Butte – The Orediggers continue their charge through the Frontier Conference running the Western Bulldogs down 43-7.

Montana Tech (8-1) wins their eighth straight while Western (3-6) stay in last place in the West Division.

The victory is a symbolic clinch of the Frontier Conference Championship as the Orediggers would have to lose to Southern Oregon next week by more than 100 points.

The Orediggers dominated both sides of the ball on “Senior Day” only giving up one touchdown to Western in the first half.

Tech forced five turnovers on the day and picked up a safety at the beginning of the game when the Bulldogs snapped the football over the punters head. The defense sacked the quarterback four times.

Senior middle linebacker Joe Semansky led the Diggers with 12 tackles. He also returned an interception 41 yards.

Pat Hansen rushed 26 times for 102 yards and three touchdowns. He now leads the conference in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns with 923 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Nick Baker had another solid performance completing 28 of 44 passes. He totaled 291 yards and connected for three touchdowns.

True freshman Alec Bray caught two touchdowns on the day. Another true freshman, tight end Jacob Crawford caught his first career touchdown.

Seniors Nate Kobold and Keke Frank each had an interception. All three interceptions were by seniors.

Montana Tech finishes the regular season next weekend on the road in Ashland, Oregon. Southern Oregon gets a rematch against the Orediggers at 2 PM MST next Saturday.