2022 Football Notebook (Week 2 at Rocky Mountain)

BEAT THE HEAT: In an abundance of caution, Rocky Mountain College and College of Idaho have agreed to move the start time for Saturday's football game to 11:30 a.m. (MST) due to a high heat index forecasted in Billings for Saturday afternoon. Gates for Saturday's game at Herb Klindt Field will open 60 minutes before the start of the game at 10:30 a.m. The Tailgate Lot will open at 8:30 a.m.
 
HOW TO WATCH: For fans unable to attend the game in Billings, Rocky Mountain will offer the game live online at https://gobattlinbears.com/watch/?Live=75&type=Live and live stats at https://gobattlinbears.com/sidearmstats/football/summary(.)

78 YEARS OF COYOTE FOOTBALL IN THE BOOKS: The 2022 season will mark the 78th year of Coyote football as a collegiate program (C of I competed as an Academy from 1905-16 against high school and local town teams), recording an all-time record of 308-290-28. The Yotes had a football program every season from 1905-77 (minus the 1917 season, due to World War I, and the 1943, 1944 and 1945 seasons due to World War II). The team was disbanded following the 1977 season, with the squad returning to the gridiron in 2014. C of I have now logged 5-straight winning seasons (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), including the record-setting 11-1 campaign in 2019.
 
FRONTIER CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: Despite a loss at Carroll College in the final game of the 2021 season, the Yotes earned a share of their third-straight Frontier Conference title, thanks to a Montana Western win over Rocky Mountain. C of I have won 10 all-time conference titles, including the first two Northwest Conference crowns in 1926 and 1927, adding the 1948 title on their way to a Pear Bowl victory. The Coyotes won four-straight NWC titles from 1952-55 – including the 1953 season, where the team lost to Sam Houston State in the Refrigerator Bowl. Since joining the Frontier in 2014, the Yotes won the 2019 title outright and shared both the 2020 and 2021 titles with two other teams.
SEASON OPENERS: The Yotes are 37-27-1 in season openers (dating back to the 1917 season), recording an 11-16 mark in road games and a 25-12-1 mark at home – which included 9-straight wins from 1962-70.
 
TURNING THE LIGHTS OUT: Saturday's win over Montana State-Northern raises the Yotes all-time mark to 9-0 mark against the Lights. MSU-Northern is just one of four teams in program history that College of Idaho has an undefeated mark.
 
LOOKING OUT FOR #1: Junior wide receiver Jake Nadley has had a catch in the last 10 games dating back to the 2021 season. The junior from Pacific Palisades, California is the first 'Yote to have back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since Hunter Juarez in 2019, who had three-straight games of eclipsing the century mark in receiving yards.
 
PAYDIRT: In seven-consecutive games, College of Idaho has scored at least one rushing touchdown including a six-touchdown effort against Montana Western (October 23, 2021). Furthermore, the C of I have had a rushing TD in 11 of its last 12 games.
 
DESTRUCTIVE DEFENSE: The College of Idaho defense limited MSU-Northern to 109 yards of total offense on 47 plays. The 47 plays on offense eclipsed the old school record of 49 - at Eastern Oregon, twice, most recently on Nov. 2, 2019. The 109 yards of total offense is the second lowest in program history. (SCHOOL RECORD: 55 yards at Eastern Oregon, September 26, 1964).
 
STUFFING THE RUN: The College of Idaho defense limited MSU-Northern to 24 yards on 19 rushes with a biggest gain of seven yards, last time out. The 24 yards rushing are the fewest by a C of I opponent since an 18-yard effort by Whitman on October 18, 1975 (SCHOOL RECORD: 2 yards at Lewis & Clark on November 2, 1974).
 
MARTINEZ BREAKS 100-TACKLE MARK: It was a year of firsts for Dylan Martinez, as the Coyote linebacker became the first 2-time first-team all-conference linebacker in program history in 2021. The third-year player finished the season with 109 tackles – the second-highest total ever by a Yote, logging the most stops ever by a C of I linebacker. He joins Forrest Rivers (2019), Bill Schow (1971) and Ron Sproat (1965) as Coyote first-team picks. Martinez is one of 16 players in the NAIA this season to surpass the 100-tackle mark, while adding 10 tackles for loss, two sacks and a Frontier Conference leading four fumble recoveries. Martinez enters the 2022 season with 179 career tackles. He looks to become just the fifth Yote in program history to recover over 200 career tackles.
 
KOUNTING ON KEEGAN: A big season for Keagan McCoy was capped by his second-straight first-team All-Frontier Conference honor in 2021. The fourth-year defensive end recorded a career-high 47 tackles on the season, posting 10.5 tackles for loss and tied the single-season mark for sacks (7.5) and breaking the mark for most yardage lost on tackles for loss (65). McCoy holds the school record for sacks with 20.5 and is among the Top-5 in tackles for loss (30.0). Fourth on the list is current Yote assistant coach Landon Clark-Gammell, who racked up 10 sacks in his career in the purple and white.
 
TACKLES NAMED TO SECOND TEAM: The bookends to the Coyote offensive line were honored by the Frontier Conference in 2021, as Garrett Rehberg and Ryan Halford were named second-team all-league selections. Rehberg started eight of the 10 games at left tackle, handling the blind-side of the C of I quarterback, while Halford started 9-of-10 games at right tackle, earning his second-straight second-team honor. The Yotes have had at least one lineman honored by the FC each year since 2015.