No. 5 Montana Tech Hands Montana Western 34-7 Loss in Dillon (Photo Gallery)

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DILLON, Mont. — Montana Western suffered its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon as No. 5 Montana Tech defeated the Bulldogs 34-7 at Bulldog Stadium.

The loss drops Montana Western to 1-1, while Montana Tech improves to 3-0.

The Orediggers controlled much of the game, finishing with 474 yards of total offense, including 306 yards on the ground. Montana Western finished with 287 total yards—220 passing and 67 rushing.

“Tech has a confident, experienced, and strong team, and they played that way today,” Montana Western head coach Ryan Nourse said. He added that the loss showed the Bulldogs where they need to improve moving forward.

Nourse Scores Bulldogs’ Lone Touchdown

Montana Tech struck first with a 14-play, 75-yard drive capped by a four-yard touchdown run from Jarrett Wilson. The Orediggers extended their advantage to 14-0 when Wilson connected with Gunnar Peterson for a 24-yard touchdown.

Montana Western answered in the second quarter when Kaden LaPlaunt connected with Eli Nourse on a 75-yard touchdown pass, cutting the deficit to 14-7.

That would be Western’s only score of the afternoon.

Montana Tech added a field goal as time expired in the first half to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.

The Orediggers added another field goal in the third quarter before scoring two touchdowns in the fourth to pull away for the 34-7 victory.

Eli Nourse Tops 100 Receiving Yards Again

Nourse recorded his second 100-yard receiving game of the season, finishing with five catches for 114 yards and the Bulldogs’ lone touchdown.

LaPlaunt completed 11 of 21 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown. Sam Wulff added 24 passing yards on three completions.

Seth Shook caught five passes for 72 yards, while Colton Cornwell recorded three receptions for 29 yards.

Western struggled to establish its running game. Wulff led the Bulldogs with 19 rushing yards, followed by Jakob Humphrey with 18, Aidan Lammers with 16 and LaPlaunt with 14.

Bulldogs Record 64 Tackles

Defensively, Montana Western finished with 64 total tackles, including 38 solo tackles.

Tyson Hirrlinger, Connor Dunlea, Bodie Smith and Canyon Sargent each recorded seven total tackles to share the team lead.

Manuel Variz IV recorded a tackle for loss, while Romeo Simpson finished with two pass breakups. Sargent and Tyler Schoen each recorded a quarterback hurry.

Maclain Burckley punted three times for 128 yards, averaging 42.7 yards per punt, with all three punts landing inside the 20-yard line.