raiders are now tied in fourth place with Montana Tech, which was a 28-21 upset victim at Rocky Mountain (Mont.).
