BUTTE, Mont. – Nolan Saraceni rushed 31 times for 179 yards, helping No. 21 Montana Tech outlast the College of Idaho, 29-21, at Alumni Coliseum.
The Orediggers (3-1, 3-1 Frontier) scored the final 10 points of the game, taking the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 29-yard Matt Berg field goal and adding an insurance touchdown by Clay Cavender with less than five minutes to play.
Trailing 17-14 at the half, the Yotes (1-4, 1-3) spotted Tech a safety on their first possession of the third quarter, as a punt snap sailed over the head of C of I's Kevin McLemore and the alert punter kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone.
After the Coyotes stopped the Diggers on their first two possessions of the half, C of I marched 59 yards in seven plays to take the lead. A personal foul on a third down play prolonged the drive, a halfback pass from Levi Elsberry to Shayne Robinson put the ball in the red zone, with A.J. Martin finding Marcus Lenhardt from five-yards out to take a 21-19 lead.
With a large Homecoming crowd providing energy, Tech abandoned their offense with their top two quarterbacks out with injury, turning the ball over to Saraceni in a Wildcat formation. The bruising back led a 14-play, 81-yard drive, capped by Berg's field goal to regain the lead at 22-21 – as the Orediggers ran 20 of their final 23 plays from the unconventional formation.
C of I had two chances to tie or take the lead, as Martin was stopped on a 4th-and-1 try from the Tech 30, and following the late score from Cavender, the Yotes drove to the Diggers 15-yard-line, but Teejay Gordon had a pass tipped and intercepted by Reid Siderius with two minutes to play.
Tech opened the scoring in the opening quarter, as Dawson Reardon tossed a 37-yard scoring pass to tight end Kolby Kansala to grab a 6-0 lead. C of I answered quickly, as Gordon found Lenhardt for 16 yards and Cole Maupin for 19 yards, capped by a Martin scoring run to make it 7-6.
The Orediggers regained the lead at 14-7 on a Reardon to Sean Sullivan 28-yard touchdown pass, but a Hunter Temple interception on Tech's next possession set C of I up with a short field, with Martin blasting in from a yard out to even the score.
Tech rushed for 294 yards as a team, converting 8-of-15 third down opportunities. Cavender added 48 yards on the ground for the victors, with Reardon going 10-of-16 for 144 yards before leaving after a big hit late in the second quarter.
Gordon was 16-of-32 for 167 yards in the loss, with Lenhardt catching a career-high nine passes for 111 yards. Zach Garzoli rushed for 81 yards to lead C of I on the ground.
The Coyotes will have a bye next week in preparation for a road matchup with Montana State-Northern.
YOTE NOTES
- Troy Carr had a career-high 14 tackles for the Yotes, including eight solo stops
- Nate Moore had 13 tackles and two pass break-ups, while recording his team and NAIA-high fifth interception on the first offensive play of the day
- Carlos Murana had two tackles for loss, pushing his team-leading total to eight
- C of I lost for the seventh-straight time on the road, dating back to last season
