Big Sky roundup: Kealamakia’s kick sends Weber State to 24-21 overtime-win over Montana
When Josh Kealamakia’s kick sailed through the uprights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday in Missoula to give Weber State at 24-21 overtime victory over Montana, Wildcats coach Jay Hill had only one thing on his mind.
“This is the first time we have won here in 28 years,” Hiill said with a big smile. “It feels great.”
Kealamakia nailed a 27-yard field goal after Montana had fumbled on its first play of overtime. Filipe Sitake pounced on Montana quarterback Makena Simis’ fumble to snuff out the Grizzlies only overtime offensive play and give Weber State (3-3, 2-1 Big Sky) its turn at the Montana 25-yard line.
“The overtime was very disappointing,” said Montana coach Bob Stitt. “We probably should have just handed the ball off, but we didn’t want to get into a field-goal kicking contest.”
Montana (3-3, 2-1) forced overtime when Simis, the Grizzlies’ third-string quarterback, connected with Ben Roberts on a 44-yard scoring play with 4:51 left in the game.
“They were worried about us taking them deep,” Roberts said. “That opened up the middle of the field.”
Kealamakia missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt with one second left in regulation to send the game to overtime.
The Wildcats opened the scoring on a 3-yard run by Eric Wilkes on their first possession of the game. Montana answered back with two first-quarter touchdowns – a 4-yard pass from Chad Chalich to Roberts and a 4-yard John Nguyen touchdown run – to take a 14-7 lead.
Weber State tied the game with 11:56 to play in the second quarter on a 15-yard scoring pass from Jadrian Clark to Cam Livingston. Cordero Dixon gave the Wildcats the lead when he picked off a Chalich pass and took it 30 yards for a touchdown to put Weber State up 21-14 at the half.
“I can’t say enough about that pick,” Hill said. “Cordero had a great week of practice.”
The Wildcats controlled the line of scrimmage most of the day, rushing for 253 yards. Wilkes led the way with 112 yards on 24 carries.
“Give our offensive line credit for creating creases,” Hill said. “And Eric Wilkes is one tough kid.”
Chalich, who was making his third start since an injury to Brady Gustafson against Liberty on Sept. 19, completed 14 of 19 passes for 136 yards before departing the game with a foot injury late in the first half. Roberts led the Grizzlies with eight catches for 115 yards.
Montana’s Kendrick Van Ackern led all defensive players with 17 tackles in the game.
Idaho St. scores 15 points in 4th, beats N. Dakota 37-31
Jakori Ford scored two touchdowns in the final period – including the game-winner on a 27-yard catch – as Idaho State rallied to upset North Dakota 37- 31 in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Michael Sanders passed for 427 yards and four touchdowns – including the 27-yarder to Ford – and then hit Madison Mangum on the two-point conversion, gaining the 37-31 lead with 6:15 left to play.
Earlier in the quarter, Ford capped a nine-play drive with a TD run from the 1-yard line as the Bengals improved to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Sky.
The North Dakota (4-2, 2-1) defense forced a punt to get the ball back with 2:23 remaining, and Ryan Bartels hit Zach Adler for a 36-yard gain to the ISU 43. The six-play drive stalled and ended with a fourth-down incompletion at the ISU 39. The Bengals took a knee twice to run out the clock.
Kuresa, Jones lead Portland St. in 66-7 rout of North Texas
Alex Kuresa threw three touchdown passes and Portland State routed North Texas 66-7 in Denton, Texas.
Portland State (4-1) had 670 yards of total offense, and bounced back after losing 19-17 to Big Sky Conference foe North Dakota last Saturday.
Kuresa threw for 269 yards and had scoring strikes of 34, 56 and 60 yards. David Jones ran for two touchdowns, including a 70-yarder, and finished with 134 yards on nine carries. Kuresa connected with Jones on the 60-yard touchdown pass two plays after the second-half kickoff.
Nate Tago ran for two touchdowns, and Steven Long ran for one. Darnell Adams and Thomas Carter III had touchdown catches.
With about a minute to play, DaMarcus Smith threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Harris for North Texas (0-5). The Mean Green finished with just 198 yards of offense.
UC Davis surprises Northern Arizona 38-24
Ben Scott threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns and UC Davis surprised Northern Arizona 38-24 in Davis, California, for its first win of the season.
The teams were tied at 17 at intermission, but it was all Aggies (1-5, 1-2 Big Sky) in the second half. A 10-play, 75-yard drive to start the third ended on Scott’s 3-yard pass to Chris Martin. Later in the quarter, Scott found Nehemiah Winston for a 25-yard score. Manusamoa Luuga then carried in from the 1 with 2:47 left to make it 38-17.
Northern Arizona (3-3, 1-2) got a 7-yard touchdown pass from Case Cookus to R.J. Rickert with 1:45 left, but the Lumberjacks couldn’t recover the onside kick. Cookus was 20 of 33 for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Casey Jahns had 111 yards on 19 carries and Rickert had two touchdowns on seven catches for 71 yards.
Luuga had 96 yards with two touchdowns. Joshua Kelley added 94 yards on 20 carries.
Prukop with 3 TDs; Montana St. beats Sacramento St. 35-13
Dakota Prukop ran for two touchdowns and threw for another score, and Montana State beat Sacramento State 35-13 in Bozeman, Montana.
Prukop was 12 of 22 for 277 yards passing, including a 79-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Herbert on the second play after the opening kickoff. He ran for a 3-yard score just before halftime, and bullied in from the 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter and finished with 69 yards rushing.
Justin Paige and Gunnar Brekke also had touchdown runs for Montana State (3-2, 2-1 Big Sky Conference). The Bobcats finished with 511 yards of total offense, their fourth-straight game with more than 500 yards.
Kolney Cassel threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Nnamdi Agude, and Brad Cornish kicked a 30-yard field goal to pull Sacramento State (1-5, 0-3) to 14-10 midway through the second half. Jordan Robinson ran for 108 yards on 17 carries.