September 5, 2004 in Sports

Montana wins battle of ranked teams

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Colorado transfer Craig Ochs passed for 217 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to lead Montana to a 27-20 non-conference victory over Maine in Missoula, Mont., in the season opener for both teams.

Maine, ranked 11th in NCAA Division I-AA, led 6-3 at halftime before third-ranked Montana rallied with 10 unanswered points in the third quarter.

Jefferson Heidelberger, who caught seven passes for 115 yards, caught a 25-yard scoring pass from Ochs with 8:36 remaining. Freshman Dan Carpenter made his second field goal — this one from 47 yards — to put the Grizzlies up 13-6.

Maine’s Matthew King recovered an Ochs fumble on the 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter and tailback Marcus Williams scored on the next play. He finished with 105 yards on 20 carries.

Montana responded with back-to-back touchdowns — a 12-yard pass from Ochs to Jon Talmage and a 2-yard pass from Ochs to Willie Walden. The second score was set up by Kevin Edwards’ second interception.

Maine’s final score came on a 7-yard pass from Ron Whitcomb to Josh Radulski with 33 seconds remaining.

Whitcomb completed 24 of 32 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns — the first a 4-yard pass to Christian Pereira early in the second quarter. Alan Saenz blocked Mike Mellow’s extra point attempt, putting Maine up 6-0.

Carpenter kicked a 32-yard field goal with 10:34 left in the half.

Southern Utah 34, Weber St. 31

Southern Utah quarterback Casey Rehrer threw four touchdowns as the Thunderbirds defeated the Wildcats in Ogden, Utah.

Despite throwing two interceptions, Rehrer’s effort led the Thunderbirds to their first win over the Wildcats since 2001. Rehrer also ran the ball 15 times for 93 yards.

In a comeback effort, the Wildcats rallied from a 21-9 deficit at the half to come within three points at 34-31. Weber State had the ball with 1:02 to go in the game, but the Wildcats were unable to get a first down and turned the ball over on downs with 34 seconds to go.

SUU controlled the game in the first half as its offense moved the ball consistently on the Weber State defense. Rehrer was 15 of 17 for 173 yards and three touchdowns.

While the T-Birds were scoring touchdowns, the Wildcats could only connect on field goals. WSU kicker Joe Johnson hit from distances of 22, 29 and 23 yards to keep the Wildcats in the game in the first half.

For the Wildcats, running back Nick Chournos rushed 26 times for 114 yards and one touchdown.

San Diego St. 38, Idaho St. 21

Michael Franklin had a 67-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage and Matt Dlugolecki threw for two touchdowns, leading the Aztecs to a win over the Bengals in San Diego.

San Diego State dominated their Division I-AA opponents from the outset, scoring on its first three possessions en route to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter.

Robert Ortiz caught two touchdown passes for the Aztecs, who are attempting to finish with a winning record for the first time since 1998.

San Diego State got the opening kickoff and Franklin wasted little time putting the Aztecs ahead for good as he ran untouched off right guard. Franklin finished with 101 yards rushing on 12 carries, his third straight 100-yard game.

Dlugolecki connected on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ortiz and Brandon Bornes added a 2-yard run before Garrett Palmer’s 25-yard field goal with 12 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Aztecs defense gave up their first points in the last 15 quarters, when Mark Hetherington threw a 9-yard TD pass to Sale’ Key in the third quarter.

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