Rocky Mountain College was looking to ease some of the frustration and put a positive finish on a difficult football season, but it was Montana Western savoring a season-ending victory on Saturday afternoon.

With sophomore quarterback Micah Mamiya running and gunning, the visiting Bulldogs outfought the Battlin' Bears 40-33 in another Frontier Conference shootout on Herb Klindt Field.

Mamiya, a 5-foot-8, 165-pound sophomore, passed for 322 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for 66 yards in helping Western close out the year with a 4-6 record. Three of his TD strikes were delivered during a wild fourth quarter, where the Bulldogs and Bears combined to put up 35 points.

"It was the last time playing with our 13 seniors," Mamiya said. "We just wanted to make it something to remember. We played for the seniors. This game was for them."

On the sunny afternoon, Western used big plays by Mamiya and senior wide receiver Craigh Cornelius in coming up with a response for every Rocky comeback.

"That's what good teams do, and that's a good football team we played today," Rocky's senior quarterback Kasey Peters said. "You've got to give credit to them. They played well."

The Bears, who ended their season at 2-9, tried to keep pace in receiving another huge day from Peters, who threw for 380 yards and four scores. Senior wide receiver Brian Guisti caught 16 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns.

Rocky pulled into a 26-26 tie with Western with 9:54 left in the game after Peters and receiver Nate Barnett hooked up on a 7-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion.

But Western's Stewart Petersen took off down the sideline on the ensuing kickoff and brought the ball back 56 yards to the Rocky 24. Five plays later, Mamiya rolled out and found former Billings West athlete Deryk Van Zee open in the corner of the end zone on a 3-yard pass.

Mackenzie Crossley's PAT kick made it 33-26 with seven minutes to play.

Following a three-and-out by Rocky, the Bulldogs quickly struck again, with Mamiya uncorking a 60-yard bomb to a wide open Cornelius to give Western some breathing room at 40-26 with 4:38 remaining.

Not to be outgunned, Rocky came back less than a minute later with a 47-yard scoring pass between Peters and Guisti to tighten the game at 40-33 with 3:53 left.

On the next drive, though, the speedy Mamiya got loose on a draw play on second-and-9 for a 47-yard gain to the Rocky 31. In chewing up the clock, the Bulldogs methodically got themselves into field goal position with 22 seconds left.

However, Crossley was wide from 33 yards out, giving Rocky one last chance.

During the final frantic seconds from his own 35-yard line, Peters had a pass batted back into his own hands. He tried to take off running, but the ball came loose after just a few yards and Western linebacker Coltin Weber came up with it as time ran out.

"Props to our defense, they held their ground late in the game," sophomore receiver Van Zee said afterward. "And our offense was just rolling."

Western finished with 499 yards on offense, with Cornelius making seven catches for 143 yards and two scores. Rocky was close behind with 451 yards of offense, with Guisti giving a spirited performance and sophomore Levi Sutton chipping in with nine catches for 93 yards.

Sutton finished with a school-record 107 receptions this fall.

"I was proud of our guys, we didn't give up," said Peters, who threw for 4,160 yards this season. "We were down two touchdowns with four minutes left and we got that quick score. That was big. Things didn't end up working out for us, but that's how it goes sometimes."

Rocky lost six games this season by eight points or less.

"It was hard fought on both sides," Rocky head coach Brian Armstrong said of the latest tussle. "We need to, obviously, evaluate ourselves and we need to do a lot of things better. We've got some time now where you don't have to try and do it with smoke and mirrors.

"We've got to get people in the right spots. We've got to get them coached up," he said. "We've got to rectify some glaring holes or errors, whatever you want to say, that we have this year and (have had) before this year."

Montana Western 40, Rocky Mountain 33

Scoring plays

First quarter

UMW - Jordan Clary 3 run (Aukkarapong Sribenjakul kick), 11:21

RMC - Brian Guisti 9 pass from Kasey Peters (kick blocked), 3:53

UMW - Sribenjakul 37 FG, 1:54

Second quarter

RMC - Bjorn Nelson 25 FG, 10:26

RMC - Nelson 40 FG, 0:50

UMW - Craigh Cornelius 6 pass from Micah Mamiya (Sribenjakul kick), 0:11

Third quarter

UMW - Mackenzie Crossley 44 FG, 2:26

RMC - Guisti 5 pass from Peters (run failed), 0:02

Fourth quarter

UMW - Brian Duckworth 20 pass from Mamiya (kick blocked), 11:40

RMC - Nate Barnett 7 pass from Peters (Barnett pass from Peters), 9:54

UMW - Deryk Van Zee 3 pass from Mamiya (Crossley kick), 7:00

UMW - Cornelius 60 pass from Mamiya (Crossley kick), 4:38

RMC - Guisti 47 pass from Peters (Nelson kick), 3:53

Individual statistics

Rushing - Western: Charlie Dotson 25-81, Micah Mamiya 6-66, Chris Wells 5-19, Jordan Clary 2-7, Chad Schira 2-3, Junior Mataafa 1-1. Rocky: Michael Thomas 10-41, Kasey Peters 13-27, Nate Ray 2-6, Barnett 1-(-3).

Passing - Western: Micah Mamiya 22-33-0, 322 yards. Rocky: Kasey Peters 36-50-0, 380 yards.

Receiving - Western: Craig Cornelius 7-143, Deryk Van Zee 6-56, Charlie Dotson 4-9, Kahai Sevilla 3-82, Brian Duckworth 1-20, Jordan Clary 1-12. Rocky: Brian Guisti 16-208, Levi Sutton 9-93, Kevin Concienne 5-47, Nate Barnett 4-33, Michael Thomas 1-0, Cavan Cooney 1-(-1).

Tackles - Western: Chad Schira 12, Curtis Quigley 8, Coltin Weber 6, Mike Kirby 5, Donte Green 5. Rocky: Adam Husk 12, JT Fitzgerald 10, Steffan Blume 8, Paul Palu 7, Degan Barner 6, Bobby Chamberlin 5.

Sacks - Western: Trent Mallory, Saul Collins, Mike Sermon. Rocky: Adam Husk.

Fumble recoveries - Western: Coltin Weber.