North Dakota
FCS National Championship: Montana State vs. North Dakota State Offensive Spotlight
No. 1 Montana State (15-0) will face No. 2 North Dakota State (13-2) in the FCS National Championship at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. CT on ABC.
As we prepare for the FCS national championship game on Jan. 6, we will look at how the talent on the field will stack up. We will combine the rosters from Montana State and North Dakota State and look at the starting lineup with players from each team at our disposal. We selected the best player at each position entering the FCS National Championship.
QB: Tommy Mellott (Montana State)
RB: Scottre Humphrey (Montana State)
WR: Bryce Lance (North Dakota State)
WR: Taco Dowler (Montana State)
WR: RaJa Nelson (North Dakota State)
TE: Rohan Jones (Montana State)
OT: Grey Zabel (North Dakota State)
OG: Griffin Empey (North Dakota State)
C: Cole Sain (Montana State)
OG: Marcus Wehr (Montana State)
OT: Titan Fleischmann (Montana State)
The most challenging position to analyze in this exercise is quarterback. Tommy Mellott and Cam Miller are projected favorites for the Walter Payton Award and have been the best quarterbacks at the FCS level all season. By choosing one, we will be leaving off an incredible player.
If I had to have one quarterback for an entire season, I would most likely select Cam Miller. He is the best overall pocket passer and decision-maker when pushing the ball downfield. But if I need to win just one game, I will take the most dangerous weapon on the field.
Tommy Mellott has the home run capability that no other player on the field in Frisco will have. In a highly competitive game, I want a player who can generate an explosive play on any given snap. Mellott has improved as a passer this season, completing 69% of his throws for 2,564 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and only two interceptions. However, he is still dangerous with his legs, rushing for over 900 yards and 14 touchdowns on only 109 carries.
This game will have plenty of talent at the running back position. Both teams are led by Jerry Rice Award finalists, headlined by the Jerry Rice Award winner CharMar Brown. Highlighting the depth of both units, there is a chance neither player leads their team in carries in Frisco. North Dakota State’s Barika Kpeenu has started to see more action over the past few weeks, showing flashes in key moments against South Dakota State.
Despite all the talent mentioned above, I will still lean toward Montana State’s Scottre Humphrey. Humphrey possesses a level of breakaway speed and explosion that the North Dakota State running back room does not have. Humphrey has recorded 1,369 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns, averaging over 7.0 yards per carry. Despite being limited due to injury, Humphrey should be in peak condition in Frisco with two weeks off.
Both teams utilize 11-personnel for most of their snaps, so I selected three wide receivers and one tight end for this exercise. It all starts with North Dakota State’s Bryce Lance, who dominated a talented South Dakota State secondary last week with three touchdowns. Lance leads the receivers in this game by a large margin, posting 964 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns.
I selected a dynamic slot option for the second spot in Montana State’s Taco Dowler. Dowler is an explosive weapon, leading all wide receivers in yards per reception (15.6). He thrives in the play-action scheme that Montana State utilizes.
The final spot was a tough decision between RaJa Nelson and Ty McCullough. Nelson gets the edge here despite his lack of overall numbers, which was limited due to injuries this season. He still has one of the most important plays of the season, hauling in the game-winning touchdown against South Dakota State earlier this season. Nelson is a versatile weapon, posting over 300 rushing yards last season.
There may be better blocking tight ends in this game, but no other tight end offers the upside that Montana State’s Rohan Jones brings. He is the most explosive, dynamic athlete at the tight end spot in this game. At 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, Jones is solid in size and possesses the skills of an outside wide receiver. He is a matchup nightmare, posting 451 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns, averaging over 16 yards per completion.
Outside of the quarterback position, this will be the most important unit on the field in Frisco. These have been the two best offensive line units in the nation all season, but they have achieved this differently. Montana State has dominated the line of scrimmage in the rushing game, moving together and creating wide lanes in the zone run game. North Dakota State’s unit has excelled in pass protection, which has allowed Cam Miller to have his All-American season. The Bison have allowed the least pressure of any team in the FCS.
The two most obvious choices are North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel and Montana State’s Marcus Wehr. Both players are consensus All-Americans and will likely be selected in the upcoming NFL Draft. The other tackle spot was a difficult decision, but I leaned toward Titan Fleischmann over Mason Miller. Fleischmann is one of the most underrated players in the FCS, giving up only one sack and six pressures this season.
I selected Montana State’s Cole Sain at center, who has done an excellent job replacing All-American Justus Perkins. Montana State has rotated multiple players at left guard, which led to the selection of North Dakota State’s Griffin Empey. Empey had a Freshman All-American season, allowing only three sacks and 12 pressures.
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Kalamazoo — There’ll be a new champion in the NCHC.
Will Zellers scored the game-winning goal in the third period as No. 3 North Dakota downed No. 4 Western Michigan, 5-3, Friday night at Lawson Arena. The Broncos never led and trailed all of the third period, though a late push nearly tied the game with the net empty.
