FOOTBALL: Montana routs North Dakota in Badlands Bowl, 36-7

by The Daily Inter Lake
| June 18, 2016 10:30 PM

DICKINSON, N.D. — The Montana team dominated from start to finish in a thorough beat down of neighboring North Dakota.

Northwest Montana athletes fueled the rout, with Glacier grad Thomas Trefney getting the Treasure State on the board first with a 1-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal to give Montana a 6-0 lead.

Whitefish’s Luke May took over the show from there, tossing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Fairview’s Ben Hardy to give Montana a 12-0 lead with less than a minute to play before halftime.

Montana kept rolling after the break, with May connecting on a 9-yard touchdown toss to Boulder’s Jered Padmos. Later in the quarter, a 50-yard catch and run for a score from May to Troy’s Sean Opland was called for clipping.

Montana returned a blocked punt for a touchdown before May again found room deep to hit Dillon’s Peyton Lafrentz for a 28-yard score and a 36-7 lead.

North Dakota scored its only touchdown on a 15-yard option run from quarterback Creighton Pfau in the fourth quarter.

Montana won the Badlands Bowl for the 17th time in 23 tries.