BUTTE -- Jarrett Wilson threw four touchdown passes,
Merek Mihelish rushed for two more scores, and the No. 4-ranked Montana Tech football team rolled to a 41-0 home win over Rocky Mountain Saturday afternoon to assume sole possession of first place in the Frontier Conference East Division.
Wilson completed 14 of his 19 passes for 185 yards and the four touchdowns for the Orediggers (7-1, 4-0 Frontier East). Mihelish ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns on his 15 carries.
Cole Graham led the way for the Oredigger defense in its third shutout of the season, making a team-high six tackles and 2.5 sacks.
After both defenses forced three-and-outs to start the game, Montana Tech's offense got to work.
Jamal Cariglia got the Orediggers going the right direction with an eight-yard run, and it took Tech just three more plays to get on the board. After Mihelish rushed for a first down, Wilson hit
Manu Melo with a 66-yard pass over the top of the Battlin' Bears' defense for the early lead.
Casey Kautzman's PAT made it a 7-0 game.
Tech wasn't done in the first quarter. After another Rocky Mountain three-and-out,
Levi Torgerson returned the ensuing punt to the Battlin' Bears' 24-yard line and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the defense that started the Orediggers just 13 yards from the end zone.
The offense took just six plays to double its lead. Wilson found running back
Gunnar Peterson, making his first collegiate start, for a four-yard TD completion. Tech led 14-0 after the first quarter
Early in the second, Wilson hit
Isaiah Claunch for a seven-yard touchdown that capped a nine-play, 60-yard Oredigger drive. Tech added another TD, this one a Mihelish two-yard run, to lead 28-0 at halftime.
Montana Tech's defense was bulletproof in the first half. The Orediggers didn't allow a first down and held RMC (4-4, 3-1) to just 25 yards of offense by intermission.
Tech piled on two more touchdowns — a 35-yard Wilson-to-Torgerson connection and a 20-yard run by Mihelish — in the second half to remove all doubt.
The defense continued its dominance after halftime, completing the shutout (largely thanks to
Christian Hansen's blocked field goal attempt) with seven sacks as a team. The Battlin' Bears gained just 100 yards on offense.
Montana Tech has outscored its opponents 233-24 through five home games in 2026.
The Orediggers can clinch the Frontier Conference East Division title and its automatic qualifier to the NAIA Football Championship Series next Saturday with a win over Dickinson State. Kickoff on Bob Green Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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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