Tech falls to Western, Bulldogs snap a five-game losing streak with 20-14 win over Orediggers

Source: The Montana Standard, ButteNov.self storage 10--DILLON -- Two teams with plenty left to prove met at Vigilante Field Saturday evening for a tension-filled game, but only one team left the field happy.Montana Western's Bulldogs came into the contest on a five-game losing streak since their last win -- against the Montana Tech Orediggers -- the team they met again on a cold and blustery Saturday evening in Dillon.With a potential season sweep in their sights, Western built an early lead behind a dominant defensive effort in the first half before holding off the Orediggers 20-14 to take two off of their biggest rivals. Western (4-5) equaled last year's win total with one game left to play."That's football, evening football against a rival. A game coming down to the last play and guys fighting their tails off," Western head coach BJ Robertson said. "That's a win from sheer heart, effort and will. We talked at halftime that we knew Tech would come out and make good plays. They did it last week and so we knew we had to keep weathering the storm, keep chopping, and these guys did it. To be able to sweep them, that's huge."As for Tech (3-6), they wrap their season next week with a chance to end the 2013 campaign on a high note."You know, obviously I thought we made too many mistakes to be successful," Tech head coach Chuck Morrell said. "We knew it was going to be a great game, and it came down to the last series, last drive and had our opportunity and didn't quite execute well enough to come out on top."After three stale drives by both teams, Western's second possession turned up golden as they marched down the field using a number of effective short to medium gains.They also had the powerful running of Dylan Kramer.The sophomore wrapped the drive, which used him on multiple occasion, to score on a 4-yard run and a 6-0 lead with 6:18 left in the first quarter.Tech hadn't even sniffed midfield offensively while Western managed a second drive into the Tech red zone but were turned over on downs midway through the second quarter.Western's defense couldn't be stopped from keeping Tech's offense in check and when given another chance, the Bulldog offense rewarded its counterparts.Tyler Hulse hit Michael Lake on a screen pass on the left side and the Western running back bullied his way into the end zone for a 12-0 lead with 3:38 left in the half.Things stayed neutral for the remainder of the half and the Bulldogs entered the halftime holding that dozen-point lead.Then Tech decided to make some noise.Coming out of the locker room, the Oredigger defense clobbered Western on the Bulldogs' first possession and the the offense finally rewarded their oppos迷你倉te unit.Herman Tapley hit a speedy Pat Hansen streaking out of the backfield for a 23-yard touchdown pass play and Tech was within one score, 12-7, just under six minutes into the second half.Not for long.Western responded with a big Hulse run and a 14-yard scoring pass to Tyler Bergren, and less than a minute later the host's lead was bigger than before, 20-7.Then a failed field goal after an impressive Western drive opened the door for Tech, and they took the invitation.Tapley hit Alec Bray who made the catch, broke free from the Western secondary and ran the 45-yards to pull Tech to within 20-14.Western got the ball back with 7:31 left to play and tried to quell the Tech offensive resurgence and did so for three-plus minutes with a solid, yard and time consuming drive.That was until Kramer fumbled at the Tech 41 and the Orediggers were back in business with 3:51 left to play.Tech converted one fourth down, but not a needed second on a fourth-and-three at the Western 28 as Tapley would sail incomplete with 40 seconds left and the Bulldogs' sweep was secure as was the end of a five-game losing streak."It was a great game. Anytime Tech and Western get together both teams play hard, and with these two teams on the same field it's certainly going to be a dog fight, and it was tonight," Morrell saidKramer finished with 205 yards on 32 carries and Hulse ended up 20-for-28 for 170 yards passing.Tapley wrapped his night throwing 25-for-49 with 231 yards. Hansen rushed for 73 yards on 17 carries.Montana Western 20, Montana Tech 14Tech 0 0 14 0 -- 14Western 6 6 8 0 -- 201st QuarterW -- Dylan Kramer 4-yard run (kick failed), 6:182nd QuarterW -- Michael Lake 9-yard pass from Tyler Hulse (kick failed), 3:383rd QuarterT -- Pat Hansen 23-yard pass from Herman Tapley (Matt Berg kick), 9:16W -- Tyler Bergren 14-yard pass from Hulse (Hulse pass to AJ Smith). 8:20T -- Alec Bray 45-yard pass from Tapley (Berg kick), 3:21Team StatsTech Western1st Downs 14 20Rush/Yds 26-84 59-308Pass Yds 231 170Fumb/Lost 0-0 0-0Penal/Yds 6-69 7-51Individual StatsRUSHING -- Tech: Pat Hansen 17-73, Herman Tapley 6-7, Taylor Rowe 3-4; Western: Dylan Kramer 32-205, Tyler Hulse 15-69, Michael Lake 10-34.PASSING -- Tech: Tapley 25-49-0-231; Western: Hulse: 20-28-0-170.RECEIVING -- Tech: Zack Kinney 7-41, Alec Bray 4-78, Clay Cavender 4-28, Pat Hansen 3-39; Western: Tyler Bergren 5-38, Beau Brekke 4-37, AJ Smith 2-24, Connor Lamping 2-18.(Receiving numbers were not complete, provided by MWU sports information).Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Montana Standard (Butte, Mont.) 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