CALDWELL, Idaho — The latest meeting between Montana Western and the College of Idaho came down to the final five minutes and a late score from the Yotes proved to be the dagger.
With the game tied with 4:25 remaining, Caden Young threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Travis Marieiro to go up by seven points and No. 20 C of I's defense then stymied the No. 15 Bulldogs on their last two drives to preserve a 28-21 Frontier Conference West victory.
The Yotes improved to 2-0 in conference play and 5-1 overall while dropping Western to 1-2 in league play and 4-3 overall. It was the Bulldogs second straight conference loss and both came against ranked teams after they fell to then No. 15 Carroll College at home last weekend.
The loss is a serious blow to the two-time defending Frontier Conference champions' playoff hopes with three games remaining in the regular season.
The Yotes jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to a pair of rushing touchdown from Rylie Byington — they went for 1 and 3 yards — in the first and second quarter. Western then responded with a 49-yard rushing touchdown from Aidan Lammers with 5:08 left in the half and then a 9-yard scoring pass from Michael Palandri to Seth Shook with 17 second left to tie the game at 14 at halftime.
The teams then traded scores in the third quarter with Ryken EchoHawk scoring for the Yotes on a 12-yard run with 3:28 remaining in the quarter and then Palandri scoring on a four-yard quarterback keeper with 22 seconds to again even the score at 21 heading into the fourth quarter.
Young then connected with Marieiro for the go ahead score and Western's ensuing drive saw the Bulldogs stopped on 4th and 2 to ice the win for the Yotes.
The Bulldogs travel to Simpson (Calif.) next week before closing out the regular season at home against Eastern Oregon and Arizona Christian. C of I is at Eastern Oregon next week.
