Cats make history; Griz lose heartbreaker

BOZEMAN - It was a night 35 years in the making.

With a balanced offense paced by running back Isaiah Ifanse and quarterback Tucker Rovig, No. 5 Montana State rolled to a 24-10 win over visiting Austin Peay State Friday night at Bobcat Stadium.

With the win, the fifth-ranked Bobcats advance to the FCS semifinals next weekend against top-seeded North Dakota State. The last time the Bobcats were in the semifinals was 1984, when they won the national championship.

Ifanse put the Bobcats (11-3) on the scoreboard first, breaking a tackle near the line of scrimmage before sprinting 60 yards to make it 7-0. A Tristan Bailey 45-yard field goal gave MSU a 10-0 lead in a first quarter that saw the Bobcats hold the Governors from Clarksville, Tenn., to just one total yard in 12 plays.

Logan Birchfield's 38-yard field goal made it 10-3 at halftime. But the Governors (11-4) were stymied by a pair of tackles behind the line of scrimmage by Derek Marks and a sack by Tyrel Thomas on a cornerback blitz. Austin Peay totaled just three first downs and averaged 2.5 yards per play in the opening half.

The third quarter started with a Brayden Konkol interception that resulted in a 5-yard scoring pass from Rovig to Kevin Kassis. Later in the quarter, Ifanse faked a run before jumping into the air and tossing a 2-yard scoring pass to 300-pound Jason Scrempos who normally lines up at nose tackle for the Bobcats defense, but occasionally is inserted in the offensive line in short-yardage situations. Konkol's pick marked the 24th straight game the Bobcats created a takeaway.

Up 24-3, the Bobcats defense pinned its ears back and continued to harass the Austin Peay offense. Josh Hill, Ty Okada and Callahan O'Reilly led the attack with repeated tackles for loss. The Governors managed a late scoring pass from JaVaughn Craig to DeAngel Wilson that covered 76 yards and accounted for the final score. Any hope the Governors may have had ended when Thomas intercepted Vaughn midway through the fourth quarter to end Austin Peay's seven-game win streak while the Bobcats won their sixth straight.

Ifanse finished with 196 yards on the ground while Rovig managed the game, completing 13 pass in 20 attempts for 114 yards and the touchdown to Kassis. Against the seventh-best rushing defense in FCS, the Bobcats had 279 of their 386 yards on the ground. Both teams' offensive flow was hampered by penalties with nine being called against each team. In front of a loud and excited crowd of 14,017, the Governors managed just 215 total yards.

"I cannot say enough about our community, our campus community, the community of Bozeman, and the state of Montana. That was a lot of fun," MSU head coach Jeff Choate said. "What an unbelievable crowd, what an unbelievable atmosphere. I think the team fed off the energy all night, defensively. That was worthy of getting us to the semifinals for the first time in 35 years."

The Bobcats (10-4) will play NDSU in the Fargo for the second straight season. The Bison knocked the Cats out in the second round of the 2018 playoffs. This Saturday's game will be for a trip to the FCS national championship game in January.

Griz fall in defensive struggle

OGDEN, Utah - Rain, snow, wind, and fog - the Montana Grizzlies did battle with both the No. 3 Weber State Wildcats and the winter elements in Ogden, Utah, falling 17-10 in a defensive standoff that saw the Grizzlies give up five turnovers while at the same time allowing WSU just 113 yards of total offense in the FCS quarterfinal.

In his final game as a Grizzly, quarterback Dalton Sneed left it all on the field against Weber, but gave up five interceptions and took six sacks in trying to battle the elements and Wildcat defensive front that was able to apply plenty of pressure.

But in a game featuring two of the best special teams units in the country, it was only fitting that a blocked punt would be the deciding factor as the game rested on a knife-edge heading into the final period with WSU holding a 10-7 lead.

With nine minutes to play Weber State scored what would be the game-winning touchdown on a blocked punt to build a lead that proved to be insurmountable for the Grizzlies, despite an attempted rally.

"That's kind of the story of the game was the turnovers," Bobby Hauck told 406 Sports. "Obviously, the blocked punt was a bad call by our special teams coach, who is me. I didn't get us in the right protection there, and we gave up a touchdown back on our own end."

Montana's historic season comes to a close with a 10-4 record in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs (a place it hadn't' reached since the 2009 season), and was highlighted by some of the best individual and team efforts ever at UM. The Wildcats now advance to the FCS semifinal, where they will face the second-ranked James Madison Dukes on their home turf.

During the game, linebacker Dante Olson capped his phenomenal career on and off the field with 14 tackles to become Montana's all-time leading tackler, passing hall of famer Vince Huntsberger's career record.

With a game-high eight catches for 85 yards, junior receiver Samori Toure broke two Grizzly records: Joe Douglass' 1996 record for catches in a season and Marc Mariani's single-season receiving yards record as well.

Montana won the coin toss and put the defense on the field first to set the tone. It didn't take long either, with Josh Sandry stuffing a Weber fly sweep on the first play of the game for a loss of seven leading to a three-and-out opening drive for the Wildcats.

From that point on, both teams would be held to not much in the way of offensive output, with both teams piling up less than 20 offensive yards and the Griz only picking up a pair of first downs to Weber's zero in the opening quarter.

A pair of big TFLs and a forced fumble that was recovered by the Wildcats in their own red zone highlighted an overall strong opening period for the Grizzlies as the teams completed the quarter at a scoreless draw.

The defensive standoff continued for another seven minutes into the second quarter before the Grizzlies finally broke the stalemate.

Toure broke the first of his two school records with a 40-yard catch that set up Montana's first score of the day.

Inside the red zone for the first time of the day, the Grizzlies struck just two plays later when Sneed rolled out and found Colin Bingham open in the end zone to put the Griz up 7-0 after the ensuing PAT.

After more back-and-forth, Weber State got on the board three minutes later with a 41-yard field goal from Trey Tuttle, and the Griz took a 7-3 halftime lead into the locker rooms.

After Montana's opening drive stalled, the Wildcats took their first lead of the game, marching down the field 72 yards in eight plays for a touchdown when Jake Constantine found a hobbled Josh Davis wide open for an 11-yard score. Montana's offense put itself in a dangerous position when Dalton Sneed threw his third interception of the afternoon, setting up a chip-shot field goal attempt for Trey Tuttle, but the snap sailed high, and Montana took over on downs.

After a big one-handed catch for Mitch Roberts was ruled incomplete, Sneed again was caught trying to thread a needle and was picked off by Noah Vaea for his fourth of the day as Montana struggled to get going.

Montana, who had outscored its opponents 116-54 in the fourth quarter this season to date, continued its struggles moving the ball in the final period, while the defense continued to play lights out.

Following the blocked put for a touchdown that gave WSU a 17-7 lead, Brandon Purdy helped close the gap with a 27-yard field goal that made it 17-10 with 3:23 to play.

Montana got the defensive stop it needed on the following WSU drive, but the Grizzly comeback attempt was cut short by George Tarlas, who picked off his second Sneed pass of the day to seal the win for the home team.

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