Box Score Butte, MT- The Montana Tech Football team got their season back on track defeating MSU-Northern 38-24. 

The Lights jumped out to an early lead when Zach McKinley rumbled into the end zone capping a nine play 78 yard opening drive. McKinley finished the contest with 19 carries totaling 88 yards.

Montana Tech answered back with a Matt Berg 21 yard field goal. Alec Bray made the play of the game snagging an Andrew Loudenback pass with one hand in the second quarter giving the Diggers their first lead of the ballgame.  Bray continued to make big plays for the Orediggers catching eight passes for 105 yards to go along with the second quarter touchdown grab.

Northern scored twice more in the second quarter on a Trevor Baum 70 yard touchdown  reception and a Jordon Rueschhoff 31 yard field go, to take a 17-10 lead into the break.

After the intermission, Montana Tech took control of the ballgame outscoring MSU-Northern 21-7. Loudenback found Braxton Lucero in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the second half.

Northern scored on a 32 yard pass from Travis Dean to Jake Messerly to complete a seven play 75 yard drive.

It was all Montana Tech after that, Loudenback found tight end Kolby Kansala streaking toward the endzone for a 20 yard touchdown. Then Nolan Saraceni scored his first career touchdown for Montana Tech on a 49 yard rumble down the sideline to make it a 31-24 ballgame. Saraceni finished the contest with 131 yards on 15 carries.

The final nail in the coffin came in the fourth quarter when Loudenback kept it himself and cruised into the end zone untouched with 1:09 left on the clock sealing the 38-24 Digger victory. Loudenback finished the game going 19 of 30 for 257 yards and three touchdowns.  

Big kick returns by Montana Tech were the difference maker this week. Clay Cavender had three returns for 109 yards. Cavender also hauled in a long pass for 48 yards in the first half.

On the defensive side of the ball Mike Touzinsky lead the team with 12 total tackles, including six unassisted. David Meis terrorized the backfield with nine tackles and two tackles for loss.

The Diggers improved to 1-1 on the season and have a bye week next week. In two weeks the Orediggers will travel to the Capital City to take on Frontier Conference rival Carroll College. That game will kick off at 1 pm.