BUTTE -- Jarrett Wilson accounted for five touchdowns,
Dominic Umile reached double-digit tackles, and the No. 5-ranked Montana Tech football team celebrated Homecoming with a convincing 49-21 win over Dakota State Saturday afternoon.
Wilson threw for 335 yards and three scores, caught a touchdown pass, and rushed for another to lead the Oredigger offense. His favorite target was
Levi Torgerson, whose 14 receptions tied Montana Tech's single-game record set by Chris Kelly in 2017. Torgerson racked up 161 yards and a TD catching the football, and he also found Wilson for a 5-yard score on a trick play.
Nate Milanowski led Tech's ground attack with 111 rushing yards on 14 totes, including a touchdown.
Umile enjoyed another fantastic game on defense with 11 tackles, including a half-sack and a tackle-for-loss.
Tel Arthur and
David Lowry made six tackles apiece,
Payton Gonser snagged an interception, and
Rolland Trent blocked a field goal attempt and sacked the DSU quarterback.
Things started slowly for the Orediggers (6-0, 1-0 Frontier Conference East Division). The Trojans received the opening kickoff and used a personal foul and a 34-yard pass to get into Tech territory. The defense forced a field goal attempt, however, and Trent broke through the DSU line to block it and preserve the early scoreless tally.
Tech then fumbled away its opening possession, but the Oredigger defense forced a three-and-out and set the offense to work. Wilson reached Torgerson for completions of 22 and 62 yards, the latter for the game's first touchdown with 6:51 left in the first quarter.
Milanowski broke a 75-yard run on Tech's next possession, and Wilson fired a 65-yard strike to
Nick Michelotti to make a 21-0 Oredigger lead after the first quarter.
DSU (3-2, 0-1) put together a scoring drive early in the second quarter, but Tech responded with 5:13 before halftime. Wilson engineered a 16-play, 79-yard march down the field that ended with a flair, a trick play that Torgerson converted with a 5-yard pass to a leaping Wilson in the end zone.
Montana Tech led 28-7 at halftime.
The Orediggers added another score to open the third – Wilson's seven-yard rush – before Dakota State made things interesting with a pair of touchdowns, cutting the Tech lead to 35-21 with 12:31 remaining in the game.
Tech finished the job, however, with a pair of late scores. Wilson tossed a six-yard TD to
Wykece Johnson, and
Christian Vetter scored on a nine-yard run to put the game away.
The victory extended Tech's season-opening win streak to six, the longest in program history.
Montana Tech will look to extend that streak to seven next Saturday when the Orediggers head to MSU-Northern for a noon kickoff.
Visit Montana Tech athletics' home online, GoDiggers.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news and coverage of the Orediggers. Give Montana Tech athletics a like on Facebook, and follow the Orediggers on X and Instagram at @DiggerAthletics.
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