DILLON, Mont. – Montana Western football (1-2) fell to Rocky Mountain (1-2) 38-32 Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium. The Bulldogs had a chance to win it late, but came up just short as time expired.[[“value”:”
Skip To Main Content
Official Athletics Site of the Montana Western Bulldogs
DILLON, Mont. – Montana Western football (1-2) fell to Rocky Mountain (1-2) 38-32 Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium. The Bulldogs had a chance to win it late, but came up just short as time expired.
“Unfamiliar territory for us at this point, dropping two games in a row, not so much for me as I have been through this before, but for our coaches and these players” head coach Ryan Nourse said. “We are super inconsistent on defense and giving up multiple long runs each game. And up front on offense very inconsistent in short yardage blocking assignments which have taken multiple scores off the board for us so far this year. Things we can certainly fix. I was so excited to see all those young players on offense fight their tails off. Kaden LaPlaunt, Brody Munson, and Colton Cornwell showed fight and competitive character and we almost pulled out the victory at the end. I know where we need to go and I will make tough decisions to get us there and our guys will battle and make it happen.”
STAT BREAKDOWN
The Bulldogs posted 555 yards of total offense (436 passing, 119 rushing), four touchdowns, one field goal, and 27 first downs in the contest.
Quarterback Kaden LaPlaunt accounted for all 436 passing yards, tossing four touchdowns on 31 completions, including a career-long pass of 87 yards.
Eli Nourse led all players with 104 receiving yards on six receptions.
Seth Shook posted his second 100-yard game of the season with 101 yards and three touchdowns on four receptions. He caught the 87-yard touchdown from LaPlaunt to kick off the fourth quarter.
Colton Cornwell caught for a career-high 89 yards and one touchdown on a career-best 10 receptions (long of 65 yards).
Freshman Brody Munson also got in on the action career-highs in both receptions (nine) and yards (91).
Maxwell Williams and Jack Daskam each caught one reception for 47 and four yards, respectively.
On the ground, LaPlaunt led UMW with 79 total yards on 12 rushes, followed by Aiden Lammers (58 yards, 12 carries) and Jakob Humphrey (51 yards, nine carries).
The Bulldog defense registered 56 tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, one forced fumble and fumble recovery, five pass breakups, and one safety.
Connor Dunlea tied for the game-high with nine total tackles, while he and Manuel Variz IV shared the team-lead in solo takedowns with five apiece.
Variz IV, Tyler Schoen, and Liam Rowe finished with seven tackles each while Romeo Simpson and Tyson Hirrlinger posted five apiece.
15 different Bulldogs recorded at least one tackle in the game.
Carson Gulick earned the one TFL for Western, totaling nine yards lost for RMC.
Dunlea forced a fumble in the third period, which was then recovered by Bodie Smith. Smith also led the team with two pass breakups. Simpson, Hirrlinger, and Andrew Wagner also tallied breakups.
On special teams, Maclain Burckley went 1-for-2 on field goals and three-for-three on PATs. He had five kickoffs for 270 yards (54.0 yards per kick) and three touchbacks. He also punted five times for 224 yards (44.8 yards per punt) with two landing inside the 20-yard line and a long of 60.
Cornwell led all returners with 50 yards on two attempts (long of 38), followed by Shook with 1 attempt for 38 yards.
GAME SUMMARY
Rocky Mountain jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter with two scores from Jae’Sean Pete and led 14-2 at the end of the period thanks to a safety courtesy of the Bulldog defense.
Seth Shook and Kaden LaPlaunt connected on a one-yard pass to bring the score to 14-9 with 8:45 left in the second quarter, but the Battlin’ Bears responded with another touchdown with five minutes remaining in the half to make it 21-9.
Maclain Burckley converted on a 15-yard field goal as time expired in the second to put things at 21-12 heading into the break.
Jordan Legg made a 29-yard field goal just after halftime to bring the score to 24-12 with just under nine minutes remaining in the third.
Rocky Mountain scored again at the tail end on an 85-yard run from Ty Battle to lead 31-12 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
Shook got things going in the final frame with a 13-yard TD from LaPlaunt to make it 31-19.
