Chants put Grizzlies' season on ice

MISSOULA (AP) — Alex Ross threw for three touchdowns and Lorenzo Taliaferro rushed for two touchdowns as Coastal Carolina pushed past the No. 8 seed Montana 42-35 in the second round of the FCS Playoffs on a frigid Saturday.

Coastal Carolina (12-2), which survived minus-5 degree temperatures at kickoff, will play two-time defending champion North Dakota State (12-0), a 38-7 winner over Furman, next weekend. Saturday’s game was the coldest ever played in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

"We knew it was going to be cold," Coastal Carolina head coach Joe Magolia said. "It wasn't a matter of being tough, it was a matter of understanding how the cold worked. It was a matter of retaining heat. It was a matter of body insulation, that was what we were teaching our guys."

Ross's three touchdowns came in the first half, including two to Niccolo Mastromatteo as Chanticleers scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter to build a 35-14 halftime lead. Before the Coastal onslaught, the game was deadlocked at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Griz also led 14-7 late in the period.

The No. 4 Grizzlies (11-3) opened the second half with a 5-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jordan Johnson to Jamaal Jones. Johnson found Jones again in the fourth quarter for a 72-yard touchdown, to pull within seven, but Coastal Carolina ran out the clock to seal its victory.

Three other players, Chase Naccarato, Mitch Saylor and Travon Van, scored touchdowns for the Grizzlies and Montana gained 557 yards of total offense in the game.

"At times we weren't very good on offense and that starts with me," Johnson said. "We just didn't do enough. We didn't score enough points to win."

Johnson led Montana with 388 yards passing, four touchdowns and had one interception.

Montana had a first-and-goal taken away in the third quarter after an instant replay review by the officials took place after the Griz had gained a first down. The controversial call moved Montana back 14 yards, and the Griz failed to score after four more tries.

Ross finished with 202 yards passing and rushed for 123 yards for Coastal Carolina. This is the first time in school history that the Chanticleers have won two straight playoff games. The Chants ran up 272 yards rushing on a Griz’ defense which had only allowed on TD in its last 10 quarters of football, during what was a four-game winning streak.

“We fought and battled and it’s so hard and emotional right now to be thinking about the guys that are leaving, the 11 seniors,” Griz coach Mick Delaney said. “This team has accomplished a whole lot through the last two years really. We’re proud of them.

“Obviously you’d like to always have things turn out the way you want but that’s not always the way it is. We did not play well enough the first half to put ourselves in a good enough position. We had to fight from so far behind.”

Note: Havre Daily sports editor George Ferguson contributed to this story.