DILLON, Mont. – Given the chance to wipe the slate clean with the start of Frontier Conference West Division play, the Southern Oregon University football team took full advantage in a dramatic 28-27 win against Montana Western on Saturday at Bulldog Stadium.
Fresh Ison rushed for a game-tying, 35-yard touchdown and
Andy Nguyen converted a go-ahead extra point with 51 seconds left as the Raiders (2-3 overall) triumphed at UMW for the first time since 2017.
The Raider defense did the rest, finishing off a masterful fourth-quarter effort by holding the Bulldogs (2-3) to a futile 61-yard try at a field goal that fell well short as time expired. It became the third SOU game this season that was clinched by the result of a last-second kick.
Ison's heroics were made possible by some critical stands from the SOU defense. After the Bulldogs tied the game with an 85-yard drive at the end of the third quarter, they were denied a couple of golden opportunities in the fourth. A long punt return put them at SOU's 29-yard line and an interception put them at SOU's 28, but they had to settle for Maclain Burckley field goals on both occasions.
Leading 27-21, the Bulldogs took over again with 2:46 remaining and a chance to put the game away, but the Raiders made them go three-and-out.
SOU finished with 507 yards of offense to UMW's 368. Ison netted 90 on 11 carries to lead a Raider ground game that averaged 6.6 yards on 28 total attempts –
Coen Coloma also ran in a pair of first-half scores – and
Dom Montiel completed 25-of-38 pass attempts for 311 yards.
Montiel led the Raiders on separate touchdown drives of 99 and 97 yards in the first half, putting them up 14-0 early. UMW tied the score by halftime before Montiel made it 21-14 with a 37-yard TD pass to
Caden Simmons midway through the third quarter.
The Raiders have gone for 500-plus yards three times this season.
Dawson Douglas helped them get there with team-highs of six receptions for 69 yards, while Simmons (55 reception yards), Ison (44),
Walker Bonar (48) and
Milan Reilly (40) also got in on that action.
Raiden House paced the Raiders again with eight tackles, though fellow linebacker
Jojo Czyz had 2 ½ for losses.
Jimmy Fomby,
Antonio Vasquez Williams and
Andreas Villanueva broke up two passes apiece.
Eli Nourse, UMW's All-America receiver, made 13 catches for 145 yards and a score.
After playing three consecutive Top 25 opponents prior to Saturday, the Raiders are staring down a stretch in which they play teams with sub-.500 records the next three weeks in a row. They host Simpson (Calif.) in another West Division game at 1 p.m. next Saturday.
