Fife, Griz hold off Missouri State
MISSOULA — Keali’i Ah Yat was fine. Logan Fife was finer.
It was the Fresno State transfer Fife, in relief of the freshman Ah Yat, who sparked Montana back from a 17-12 second half deficit Saturday for a 29-24 non-conference football win.
His 34-yard screen play to Xavier Harris — a pass zipped to the boundary, with Harris juking one tackler for the touchdown — gave Montana the lead for good, 19-17, late in the third quarter.
After Missouri State gave up the ball on downs, Fife drove the Grizzlies 58 yards, the first 33 on a pass to Keenan White. Helped by a pass interference flag, Montana eventually hit paydirt with a 2-yard run by Eli Gillman, his second touchdown of the game.
It was 26-17 with 9:36 left, and the game was far from over.
Bears quarterback Jacob Clark — along with running back Jacardia Wright, a stern test for Montana’s fresh-faced defense — marched his team 75 yards. J’mariyae Robinson’s 7-yard end around cut UM’s lead to 26-24 with 4;43 remaining.
Montana got the ball back and used four straight Gillman runs to get to the Missouri State 21-yard line, before a false start blunted the drive. The Bears started burning timeouts, and the Griz settled for Ty Morrison’s 38-yard field with 1:38 remaining.
The Montana defense, bloodied on the previous drive, came up large. On second down Hayden Harris stunted from the left and got the sack. On third down he came around the right end and got another.
On fourth-and-15, Clark made one final scramble and was stopped with no gain by linebacker Vai Kaho, as the Washington-Grizzly Stadium crowd 26,482 roared.
“Sometimes things aren’t always smooth, somethings things don’t go your way,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. “Sometimes it’s self-imposed, sometimes it’s the other team. I was proud of my team for fighting their tails off and getting a great win tonight.”
Fife was 5 of 7 passing for 90 yards; Ah Yat, making his first start, was 9 of 19 for 90 yards. The freshman ran well and had some dynamic plays, like a 23-yard strike to a tightly-covered Harris on a clock drive to end the first half. It led to Ty Morrison’s field goal and Monana’s first lead, 12-10.
There also was a big negative one: a fumble he caused himself that he recovered for an 18-yard loss.
Fife came in for Montana’s next possession, at 8:23 of the third quarter, though Hauck said they’d planned to give Ah Yat one possession in the second half and then switch.
“We kind of meant to play them both first and second quarter,” Hauck said. “And we had such few plays it just didn’t work out.”
Clark, meanwhile, was steady apart from one pass he sailed into the hands of Griz safety Ryder Meyer in the first half. He was 29 of 39 for 257 yards, finding time and receivers despite the Bears losing three offensive linemen in the first half.
Wright had 19 carries for 76 yards and caught six passes for 69. Together they made third-and-long an issue for UM’s defense. The Bears held a 13-minute advantage in time of possession.
“We did some dumb things,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said post-game, and he wasn’t just referring to a punt muffed by Drew Deck, which resurrected Missouri State’s first scoring drive.
“He went for it because it looked like he’d be out the door if he handled it cleanly,” Hauck said.
Wright capped the march with a 7-yard run.
Montana answered with a 37-yard touchdown from Gillman, who ran for 89 yards on 15 carries, only to see Morrison miss the extra point kick.
Morrison redeemed himself with three field goals.
“I was concerned,” Hauck said. “This is Ty’s first game. I was concerned, but obviously after he missed the first PAT he was awfully good.
“I think he averaged more yards than their punter, who’s an All-American. That field goal at the end was huge. He was just money.”
Deck, filling in for All-America Junior Bergen, who didn’t dress, came back to make a couple excellent punt returns: The Glacier High product's 19-yarder jump-started the drive that ended with Xavier Harris’ TD.