Frontier Conference football returns this month.
A couple Montana teams seem positioned for a league championship, as do two out-of-state programs. Plus, there always seems to be room for a dark horse in the Frontier.
Here are 10 Frontier players to keep an eye on in 2024 and why, plus some projections.
Athletes are listed in no particular order.
Lucas Thacker, LB, MSUNorthern
2023 stats/accolades: 70 tackles (#8 FC), 6.5 sacks (t-#2 FC), 12 TFL (#2 FC); Honorable Mention All-Frontier
Why to Watch: If Northern takes a step in 2024, it’ll be because of players like Thacker. All-American Dylan Wampler is gone, so the Lights’ defense now runs through the senior.
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The Columbia Falls graduate is Northern’s leading returning tackler and is a top-5 linebacker in the Frontier. He’ll need some help, though, and Northern has a long way to climb from the league’s cellar, but Thacker should be fun to keep an eye on in 2024.
2024 Projection: 87 tackles, 7 sacks, 13 TFL, 1 INT
Jackson Clemmer, TE, Southern Oregon
2023 stats/accolades: 25 receptions, 434 yards, 8 TDs (t-#5 FC); Second Team All-Frontier
Why to Watch: 2023 was Clemmer’s third full campaign playing tight end after being a 1,000-yard receiver as a senior at Camas High School (WA).
A big reason for SOU’s upset of College of Idaho on Nov. 11 (100 yards, two TDs), Clemmer was the Frontier’s best big-play tight end. The Raiders feel as if momentum from that nationally-ranked victory will carry into 2024 and it seems like Clemmer has found his role within SOU’s offense.
2024 Projection: 37 receptions, 601 yards, 10 TDs
Cole Wyant, LB, Montana Tech
2023 stats/accolades: 117 tackles (#1 FC, #6 NAIA), 4 sacks, 8 TFL, 2 FF, 1 PBU; First Team All-Frontier
Why to Watch: Wyant will be a candidate for Frontier Defensive Player-of-the-Year in 2024.
He formed a one-two punch with fellow linebacker Matt Whitcomb and recorded the Frontier’s most single-season tackles since Montana Western’s Jason Ferris in 2019 (119).
Tech needs to improve against the run to take a step. Expect Wyant to do his part.
2024 Projection: 102 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 9 TFL, 1 FF, 1 INT
Michael Palandri, QB, Montana Western
2023 stats/accolades: 63.1% completion, 2959 pass yards (#2 FC), 28 TDs (#2 FC), 4 INT (t-2nd-fewest, min. 100 pass attempts), 451 rush yards, 6 TDs; Third Team NAIA All-American, Frontier Offensive Player-of-the Year; First Team All-Frontier
Why to Watch: Western possesses all the pieces to be a top-5 NAIA offense and Palandri is the straw stirring that drink.
Efficiency and lack of turnovers are Palandri’s strengths. Not to mention his ability to run.
By November, the biggest question might be which Bulldog deserves league offensive MVP more, Palandri or wide-out Eli Nourse. Either way, expect that honor to flow through Dillon for a fourth consecutive season.
Nourse, Jon Kirkley and Dylan Shipley combined to catch 27 touchdowns last season. All three return.
Palandri will inch closer to a handful of 30-year-old program records in 2024.
2024 Projection: 61.4% completion, 3097 pass yards, 30 TDs, 6 INTs, 382 rush yards, 5 TDs
Andy Peters, QB, College of Idaho
2023 stats/accolades: 57.2% completion, 3442 pass yards (#1 FC), 31 TDs (#1 FC), 8 INT, 841 rush yards (#1 FC), 8 TDs (t-#4 FC); Second Team All-Frontier
Why to Watch: If one player could disrupt Western’s conference title repeat bid, it’d be Peters.
He broke eight major single-season program records in 2023, but lost his top target in Jon Schofield and go-to tight end Ben Hruby. John Kreps, Brock Richardson, Jase Applebee, and Gavin Ozuna all return for a team that leans heavily on the right arm and legs of Peters.
Should Peters have been last season’s Frontier Offensive MVP? Maybe. Will his 2024 be better? It’d be tough. Will Peters keep Palandri and the Bulldogs honest? Certainly.
