Cat-Griz Report: Grizzlies ground Thunderbirds

MISSOULA (AP) - The Montana Grizzlies always set records on homecoming when it comes to attendance. This time, their offense was record-setting too.

UM quarterback Brady Gustafson threw for another 415 yards, while the Griz put up over 600 on the usually fierce Southern Utah defense in a 43-20 win over the Thunderbirds Saturday in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Gustafson completed 27 of 50 passes, with one interception. He used his usual targets like Jerry Louie-McGee, who had nine catches and 118 yards. Then he found new ones like James Homan, who came into Saturday with two catches but finished the game with six passes for 103 yards.

Homan's 3-yard reception put the No. 11 Grizzlies (3-1, 1-1 Big Sky) up 9-7 early. Scoring strikes of 28 yards to John Nguyen, 43 to Justin Calhoun and 10 to Josh Horner fueled a 27-point burst that put Montana in command. The TD to Calhoun came seconds before halftime and gave Montana the momentum it would need to go on and finish the T-Birds off.

"We're still trying to find those guys," Montana coach Bob Stitt said. "All our receivers are new to us. You don't know when it's crunch time who's going to come through. That's what we're trying to find. We're starting to get a better idea of who those guys are now."

The offense, 627 yards worth, came from all over. Nguyen's touchdown put Montana ahead for good, 15-14, with 6:59 left in the second quarter. Horner's score put the Grizzlies up 29-14 early in the second half.

Jeremy Calhoun's first of two scoring runs, covering eight yards, made it 36-14 midway through the third quarter. He finished with 90 rushing yards, 45 coming on a final burst that made it 43-20 with 1:40 remaining.

Justin Calhoun's TD covered 43 yards, and gave Montana a 22-14 lead with 16 seconds left in the first half.

Homan, a junior college transfer, teamed with Louis-McGee to turn short routes into nice gains.

"I just came out and played my game," Homan said. "I trust my coaches and my offense, and I knew we were going to get it done. No nerves there. The corners kind of bailed real fast, so we'd run little short routes and catch the ball and get up field."

Southern Utah (2-2, 1-1) took leads of 7-3 and 14-9 on touchdown passes from Patrick Tyler to Mike Sharp. Sharp ended up with three scoring receptions, giving him 19 since the start of the 2015 season.

Tyler threw for 169 yards for the Thunderbirds, completing 16 of 41 passes. Southern Utah running back Malik Brown ran for 114 yards, while the Grizzly defense got two takeaways, including a nifty interception by senior Ryan Johnson at the line of scrimmahe.

Nguyen rushed for 87 yards for the Griz, who shook off a 42-41 loss at Cal Poly last week. Montana also punted five times and had three turnovers in what turned out to be a dominant offensive performance in its homecoming game.

"You think back last year late, when Brady came back (from injury) against Eastern Washington and the Cats, those were pretty good games," Stitt said. "As far as feeling like you're really having your way with them - we haven't really had that feeling very many times."

The win came in what was the first of three straight home games for the Griz. Montana is back at home for a non-conference FCS game with Mississippi Valley State this Saturday.

Sac. State 41, Bobcats 38

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Nate Ketteringham threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns, including a 15-yard lob to Jaelin Ratliff with 15 second left, to help Sacramento State edge Montana State 41-38 on Saturday night.

Trailing most of the game, Sacramento State (1-4, 1-1 Big Sky) pulled to within 38-34 on Ketteringham's 17-yard pass to Ratliff with 4:28 to go to and then stopped Montana State (2-3, 0-2) at its own 31 to force the punt. The Hornets marched 86 yards in eight plays for the late score and sealed it with a fumble recovery by Ben Sorensen.

Ketteringham completed 34 of 54 passes with two interceptions. Isiah Hennie hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and John McGill snagged a 14-yard scoring throw in the second. Jordan Robinson had two rushing touchdowns for the Hornets.

Chris Murray, the Bobcats' freshman quarterback, rushed for a career-best 187 yards and three touchdowns, while Gunnar Brekke finished with 106 yards on 10 carries.

The Bobcats will try and turn things around this Saturday night when they host Northern Arizona in Bozeman.

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