Orediggers improve to 4-0, Raiders drop to 1-2
ASHLAND – Southern Oregon’s success in slowing down one of the NAIA’s top running backs came at a high cost in a 37-14 loss to No. 7-ranked Montana Tech on Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium’s Laurel Field.
The No. 24 Raiders limited Wykece Johnson, who entered the day with a per-game average of 161 rushing yards, to just 16 on 15 carries, but the attention he commanded freed up receiver Levi Torgerson to amass eight receptions for 222 yards and four touchdowns.
Torgerson and quarterback Jarrett Wilson made TD connections of 74, 70, 43 and four yards. After the Raiders tied the game at 7-7 on Dom Montiel’s 47-yard pass to Brandon Barthel with 3:15 left in the first quarter, Torgerson scored on three consecutive drives to give the Orediggers a 20-point lead by the midway point of the second.
Montana Tech improved to 4-0 and dropped the Raiders to 1-2 entering their final non-divisional game.
Wilson – who hadn’t thrown for more than 101 yards in any of the Diggers’ three previous games – completed 15-of-20 attempts for 321. He netted 50 more on 12 keepers.
Montiel finished 25-of-45 with 280 yards for SOU. Seven of those completions went to Barthel, who went over the 100-yard mark (104) for the second time this season and added a second TD that cut the Raiders’ deficit to 27-14 by halftime.
Neither team had a takeaway, but the Diggers turned SOU over on downs four times. They also got to Montiel on four occasions as linebacker Tel Arthur led the charge with 14 tackles, 3 ½ for losses and two sacks. Christian Hansen starred in the defensive backfield with six pass break-ups.
Spencer Kuffel led the Raiders with nine tackles and two for losses, while Gabe Foster recorded their lone sack.
Alongside Barthel, Trevor Jaasko made six catches for 64 yards and Donovan Glover made five for 47. Fresh Ison needed just seven carries to add 79 on the ground, where the Raiders were missing injured All-American running back Gunner Yates.
The result ended SOU’s home winning streak, which dated back to 2023, at eight games. The Diggers have now knocked off three Top 25 opponents and won eight in a row in the head-to-head series.
The Raiders play next week at Dakota State (S.D.) (1-1) before returning home for their Frontier West Division opener Oct. 4 against No. 9 Montana Western.
This story first appeared on the Southern Oregon University Sports Information website, souraiders.com.
