Griz deny EWU

The difference between a team that has won or shared eight of the last nine Big Sky Conference football championships and one hoping to win its first since 1997 is timing.

Montana continually made clutch plays, the last a blocked field goal by Shane MacIntyre with 18 seconds to play, allowing the fifth-ranked Grizzlies to escape Woodward Field on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon with a scintillating 31-28 victory over No. 23 Eastern Washington that kept 10,754 fans on edge.

The Eagles (4-3, 3-1) also made their share of dramatic plays, especially after falling behind 31-21 with just 5:45 to play, to have a shot to win or tie the game in the closing seconds, but it was the Griz (6-1, 3-0) who came up big one last time.

“We work hard on those things,” Grizzly coach Bobby Hauck said. “I think that’s our fifth block of the year, it’s not something new. We didn’t all-out rush it because we didn’t want to get faked. Shane MacIntyre made a great play. It seems like it’s someone new each week.”

It almost seemed after the Eagles offense went into overdrive to get back into the game they got out of sync because there was too much time remaining – about 75 seconds – after they made a first down on the UM 6.

“That goes through your mind,” Eastern coach Paul Wulff said. “Do you want to leave them with a minute left on the clock? We wanted to make sure we did the best we could to manage the clock and try to score.”

Erik Meyer, who was heroic down the stretch, tried a quarterback draw from the 6 that gained 2 yards but he went out-of-bounds and 1:09 remained. One the next play he was sacked on the 11 by Michael Potts and the Eagles chose to let the clock run down to 30 seconds before using their last timeout.

Under pressure on third down Meyer had to throw the ball away, setting up a 28-yard field goal attempt by Sheldon Weddle, who earlier connected from 21 and 28 yards.

“We just had block called on my side,” MacIntyre, a linebacker who led the Grizzlies with 10 tackles, said. “Mike Murphy was the D-end going with me and he drew a double team. They stepped down to him and I sort of came clean and laid out and got it.”

It’s the fifth time in the last nine years both teams were ranked and the fourth time Montana won.

“I’m disappointed for our kids,” Wulff said. They played so hard and the effort was great. … We did not play our best game. To not play our best game and still come in … and have a chance to win, I couldn’t be prouder.”

Except now the Eagles, who had a four-game winning streak snapped, no longer control their own destiny with Montana and Montana State tied atop the league standings.

“Like I told them, the post game speech was going to be the same if we won or lost,” Wulff said. “We’ve got to flush this game because we’ve got to get ready for Weber State. All our goals are still intact.”

EWU led 10-0 after the first quarter with a 174-18 yardage advantage. The Eagles also had possession after a kickoff drilled a front-line Grizzly and was recovered by Kyle Long.

“That’s where I think it turned for us,” Hauck said. “Our defense stopped them. … That’s where our kids showed some resiliency.”

The second quarter was all Montana – 172 yards to 33 – and it was 14-10 at halftime.

The Eagles got their second field goal after a Joey Cwik interception to start the third quarter, but for the second time the 3-pointer came because of a holding penalty when they got the ball to the 2.

Montana stretched its lead with an 80-yard drive but Eastern quickly responded with a 49-yard drive, highlighted by a 21-yard run from Reggie Witherspoon on a trick play before Darius Washington’s second short TD run. Meyer hit Erik Kimble for the two point conversion to tie the game at 21 with 10 seconds left in the quarter.

Lex Hilliard, a 220-pound sophomore who ran for a career-high 116 yards, scored his third touchdown 5 minutes into the fourth quarter. The Griz tacked on a field goal with 5:45 to play.

But then it was Eastern’s turn.

Meyer guided the Eagles 77-yards in seven plays, hitting Kimble for an 11-yard touchdown with 3:44 left.

The EWU defense came up with a three-and-out and Meyer, who finished with 320 yards passing, went to work 56 yards from the end zone and 2:19 left.

He got the initial first down by scrambling for 14 yards on third-and-13. Craig McIntyre had a 17-yard reception, Washington ran for 2 on third-and-1 and McIntyre caught an 11-yard pass to the 6.

That set up the Grizzlies for one last big play.