Montana Roughs Up Bobcats

The sun came out in the second half, the frozen field thawed a bit, and the Montana Grizzlies rolled to their 11th victory of the season and 11th straight over Montana State.

“We just needed a little help from the sun to soften up the field and we played the way we’re capable of,” said Montana defensive tackle Ryan Thompson. He tallied four sacks as the Grizzlies rallied from a 14-7 halftime deficit to beat Montana State 35-14 in Missoula on Saturday.

It was Montana’s 18th consecutive win and its 25th in a row at home.

Brian Ah Yat completed 36 of 50 passes for 376 yards and three touchdowns for Montana. The Honolulu native, who finished the regular season with 42 TD passes, said he noticed when the sun came out.

“I was having trouble trying to get out of the pocket when I needed to,” Ah Yat said of the first half, when he was sacked four times. “It was really the first game that I’ve ever played that was that type of footing.”

It may not be the last.

Montana, by virtue of its No. 2 ranking in the Sports Network’s NCAA Division I-AA poll, will host a first-round playoff game next weekend. Its opponent in its national title defense will be announced today.

MSU (6-5 overall, 3-4 Big Sky) held a 14-7 halftime lead but the Grizzlies (11-0, 7-0) scored 28 unanswered points in the second half.

Montana 35, Montana St. 14

Montana State 0 14 0 0 - 14 Montana 7 0 14 14 - 35

UM-Douglass 14 pass from Ah Yat (Larson kick)

MSU-Engelking 2 run (Groshelle kick)

MSU-Hobbs 33 pass from Compson (Groshelle kick)

UM-Douglass 27 pass from Ah Yat (Larson kick)

UM-Gales 18 run (Larson kick)

UM-Branen 55 run (Larson kick)

UM-Paffhausen 11 pass from Ah Yat (Larson kick)

A-19,042.

MSU Mont First downs 12 28 Rushes-yards 43-25 24-180 Passing 193 376 Return Yards 25 66 Comp-Att-Int 15-25-3 36-50-1 Punts 9-38.4 6-36.5 Fumbles-Lost 4-1 3-2 Penalties-Yards 1-15 7-68 Time of Possession 34:19 25:41

Individual statistics

RUSHING-MSU, Engelking 28-68, Morgan 2-(-1), Compson 13-(-42). UM Branen 11-130, Gales 8-64, Ah Yat 5-(-14).

PASSING-MSU, Compson 15-24-2-193, Harry 0-1-1-0. UM Ah Yat 30-56-1-376.

RECEIVING-MSU, Hobbs 4-80, Vallez 1-36, Bragg 4-26. Montana, Douglass 14-205, Walker 6-62, Paffhausen 6-48.

Weber State 37, Idaho State 22

Roger Cook connected on a 71-yard pass for a touchdown early in the first quarter and later ran for another to lead the Wildcats to a victory over the Bengals in Pocatello.

Weber State (7-4, 4-3) got off to a fast start, scoring twice in the first quarter, to dominate Idaho State (4-7, 1-6).

Weber St. 14 10 0 13 - 37 Idaho St. 3 3 3 13 - 22

Web-McGhee 71 pass from Cook (Shields kick)

Web-Sainten 5 run (Shields kick)

ISU-FG Ferrell 22

ISU-FG Ferrell 23 Web-Cook 16 run (Shields kick)

Web-FG Shields 44

ISU-FG Ferrell 52

ISU-Young 32 pass from Griggs (Ferrell kick)

Web-Sainten 1 run (Shields kick)

Web-Welch 5 run (kick failed)

ISU-Anderson 1 run (pass failed)

A-5,011.

Web ISU First downs 23 17 Rushes-yards 36-132 36-116 Passing 396 274 Comp-Att-Int 26-45-2 19-45-4 Return Yards 103 229 Punts-Avg. 5-32.2 5-39.6 Fumbles-Lost 5-3 2-1 Penalties-Yards 12-105 6-59 Time of Possession 30:07 29:53

Individual statistics

RUSHING-Web, Sainten 19-71, Cook 6-16, Pierre 2-3; ISU, Joseph 19-73, Coleman 6-28, Griggs 6-12.

PASSING-Web, Cook 26-42-2 392, Fassell 0-3-0 0; ISU Griggs 16-32-2 218, Young 1-1-0 32, Anderson 2-12-2 24.

RECEIVING-Web, McGhee 7-164, Sainten 7-46, Woods 6-90; ISU, Clifford 3-54, Young 3-43, Bradshaw 3-38.