BUTTE — Montana Tech's football team was playing for more than just a 10-0 record and guaranteed share of the Frontier Conference East division title during a road win over Dickinson State (N.D.) last Saturday.
Freshman wide receiver Kellen Klimpel, a Frenchtown product, was recently involved in a serious accident in Butte and was life-flighted to the University of Utah Hospital where he remained unconscious. A GoFundMe set up to help with his medical expenses has now generated nearly $100,000.
But shortly before their 31-7 rout of the Blue Hawks, the Orediggers received some encouraging news.
"From what we understand, he's alert, his eyes are open," said Tech coach Kyle Samson. "Some really positive things the past few days and we have a goal of hearing him talk to us soon."
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Playing for their wounded teammate provided plenty of motivation for Tech, especially for senior linebacker Tel Arthur who also played for Frenchtown and is a lifelong friend of Klimpel.
"He's one of my best friends and we grew up together," said Arthur, who leads Tech with 72 total tackles this season. "Knowing that my brother was down and he needed us, our thing was 'play for Kellen.'"
Said sophomore quarterback Jarrett Wilson: "We obviously had a goal to go out there and clinch the Frontier Conference championship, but we were playing for more than that. We were playing for him."
Ranked at No. 4 in the latest NAIA coaches' poll, the Orediggers will have a chance to wrap up an undefeated regular season when they host Valley City State (6-3 overall, 3-2 in Frontier East play) this Saturday.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Orediggers are then set to make a third straight appearance in the postseason, but for the next few days their sole focus is on the Vikings and securing an outright Frontier title.
"The only thing on our mind right now is the next game and to be that 11-0 outright champion," said Arthur.
Said Wilson: "We're not satisfied, we don't want just Frontier Conference (co-champions), we want to be undefeated and want to dominate every game we play."
