Those Numbers Keep Adding Up For Grizzlies

Big Sky/Big West

Josh Branen had a career day and the Montana Grizzlies set several records Saturday in dominating Sacramento State 52-10 at Missoula in the Big Sky Conference opener for both schools.

Branen, a senior halfback who’s generously listed as 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds, rushed for a career-high 187 yards and three touchdowns and caught a scoring pass to lead the Grizzlies.

“He plays at the same, steady, high level, week after week,” said UM coach Mick Dennehy. “Every once in a while he busts loose. He busted loose today.”

So did the Grizzlies.

Top-ranked Montana set a school record with 694 yards in total offense before a record homecoming crowd of 19,046, and extended its home winning streak to 30 games, the longest current streak in Division I-AA.

Montana quarterback Brian Ah Yat, who sprained his knee in the first quarter of the season-opener and missed last week’s game, played two quarters, completing 17 of 23 passes for 286 yards.

Montana 52, Sac. State 10

Sac State 3 0 7 0 - 10

Montana 10 21 14 7 - 52

Mont-Pacheco 40 pass from Ah Yat (Heppner kick), 10:14 Sac-FG Brown 52, 6:31 Mont-FG Heppner 24, 2:01 Mont-Branen 1 run (Heppner kick), 11:53 Mont-Branen 2 run (Heppner kick), 8:03 Mont-Branen 71 run (Heppner kick), 00:38 Sac-Elkins 4 run (Brown kick), 12:53 Mont-Branen 9 pass from Rowell (Heppner kick), 5:59 Mont-Gales 2 run (Heppner kick), 4:47 Mont-Gilbreaith 30 run (Heppner kick), 11:38 A-19,046.

Sac Mont First downs 15 28 Rushes-yards 26-80 43-295 Passing 205 399 Comp-Att-Int 21-38-1 25-37-2 Return Yards 71 22 Punts-Avg. 7-42.1 3-19.3 Fumbles-Lost 4-2 2-1 Penalties-Yards 8-69 11-84 Time of Possession 26:36 33:24 RUSHING-Sacramento St., Elkins 10-34, Solis 4-19, Williams 4-19. Montana, Branen 14-187, Gilbreaith 9-73, Gales 5-7.

PASSING-Sacramento St., Bernhardt 21-37-1-205, Towne 0-1-0-0. Montana, Ah Yat 17-23-0-286, Rowell 6-10-0-89, Davis 2-3-1-24, Kittel 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING-Sacramento St., Smith 4-32, Taylor 3-57, Elkins 4-12. Montana Walker 7-106, Pacheco 6-123, Olson 4-79, Branen 1-9.

N. Arizona 56, Portland St. 21

At Flagstaff, Ariz., Travis Brown threw for 357 yards and five touchdowns as the Lumberjacks defeated the Vikings.

Gibbons St. Paul and Kino Carson also contributed to an offense that rolled up 561 yards. Carson rushed for 117 yards and two TDs, and St. Paul caught 13 passes for 167 yards and three TDs.

Portland St. 0 0 7 14 - 21

N. Arizona 7 21 14 14 - 56

NAU-Carson 5 run (Goldstein kick), 12:11 NAU-Carson 65 run (Goldstein kick), 14:41 NAU-St. Paul 15 pass from Brown (Goldstein kick), 8:52 NAU-St. Paul 34 pass from Brown (Goldstein kick), 3:59 NAU-Black 9 pass from Brown (Goldstein kick), 10:42 PSU-Bryant 69 pass from Parsons (Lund kick), 9:03 NAU-St. Paul 9 pass from Brown (Goldstein kick), 5:50 NAU-Shelton 1 run (Goldstein kick), 13:28 PSU-Craft 10 pass from Parsons (Lund kick), 12:08 PSU-Craft 50 pass from Parson (Lund kick), 11:24 NAU-Fontana 10 pass from Brown (Goldstein kick), 6:32 A-13,055.

PSU NAU First downs 14 27 Rushes-yards 26-119 42-230 Passing 239 357 Comp-Att-Int 16-33-2 29-41-0 Return Yards 151 127 Punts-Avg. 6-46.3 5-39.4 Fumbles-Lost 4-3 2-1 Penalties-Yards 5-30 2-15 Time of Possession 25:16 34:44 RUSHING-PSU, McVeigh 14-74, Williams 2-25, Jakubowski 1-10, Blanchard 1-1, Parsons 3-(minus 1), Dunn 4-(minus 3), Sparks 1-4. NAU, Carson 24-117, Shelton 14-68, T. Brown 4-19.

