Lights play 10 tough games this fall
Northern will host a night game against EOU in October
By George Ferguson
April 19, 2016
The Montana State University-Northern football
team is getting close to wrapping up spring practice,
and, close to seeing another school year come to a
close.
However, the Lights can certainly also start to look
ahead to the 2016 season, which open in just over
four months. And, with the season seemingly just
around the corner, the Lights’ 2016 Frontier
Conference schedule has already been finalized.
File Photo
Zach McKinley, left, and the Montana State UniversityNorthern Lights will open the 2016 at home against the
Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears Aug. 27 at Blue Pony
Stadium. The Lights play a 10-game schedule this season
with five games at home.
Northern, which went 0-11 a year ago, and 0-10 in
the Frontier, will begin the season, and Frontier play
at home Aug. 27 when the Lights play host to Rocky
Mountain College at Blue Pony Stadium. Kickoff for
that game is slated for 1 p.m. Rocky, which went 56 a year ago, has a new head coach in Jason Petrino
and is one of three teams the Lights will play twice
this fall.
In all, MSU-N will play five home games, and the Lights will also have two byes, including following the
RMC opener. The Lights will be off on Sept. 3.
Northern’s four other home games, include a bout with Carroll College Sept. 17, a visit from Eastern
Oregon Oct. 8, Montana Tech coming to Havre Oct. 22 and the College of Idaho Yotes playing in Havre for
the second straight season. That game is the season finale Nov. 12. The Lights will also have their second
bye of the season Oct. 1.
As for road challenges, MSU-N will travel to Frontier playoff team Montana Tech Sept. 10 and UM-Western
Sept. 24. The Lights then go for a rematch with RMC Oct. 15 in Billings, before playing back-to-back road
games at Carroll Oct. 29 and at NAIA runner-up Southern Oregon Nov. 5.
New to the schedule this season is also a planned night game for the Lights at home. That game will be
the Eastern Oregon game Oct. 8. Kickoff at Blue Pony Stadium is set for 6 p.m. that night, and that should
be a fun and exciting twist in the Lights’ home schedule. Night games in the Frontier Conference are
pretty rare, and usually only happen when the Lights, or Western Bulldogs, who share their stadiums with
local high school teams, make room from high school football playoffs. Northern played several such
games in recent years, but this fall’s game against the Mounties is a planned night kickoff, and it should
be a popular game amongst Northern’s home schedule.
As for the competition, Northern head coach Aaron Christensen’s Lights will certainly have their hands full
with the Frontier slate. Southern Oregon has been to the national championship game two years in a row
and is ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Spring Football Coaches Poll. Montana Tech, which the Lights play twice
this season, is also coming off a playoff year and is ranked 7th in the spring poll, while UM-Western, which
the Lights play once away from Blue Pony Stadium, is ranked No. 16 in the poll.
Northern’s season again kicks off early, just as it did a year ago. The Lights will host Rocky Aug. 27 at 1
p.m. at Blue Pony Stadium. The Lights will hold their annual Spring Game this Saturday at the MSUNorthern practice fields.
2016 Lights Schedule
Aug. 27 vs Rocky Mountain, 1 p.m.
Sept. 10 at Montana Tech, 1 p.m.
Sept. 17 vs Carroll, 1 p.m.
Sept. 24 at UM-Western, 1 p.m.
Oct. 8 vs Eastern Oregon, 6 p.m.
Oct. 15 at Rocky Mountain, 1 p.m.
Oct. 22 vs Montana Tech, 1 p.m.
Oct. 29 at Carroll, 1 p.m.
Nov. 5 at Southern Oregon, 1 p.m.
Nov. 12 vs College of Idaho, 12 p.m.
Havre Daily News website