Griz maul Morehead State in bounce back win

Montana Grizzly football returned to its winning ways on Saturday in emphatic fashion, dominating the Morehead State Eagles 59-2 in Missoula to improve to 2-1 on the year. The game was never in doubt with the Griz scoring 39 first-half points and not allowing an offensive score all day.

Montana dominated in the trenches in the cathartic blowout win. The Griz ran for 410 yards while holding the Eagles to just 45 total yards on the day. The defense had 24 different tacklers and gave up just four first downs, while Montana had 35 – the second-most in program history. Of those first downs, 25 came on the ground, tied for the most in UM history dating back to 1974 at Idaho.

The 410 yards on the ground are also the most since running for 412 in 2022 in a blowout win over Cal Poly. It's just the third time since 1991 that the Grizzlies have rushed for over 400 yards in a game.

The domination came in all three phases of the game, which is something you can always expect from a Bobby Hauck coached team.

"It's comfortable and comforting," Hauck said of his team's performance. "You feel good about it when you don't have a deficiency in one of the three phases in any game. You're going to have a good chance to win when those things are going on and I'm certainly pleased with how that went, especially when we just gave it away last week. It was really good to come out and have a dominating win."

True freshman Malae Fonoti led the way after taking over down the stretch, running it 24 times for 176 yards and a touchdown. Eli Gillman only played in the first half and still finished with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 13.3 yards per carry.

It's the first time Montana had two 100-yard rushers in the same game since Travon Van and Jordan Canada did it in 2013, and Fonoti's 176 yards is one of the top 25 rushing totals in Grizzly history – in his first game of college football.

Nick Ostmo added 76 yards and Stevie Rocker Jr. had 58 yards as four Grizzly running backs ended up with more total yards than the entire Morehead State team.

Ostmo scored his 22nd career touchdown, tying his running backs coach Justin Green for eighth in program history. He also reached the 2,000 yard mark on the ground for his career to become just the eighth Grizzly of all-time to reach the mark.

"Malae, our true freshman, we discussed this morning whether or not, if we had a chance to play him, that we would and we decided to get him some carries," Hauck said. "Obviously, he was terrific. Ostmo had a big day for him from a personal standpoint. I'm excited for all of them, and any time those guys are having a day like that obviously the big boys up front did a great job."

Morehead State was held to -14 rushing yards on the day and went just 1-for-12 on third down. They did not pick up a single first down in the entire second half as the Grizzly defense was dominant.

Montana totaled 576 yards on offense behind the rushing attack, going 5-for-12 on third down while picking up four conversions on fourth down as well. They averaged 6.9 yards per play while holding the Eagles to just 1.0 yards per play. It's the most total yards since going for 695 in the win over Cal Poly two years ago.

Keali'I Ah Yat started the game at quarterback and went 9-for-11 for 79 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He found Keelan White, who had five catches for 40 yards, for the only score through the air on the day. Logan Fife also saw time, going 9-for-16 for 87 yards.

"I think they made progress today. I still think they are a work in progress," Hauck said of his quarterbacks. "They need to continue to learn how to read and get rid of the ball and do some of those things that are so common with young quarterbacks. I think they did a nice job. They are doing the little things right managing the game. I'm enthused about them, and I think we should all be excited that it's going to get better and better with them."

The Grizzlies also got Kaden Huot into the game for his debut, as Montana went deep into the roster on both sides of the ball.

Vai Kaho led the team with seven tackles and no other player had more than four. The Grizzlies had five sacks and eight tackles for loss as the defensive line won the battle all day long, regardless of who was on the field.

"I'm excited about it for a lot of reasons. We played well in the second half, we got to play a lot of guys in the second half, it was great for attitude, experience, and development," Hauck said. "A lot of those guys are scout team guys that played in the fourth quarter and they held up and we will get a great scout look from them this week, so we'll have a great practice because they will be energized and juiced up about being college football players."

Montana looked confident and impressive from the start. They forced a three-and-out, and Junior Bergen's first action of the year came on a 14-yard punt return to set the Grizzlies up from the Morehead State 33-yard line.

