It was not a typical homecoming setting, but that didn’t bother the Northwestern Wildcats Friday night.

The squad celebrated homecoming away from home with a 36-14 win over Langford Area during the Lake Region Conference Football Classic at Dacotah Bank Stadium.

“A big homecoming game,” said Northwestern senior Jude Ortmeier. “It’s great for the guys to get our first win this year.”

Ortmeier had his fingerprints all over the team’s initial win of the season. He rushed 28 times for 179 yards and one touchdown, and also caught a TD pass. Not too bad for a player that looks like a lineman with his 6-foot-2 255-pound frame.

“He’s a tough player,” said Langford Area coach Michael Alberts. “We knew coming in that he was a hard runner and he was going to be tough to tackle.”

The Wildcats scored first on an Ortmeier run before Langford Area answered on an 11-yard run from Kalen Godel.

The second quarter set the tone for the remainder of the game when Dallas Stoltenberg threw touchdown passes to Chase Neiber and Cordell Vitense. The Lions responded when Godel caught a TD pass from Jesse Keough, setting the stage for major sequence late in the half.

As Langford Area was driving for another score, the Lions fumbled on the Northwestern one-yard line. To compound matters, Northwestern scored in the final minute of the half when Vitense caught another pass from Stoltenberg and broke several tackles en route to a 64-yard touchdown.

The Lions had more chances in the third quarter, but one drive stalled at the Northwestern five, and another at the Wildcats’ two.

“We had a couple of huge goal line stands there in the third quarter. I told the boys after the game, that third quarter was the good, the bad and the ugly,” said Northwestern coach Ben Buisker. “I was proud of them for making big plays. We had some ugly plays. It was just a tough third quarter, but we found a way to keep it even, keep that lead, and went to the fourth quarter and gave ourselves a chance.”

Ortmeier capped the scoring with his TD reception in the final period and the Wildcats were able to record their first win.

“This will definitely build momentum, give us some hope,” Ortmeier said, “and make us strive for the most of it for the rest of the year.”

Keough finished with 104 yards passing and 94 yards rushing to lead Langford Area.

While the Lions remained winless on the year, Albert saw a lot of positives in the setback.

“We definitely have a lot of young guys and every week we keep getting better and better,” Alberts said. “And that’s our focus. We learn from this one and move on to the next one.”

Langford Area (0-6) 8 6 0 0 – 14

Northwestern (1-5) 8 22 0 6 – 36

First Quarter

NW – Jude Ortmeier 4 run (Chase Neiber pass from Dallas Stoltenberg), 3:52.

LA – Kalen Godel 11 run (Jesse Keough run), 2:11.

Second Quarter

NW – Neiber 11 pass from Stoltenberg (Ortmeier run), 10:56.

NW – Cordell Vitense 30 pass from Stoltenberg (Ortmeier run), 10:13.

LA – Godel 25 pass from Keough, 6:16.

NA – Vitense 64 pass from Stoltenberg, :41.

Fourth Quarter

NW – Ortmeier 8 pass from Stoltenberg, 9:53.

OFFENSE: Langford Area rushing 34-140 (Keough 17-94, Godel 12-46), passing 6-16-1 for 104 (Keough 6-16-1 for 104), receiving (Godel 5-79, Jesse Keough 1-25), first downs 13; Northwestern rushing 50-222 (Ortmeier 28-179, Cameron Wilson 8-40), passing 8-9-1 for 140 (Stoltenberg 8-9-1 for 140), receiving (Vitense 2-94, Trey Bourelle 2-31, Neiber 2-13, Ortmeier 2-12), first downs 19.