BILLINGS — With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Rocky Mountain College football team finds itself in a tie atop the Frontier Conference's East division.
The Battlin' Bears shook off a 1-3 start and have ripped off three consecutive wins to boast a 4-3 overall record and sit a perfect 3-0 in Frontier play.
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"Just finding a routine, a rythm and creating comfortability, continuing to buy into the scheme and culture," Rocky coach Randy Bandelow said. "It doesn't happen over night. You've got to go through some trials and tribualations, but our goal is that anytime they roll out the football we're going to be competitive and give it our all."
The journey under Bandelow, who is in his first year, has started to smooth out. Now with seven games under his belt as a head coach, he’s learned quite a a bit about both himself and his team.
“The biggest thing is this is just a gritty group of football players. It's not always going to be the prettiest product out there, but they're going to play the game the right way," Bandelow said. "We're going to be the tougher football team. We're going to give hell to whoever we're playing against. They're just a gritty group of guys."
"No matter the score, no matter anything, we're going to be gritty and put our stuff on the line. Anything we do, we do 100 percent," Rocky defensive lineman Jamal Jaber said. "Before the Western game we had a speech that went straight to our hearts. Every single play we played 100 percent. I think that's important for our team."
Perhaps the biggest test awaits Rocky this Saturday, as the Bears hit the road to take on No. 4 Montana Tech in a battle for the top of the Frontier Conference East division.
“We have these moments, and it's not going to happen every single play, but I think these guys are starting to understand how good they can be," Bandelow said.
Rocky and Tech are slated for a 1 p.m. kick in Butte on Saturday.