2024 Projection: 54.8% completion, 2952 pass yards, 26 TDs, 7 INTs, 697 rush yards, 9 TDs
Hunter Peck, DE, Carroll College
2023 stats/accolades: 40 tackles, 6.5 sacks (t-#2 FC), 9 TFL (t-#8 FC), 1 FF, 1 PBU; Second Team All-Frontier
Why to Watch: Peck is another Frontier Defensive Player-of-the Year candidate.
Expect Peck’s senior season to rival, if not exceed, All-American Garrett Kocab’s in 2022.
Carroll graduated some defensive line talent (Jacob Resch, Jake Walk), but more than enough returns (Garrett Worden, Forrest Suero, Rocky Shields, Mason Harwood) to keep opposing offensive lines from keying on Peck too much.
2024 Projection: 57 tackles, 8 sacks, 12 TFL, 2 FF
Eli Nourse, WR, Montana Western
2023 stats/accolades: 90 receptions (#1 FC, #3 NAIA), 1186 yards (#1 FC, #4 NAIA), 12 TDs (#1 FC, t-#8 NAIA), 1 rush TD, 2 punt return TDs; First Team AP NAIA All-American, First Team All-Frontier
Why to Watch: Nourse was the NAIA’s best true freshman in 2023. Can he be even better?
Perhaps the Frontier’s biggest surprise a season ago, Nourse won’t be sneaking up on defenses in 2024. A dynamic pass-catcher and return man (20.9-yard average punt return), only injury could derail what could be a spectacular sophomore season.
Nourse will be a player-of-the-year candidate, and Western’s aspirations for a repeat and deep playoff run are tied to No. 7 in black and red.
2024 Projection: 97 receptions, 1372 yards, 14 TDs, 1 rush TD, 1 punt return TD
Gunner Yates, RB, Southern Oregon
2023 stats/accolades: 2 games played, 86 rush yards, 86 receiving yards, 1 TD
Why to Watch: Yates is healthy from an injury that limited his 2023 season. A likely comeback player-of-the-year candidate.
Yates popped off for 212 yards and three scores on Oct. 22, 2022 against Tech, but missed almost all last season. Avery McCuaig paced the Frontier with 14 rushing touchdowns in his stead, but on May 4, Yates accounted for five scores in an exhibition against Japan’s national title team.
2024 Projection: 717 rush yards, 12 TDs, 2 receiving TDs
Kaysan Barnett, DB, Rocky Mountain College
2023 stats/accolades: 29 tackles, 2 TFL, 4 INTs (t-#2 FC), 11 PBUs (t-#2 FC); First Team NAIA All-American, First Team All-Frontier
Why to Watch: Barnett is the Frontier’s best returning defensive back and was the face of the Frontier’s stingiest defense in 2023.
Rocky was eight points shy of an 8-2 campaign last season and knocked off nationally-ranked Tech to spark a season-ending three-game win streak. The Battlin’ Bears have seemingly found their quarterback in Graedyn Buell, and if they play defense similarly to 2023, that caliber campaign is within reach again.
2024 Projection: 35 tackles, 1 sack, 3 TFL, 5 INTs, 12 PBUs
Wyatt Alexander, WR, Montana Tech
2023 stats/accolades: 53 receptions (#5 FC), 1109 yards (#2 FC), 9 TDs (t-#4 FC); Third Team Victory Sports Network All-American, First Team All-Frontier
Why to Watch: Alexander turned in the second-best season, and best since 1997, by a Tech wide-out all-time in 2023.
Alexander, like C of I’s Andy Peters at the quarterback position, will come closest to rivaling numbers posted in Dillon. He loses Jordan Jackson and Mark Estes, two of Blake Thelen’s top targets a season ago, but Kyle Torgerson is healthy again, joining his brother Levi.
What’s better than witnessing two Montana products (Alexander, Whitehall; Eli Nourse, Dillon) battling to be the Frontier’s best wide receiver? Last season was chapter one of that struggle. 2024 should be even better, pouring gasoline on an already explosive Tech-Western rivalry.
2024 Projection: 61 receptions, 1269 yards, 11 TDs
Honorable Mentions: Andrew Almos (P, Montana Tech); Joseph Dwyer (WR, Rocky Mountain College); Willie Nelson (LB, College of Idaho), John Mears (K, Montana Western), Landers Smith (RB, Montana Tech)
Email Daniel Shepard at daniel. shepard@406mtsports.com and find him on X/twitter @Ir_DanielS.
