BILLINGS -- Rocky Mountain College's challenging Frontier Conference football season continued Saturday, as the Battlin' Bears lost to Eastern Oregon 27-17 at Herb Klindt Field.
Rocky started the game in impressive fashion, marching 71 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Kamden Brown to Carter Garsjo, who finished with a game-high 96 receiving yards on five catches. Most of the rest of the first quarter was a stalemate, but Eastern Oregon got on the board late in the period. With the Bears backed up on their own 1-yard line, Allen Williamson was tackled in the end zone for a safety and two points for the Mountaineers.
EOU took its first lead in the second when Victor Dias punched in a 1-yard touchdown, but Rocky tacked on a Riley Garrett 43-yard field goal to take 10-9 lead into halftime.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter -- Kai Quinn scoring on a 1-yard quarterback keeper for EOU and Brown finding Lucas Overton for a 22-yard Rocky touchdown -- but the Mountaineers outscored the Bears 10-0 in the fourth to seal the win. Dias added his second touchdown, and Jaiden Machuca booted a 36-yard field goal.
Dias finished with 67 rushing yards on 20 carries, while Quinn added 71 on 12 attempts. Quinn completed 13 of 28 passes for 126 yards, while Brown was 14-of-27 passing for 257 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Brown added 49 rushing yards on 13 attempts, and Sam Sparks had 47 yards on 15 carries.
Rocky actually dominated the statistics, outgaining EOU by more than 100 yards in the 10-point loss, but the Bears lost two crucial categories: turnovers and penalties. They were minus-three in the turnover battle -- throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble -- and were penalized for 110 yards.
The Frontier Conference regular season wraps up next weekend. Rocky (3-6 overall, 2-7 Frontier) closes the year at Montana Tech, while Eastern Oregon (3-7, 3-6) is back home against Carroll College.