“Overall in the game, I thought it was a pretty tightly contested effort. I thought they just scored too easy,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “You know, for us, we had a couple breakdowns, and they’re so talented, so good, they took advantage when we broke down.”
The teams finish the regular season Saturday night. Western Michigan came into Friday’s game tied with Denver in standings points and five points behind North Dakota, needing that many to get a share of the Penrose Cup it won last season en route to an NCAA championship, too.
As far as regular season results go, the Broncos will play for second seed in the NCHC Tournament, needing to outpace Denver, which plays Arizona State this weekend.
Western Michigan (23-9-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) goaltender Hampton Slukynsky made 16 saves on 20 shots in the loss while North Dakota’s Jan Spunar stopped 22 of 25 shots. It was a battle of two of the NCHC’s top netminders, and each made key stops in a tight-checking, physical game.
Zellers put North Dakota (25-7-1, 17-5-1) up 4-2 4:42 into the third period off an assist from Detroit Red Wings draft choice Dylan James.
“He kind of made a play out of nothing there,” said North Dakota coach Dane Jackson, who is in his first season as head coach after being on the coaching staff since 2006. “And that was a really nice kind of moment where you go OK, we got a little got a little leeway here, and we can just kind of play a little bit more free.”
North Dakota took a 3-2 lead into the third period with goals from defenseman Sam Laurila alongside forwards Ollie Josephson and Josh Zakreski. Defenseman Zach Bookman and forward Liam Valente scored for Western Michigan.
One too many times in the second frame, Western Michigan’s blue line let a North Dakota forward in all alone to face Slukynsky, who stopped a couple of rushes in the opening minutes of the period.
With four minutes until the intermission, the Broncos finally got burned. On a feed from linemate Anthony Menghini, Lakreski cut to the glove side of a sprawling Slukynsky and beat him with the backhand. The goal gave North Dakota the 3-2 lead, after a seeing-eye shot from Bookman along the right wall had tied it up two apiece 8:10 into the period.
“I actually thought the second period was our best period,” Ferschweiler said. “… We started to take over. We got the goal, tied 2-2, and are kind of just humming along. Four minutes left, we just hand them a goal. Blown coverage. That was inexcusable, honestly, with some of our better players on the ice.”
The opening period played out as a back and forth track meet through the neutral zone as each side settled in. Laurila put North Dakota up 1-0 with his first career goal. After Slukynsky denied him on a trio of tries earlier in the shift, he fired a shot to beat the Western Michigan netminder 4:40 into the game.
It took just a minute and 34 seconds after Laurila’s opener for Western Michigan’s top line to get it right back. A blue-collar shift from captain Owen Michaels fed linemate Will Whitelaw along the left boards, and he sprung Valente for a breakaway goal that evened up the score.
“I thought we gave it to them too easy a couple times tonight,” Whitelaw said. “And I think when you’re playing a team like that, obviously they’re gonna put it in your net. But I think it’ll be a big lesson for our group going forward.”
For the better part of the first period, the Lawson Lunatics peppered North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage with jeers, but he got his own licks in with 7:48 left in the first period as he fed Josephson right at the net for the 2-1 goal. That score held through the first period.
With 2:02 remaining and Slukynsky pulled, forward Zaccharya Wisdom pulled Western Michigan within one. He nearly had the equalizer with 40 seconds on the clock on a backdoor try, but he mistimed the shot. Mac Swanson scored an empty-netter with 20.7 seconds on the clock to clinch the win, and with it the Penrose Cup, presented to North Dakota in the locker room and then paraded around the ice.
“It’s the hardest regular season championship to win, in my opinion,” North Dakota forward Ben Strinden said. “So it’s awesome. Obviously, it’s not our end goal, but we’re going to enjoy it for sure.”
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
North Dakota
Morton County did not violate North Dakota’s open records law when the County Auditor, within a reasonable time, informed the requester that the requested records were not in the County’s possession.. – North Dakota Attorney General
27 Feb Morton County did not violate North Dakota’s open records law when the County Auditor, within a reasonable time, informed the requester that the requested records were not in the County’s possession..
in Opinions
February 27, 2026
Media Contact: Suzie Weigel, 701.328.2210
BISMARCK, ND – Karen Jordan requested an opinion from this office under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1 asking whether Morton County violated N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18 by failing or refusing to provide records.
Conclusion: It is my opinion that Morton County’s response was in compliance with N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18.
Link to opinion 2026-O-06
###
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – The North Dakota Court System threw a reception for a retiring member of the state Supreme Court.
Justice Daniel Cothers is leaving after serving for more than 20 years.
He plans to step down on Feb. 28.
Before Crothers became a judge, he served as a lawyer and as president of the State Bar Association of North Dakota.
Mark Friese is set to replace Crothers starting March 9.
“He knows what is important and what to keep focused on. Justice Friese will be an exceptional replacement to me on the bench,” said Crothers.
Crothers plans to keep up on teaching gigs and spend time at his family’s farm as he steps into retirement.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
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