Colton Cornwell caught a two-yard touchdown pass with less than five minutes remaining to close the gap to five, 31-26, but Rocky managed to march down the field and score again (Battle) to push the lead back to 12 (38-26).
Shook caught his third touchdown of the game with under two minutes remaining, making it 38-32.
Legg missed a 46-yard field goal attempt at the 1:36 mark, giving the Bulldogs the final drive of the contest.
The Bulldogs got the ball into Battlin’ Bear territory, but couldn’t find the endzone as time expired, resulting in the 38-32 win for the visitors.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
Rocky Mountain put up 497 yards of offense (261 rushing, 236 passing), five touchdowns, one field goal, and 23 first downs.
Jhett Schwahn recorded all 236 passing yards on 21 completions with two passing touchdowns.
Ty Battle led the game with 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including a long of 85.
Jae’Sean Pete accounted for one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown, totaling 139 yards on 21 total attempts (19 rushes, three receptions).
Bergen Mysse also caught on TD pass and earned 57 yards on five receptions.
The Battlin’ Bears defense tallied 64 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss, and one interception.
DeAndre Reed and Sa’Mar Turner each posted nine total tackles to tied for the game-high. Javonte King led all players with eight solo tackles. Cohen Groener posted a game-best 2.0 TFLs.
Jordan Legg went 1-for-3 on field goals and 5-for-5 on PATs. He had eight kickoffs for 458 yards (57.3 yards per kick) and four touchbacks. He also recorded three punts for 106 yards (35.5 yards per punt).
Ty Battle (14 yards) and Gage Goltz (12 yards) each had one return for RMC.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bulldogs head back on the road next weekend to face off against Dickinson State (9/26). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT.
For complete coverage of UMW Football, be sure to follow us on social media at @umw_football (Instagram), @UMW_Football (X), and @Montana Western Football (Facebook) or visit our official website at UMWBulldogs.com.
#GOBULLDOGS!
Print Friendly Version
1st Quarter
ROCKY
BULLDOGS
10:00 – ROCKY – Jae’Sean Pete 5 yd run (Jordan Legg kick), 7 plays, 73 yards, TOP 3:39
7
0
05:55 – ROCKY – Jae’Sean Pete 32 yd pass from Jhett Schwahn (Jordan Legg kick) 6 plays, 58 yards, TOP 2:17
14
0
02:07 – BULLDOGS – Team 0 yd safety
14
2
2nd Quarter
ROCKY
BULLDOGS
08:45 – BULLDOGS – Seth Shook 1 yd pass from Kaden LaPlaunt (Maclain Burckley kick) 6 plays, 38 yards, TOP 2:49
14
9
04:32 – ROCKY – Bergen Mysse 17 yd pass from Jhett Schwahn (Jordan Legg kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:13
21
9
00:00 – BULLDOGS – Maclain Burckley 15 yd field goal 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:41
21
12
3rd Quarter
ROCKY
BULLDOGS
08:29 – ROCKY – Jordan Legg 29 yd field goal 4 plays, 5 yards, TOP 0:37
24
12
00:21 – ROCKY – Ty Battle 85 yd run (Jordan Legg kick), 1 plays, 85 yards, TOP 0:12
31
12
4th Quarter
ROCKY
BULLDOGS
14:26 – BULLDOGS – Seth Shook 13 yd pass from Kaden LaPlaunt (Maclain Burckley kick) 3 plays, 62 yards, TOP 0:47
31
19
04:54 – BULLDOGS – Colton Cornwell 2 yd pass from Kaden LaPlaunt (Maclain Burckley kick) 13 plays, 76 yards, TOP 6:09
31
26
04:17 – ROCKY – Ty Battle 57 yd run (Jordan Legg kick), 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:37
38
26
01:56 – BULLDOGS – Seth Shook 10 yd pass from Kaden LaPlaunt (Trevin Thorpe rush failed) 6 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:17
38
32
09.18.26
#21 Montana Western Football Welcomes Rocky Mountain Saturday
09.12.26
#18 Montana Western Football Falls to #5 Montana Tech 34-7 in Home Opener
09.11.26
#18 Bulldog Football Hosts #5 Montana Tech for 2026 Home Opener
Next Game:
at Dickinson State
9/26/2026 ]]