Montana-Western falls to Lindsey Wilson College

COLUMBIA, Ky. — Montana-Western finally found some good flying weather, only to be ground down by Lindsey Wilson College, 48-21 in the NAIA football playoffs Sunday.

The Bulldogs (8-4), the lone Frontier Conference entry into the postseason, had difficulty getting to Kentucky for the first-round game, which was delayed from Saturday to 11 a.m. on Sunday. Then they had difficulty staying with the defending national champion Blue Raiders (11-0).

Western took a 3-0 lead on a 34-yard field goal by John Mears. From there Raiders’ quarterback Cameron Dukes ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more to stake his team to a 34-9 halftime lead.

Dukes threw for 243 yards on 13 of 26 passing; he ran 10 times for 48 yards. Jaylen Boyd gained 148 yards on 28 carries for the hosts, who piled up 296 yards on the ground and 539 overall.

Western QB Jon Jund had a 7-yard TD run in the first half, and found Nate Simkins for scoring passes covering 5 and 8 yards in the second. Jund was 13-for-29 passing for 130 yards. Reese Neville gained 35 yards on nine carries; fellow running back Colten McPhee of Columbia Falls had 31 yards on five attempts.

Jamison Hermanson had seven catches for 101 yards for the Bulldogs. Simkins had three catches for just 16 yards.