PASSING-PSU, Parsons 8-15-1-173, Blanchard 5-9-38-0, Sparks 3-9-1-28. NAU, T. Brown 29-40-0-357, C. Brown 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING-PSU, Bryant 5-100, Craft 3-71, Strait 2-30, Williams 4-29, Jakubowski 1-14, Harris 1-(minus 5). NAU, St. Paul 13-176, Fontana 4-51, Black 3-42, Flores 4-37, Lockett 2-21, Shelton 1-20, Carson 2-10.

Montana St. 14, Idaho St. 13

At Pocatello, Idaho, Rob Compson ran for one touchdown and passed for another as the Bobcats overcame a halftime deficit to nip the Bengals.

Compson plunged 1 yard in the first quarter to give the Bobcats a 7-0 lead. It was his 6-yard pass to Craig Galle with 3:54 left in the third quarter that proved the winner.

Montana St. 7 0 7 0 - 14

Idaho St. 0 10 0 3 - 13

MSU-Compson 1 run (Groshelle kick), 10:33 ISU-FG Ferrell 30, 11:48 ISU-Burford 1 run (Ferrell kick), 00:02 MSU-Galle 6 pass from Compson (Groshelle kick), 3:54 ISU-FG Ferrell 49, 5:45 A-5,280.

MSU ISU First downs 10 11 Rushes-yards 36-137 39-139 Passing 75 148 Comp-Att-Int 7-19-1 12-24-1 Return Yards 112 143 Punts-Avg. 4-41 6-40 Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-1 Penalties-Yards 5-45 12-80 Time of Possession 26:20 33:40 RUSHING-MSU, Tyler 17-84, Wright 11-31, Compson 6-14, Kinnamon 1-7, Cormaney 1-1; ISU, Nkeyasen 23-89, Elgaaen 9-45, Burford 6-5, Franks 1-0.

PASSING-M+U, Compson 7-19-1 75; ISU, Burford 12-22-1 148, Anderson 0-2-0 0.

RECEIVING-MSU, Vallez 3-35, Kinnamon 1-16, Caballero 1-14, Galle 1-6, Harry 1-4; ISU, Ernst 6-109, McBride 1-20, Elgaaen 2-10, Delancy 2-5, Franks 1-4.

UTEP 24, New Mexico St. 16

At El Paso, Texas, Joseph Polk scored two touchdowns and ran for 115 yards on 30 carries as the Miners (1-3) broke a 10-game losing streak.

Toledo 31, Nevada 13

At Toledo, Ohio, Chris Wallace passed for 243 yards and two touchdowns and Dwayne Harris scored twice as the Rockets (4-0) defeated the Wolf Pack.

(22) Texas A&M 36, North Texas 10

At Irving, Texas, Dante Hall rushed for 156 yards and set up two touchdowns and Sirr Parker rushed for 124 yards and scored a touchdown as the Aggies (3-0) defeated the Eagles.

xxxx

1. BIG SKY STANDINGS League Overall W L PF PA W L EWU 2 0 66 25 4 0 Montana 1 0 52 10 3 0 N. Arizona 1 0 56 21 3 1 Montana St. 1 0 14 13 2 1 Northridge 0 0 0 0 2 2 Weber St. 0 1 11 35 2 2 Idaho St. 0 1 13 14 0 3 Sac. St. 0 1 10 52 0 3 Portland St. 0 2 35 87 0 4

Saturday’s results Montana 52, Sacramento St. 10 N. Arizona 56, Portland St. 21 Montana St. 14, Idaho St. 13 Eastern Wash. 35, Weber St. 11

2. BIG WEST STANDINGS League Overall W L PF PA W L Idaho 0 0 0 0 2 2 Utah St. 0 0 0 0 2 2 N. Texas 0 0 0 0 2 3 New Mex. St. 0 0 0 0 1 3 Boise St. 0 0 0 0 1 4 Nevada 0 0 0 0 1 4

Saturday’s results Washington St. 58, Boise St. 0 Texas A&M 36, North Texas 10 UTEP 24, New Mexico St. 16 Toledo 31, Nevada 13