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The CSC Eagle Newspaper – Chadron, NE
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Montana State upends Eagles in opener

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Eagles’ junior tailback of Cody, Wyo., Glen Clinton, breaks through Bobcat defenders in the game last Thursday against Montana State University. — Photo by Alex Helmbrecht
Eagles’ junior tailback of Cody, Wyo., Glen Clinton, breaks through Bobcat defenders in the game last Thursday against Montana State University. — Photo by Alex Helmbrecht

Last Thursday, the Eagles were unable to overcome the Bobcats’ roaring offensive attack. With help from an experienced quarterback, and a scrappy defense, Montana State defeated Chadron 33-6.

Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee, threw an impressive four touchdown passes on 29 of 40 completions for a solid 176 passing yards. He threw to nine different receivers as well. Even after all of the Bobcats’ success, the Eagles’ continued to earn their stripes.

“It was our first game of the season against a Division I school,” Coach Long said. “I’m happy with how it went. They played hard with great effort. We kept up with them at times which is encouraging.”

On the Chadron side of the ball, sophomore quarterback of Chadron, John McLain, struggled after going 6 of 19 passes, with total passing for 21 yards. Junior running back of Cody, Wyo., Glen Clinton, had 11 rushes for 61 yards with a long rush of 20 yards.

“We focused on mental errors and penalties that were made,” Coach Long said.

Chadron State had a deficient 9 penalties for a loss of 75 yards on the night, while Montana State had 5 penalties for a loss of 55 yards.

The Eagles didn’t give up though.

Garret Gilkey, senior of Sandwich, Ill., blocked an extra point attempt in the first quarter. Junior cornerback of Rapid City, S.D. Conor Casey, provided Chadron State with an interception and junior safety of Douglas, Wyo., Pierre Etchemendy sparked the Eagles by recovering a fumbled punt on the Bobcats’ 10-yard line.

Chadron State ended that drive with a 22 yard field goal by sophomore kicker of Rapid City S.D., Alex Ferdinand.

But Montana State didn’t allow their mistakes on special teams get the best of them as they took a 19-3 lead at half time.

In the third quarter, Alex Ferdinand added 3 more points to the Chadron side of the scoreboard with a 40-yard kick this time. But the three points did not shift enough momentum to the Eagles’ side as the Bobcats scored two more touchdowns before the game clock hit zero.

“Unfortunately, we did lose so we are more focused on fixing mental errors and penalties for the game against Angelo State,” Coach Long said.

The Chadron State Eagles will travel to San Angelo, Texas next week as they square off against the Angelo State Rams. The game will be held at 1p.m. Saturday.