An early fourth-down decision for the Grizzlies popped up as they faced 4th-and-4 from the edge of field goal range. They went for it, and Ah Yat found Bergen for a 12-yard gain to get into the red zone.

Gillman ran for 14 yards to set the Griz up one yard away from the end zone, and Ah Yat kept it on a QB sneak for the first score of the day.

The defense gave it right back to the offense with a big play deep in Morehead State territory. An intended screen play was blown up, and the pass deflected off an offensive player and into the hands of Hayden Harris for his first career interception.

The Grizzly offense had it in the red zone to start the drive, and after 13 yards from Ostmo on two carries brought them down to the two, Ah Yat connected with a wide open Keelan White for a score. Fife then ran-in a two-point conversion to jump ahead 15-0 less than seven minutes into the game.

Another punt from Morehead State gave it back to the Grizzlies, who took a shot early on the drive and were intercepted. The Eagles were then able to get into Montana territory for the first time in the game, but the drive stalled out on the Grizzly 28-yard line.

The Eagles went for it on 4th-and-7, and the Grizzly defense brought the house and got home. Riley Wilson wrapped up the quarterback, and Harris delivered a crushing blow that popped the ball free and sent it nearly 20 yards backwards for a forced fumble.

Morehead State recovered, but the play resulted in a turnover on downs and Montana retook possession at the 50-yard line.  Gillman ran twice for 15 yards to end the first quarter. Fife ran for 10 yards and then connected with Gillman for a 12-yard gain to get into the red zone again.

Gillman took it from the 13 yards and was hit just past the line of scrimmage on the next play, but the running back carried a host of Eagles with him and churned over the goal line for his fourth touchdown of the season and 17th of his career.

The Grizzlies forced back-to-back three-and-outs from Morehead State and turned them into 10 points. Ty Morrison hit a 46-yard field goal on the first Grizzly drive. On the second, Fife hit Stevie Rocker Jr. for a gain of 18 on a fourth-down play.

Ostmo finished off the drive, scoring from 10 yards out for his 22nd career touchdown, which ties running backs coach Justin Green for eighth in program history. His score made it 32-0 Montana with five minutes still left to play in the opening half.

Gillman added his second touchdown of the day and went over the 100-yard mark with a 22-yard run on the following Grizzly drive. It was the third touchdown of the quarter for Montana and put them ahead 39-0 going into the break.

It would be the last action of the day for Gillman, who ran eight times for 106 yards (13.3 per carry) and two scores in the opening half. He also added 12 yards through the air.

The teams traded three-and-outs to open the second half. On Montana's second drive, they would go 95 yards in nine plays for another touchdown to take a 46-0 lead. Stevie Rocker Jr. scored his first touchdown as a Grizzly with a score from 23 yards out.

After another Eagles three-and-out, Montana brought in freshman running back Malae Fonoti for his first action as a Grizzly. He picked up 13 yards on his first carry and would tote it seven times for 53 yards on another Grizzly scoring drive. After being stopped on the goal line twice, the Grizzlies faked the handoff and Ah Yat peeled around the outside to walk in for his second rushing score of the day.

The extra point was blocked and returned for a defensive two-point conversion for the first and only points of the day for Morehead State.

Fonoti ran it eight times for 61 total yards on the next drive and found the end zone for the first time in his career to make it 59-2.

"We have a great amount of pride in this football program. One, on the winning piece, but also in how we do it. Our goal is to take a team's will to fight back. We were working hard to do that today and our guys played their tails off and I'm proud of them. We blocked well, we tackled well, we carried the ball well, we were clean with the turnover deal. I wasn't thrilled about losing the shutout, but other than it was pretty good stuff."

The fans were treated to a show all the way until the end, and in a way, it was a record-breaking crowd that took it all in. For the 12th-straight regular season home game, Montana sold out Washington-Grizzly Stadium, a program first.

"This is a special place. I'm of the opinion that there's only a handful of great college football places left with everything going on in college football. This is one of them. It's what we sell in recruiting, our fans love us, we love them."

The Grizzlies will return home this week as they take on Western Carolina. Third-ranked Montana State had this past weekend off. The Cats host Mercyhurst this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Bozeman.