HAVRE, Mont. –
Nick Calzaretta rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns as The College of Idaho spoiled the public opening of Tilleman Field in a 42-14 Frontier Conference victory over MSU-Northern.
The senior moved into third-place on the C of I all-time rushing list, as the No. 19-ranked Yotes (1-0, 1-0 Frontier) ran for 308 yards on the afternoon.
Leading 21-14 at halftime, the Yotes defense stymied the hosts – as the Lights (0-1, 0-1) were held to just 23 total yards in the final 30 minutes and did not cross the midfield stripe after the break.
The Yotes jumped out to a quick 21-7 lead – scoring touchdowns on three of their first four drives. Transfer
Jack Rice, who won the 3-way quarterback battle tossed touchdown passes of 41-yards to
Hunter Juarez and 34-yards to
Bo Stevens, with Calzaretta adding a 24-yard scoring run.
MSU-N cut the deficit to 21-14 on a Kaymen Cureton 1-yard touchdown run and were driving to tie the score late in the first half, but
Dylan Martinez stripped the former Nevada quarterback near the red zone and recovered the fumble to stop the momentum.
"We had a little trouble in the first half containing Cureton," said C of I head coach
Mike Moroski. "The second half was fantastic. Coach (Chris) Jewell made smart adjustments and we tackled better."
From there – the Yotes defense took command. C of I forced four second half punts, with
Taeson Hardin recovering a third quarter fumble and
Isaiah Abdul intercepting Cureton twice in the fourth quarter – setting up two Coyote touchdowns.
Calzaretta capped a 3-yard drive after Abdul's first pick with a 1-yard scoring run – his 30th of his career – with Rice making it 35-14, hooking up with Stevens from 15-yards out after Abdul returned an interception inside the MSU-N 30-yard line.
C of I capped the scoring late, as
Caden Cobb rushed 32-yards on his first collegiate carry, converting a 4th-and-2 attempt into points.
The C of I spoiled the Lights new on-campus stadium – which was finished last fall – but didn't host fans until today. A crowd of over 2,000 fans saw MSU-N lose their 42nd consecutive league game, dating back to 2016.
Calzaretta recorded his tenth career 100-yard rushing game and now has 2,731 career rushing yards, moving past Ted Martin into third-place on the all-time C of I rushing list – 682 yards away from the No. 1 spot.
"It was good to get Nick loose a couple times," Moroski said. "He was at his best running inside for tough yards. He is the key to our whole operation on offense."
Rice finished 11-of-21 for 159 yards and three touchdowns, but was intercepted three times by the Lights. Juarez caught four passes for 82 yards and a score, with Stevens catching three passes for 53 yards and his first two college touchdowns.
Martinez had a record-setting day on defense, tying the C of I school record with 16 total tackles – including 2.5 for loss.
Cureton, who was Nevada's starting quarterback to begin the 2017 season, ran for 63 yards,, but finished 12-of-26 for 95 yards though the air.
C of I opens the home schedule next Saturday, hosting Rocky Mountain at Simplot Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. – with the game carried live on the Yotes Digital Network.
NOTES:
- It was Calzaretta's second career 200-yard rushing game (had 247 yards at Montana Tech in 2019) and was the tenth time in program history a Coyote has rushed for over 200-yards
- C of I averaged 6.7 yards per rush on the day – as three other players ran for over 30-yards; Brock Richardson had 38 yards on four carries, Hunter Gilbert rushed four times for 35 yards – along with Cobb's long touchdown run
- Alex Ojukwu made his C of I debut, recording four tackles on the day, while redshirt freshman Brad Cushman added three tackles in his first game with the Yotes.
- Cameron Simons won the placekicking duties and converted all six of his extra points and added three touchbacks on kickoffs
- C of I finished 6-of-13 on third down and converted 2-of-3 fourth down attempts
- The Yotes won despite MSU-N winning the time-of-possession battle
- The Yotes improved to 8-0 all-time against MSU-N – including 4-0 on the Hi-Line.
