WILLIAMS COUNTY, ND – The North Dakota Highway Patrol reported on Sunday that three people died on the state’s roadways on Saturday, Sept. 7 in three separate crashes.

Two of the crashes happened in Williams County, in the northwest corner of the state.

The first happened 23 miles north of Williston just before 11:00 p.m. when a 1991 Kenworth straight truck eastbound on 69th St. NW braked and swerved to avoid a cow in the road, the state patrol release said. The truck hit the cow and ran off the road to the north and rolled. The 64 year-old driver from Williston died at the scene. He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The owner of the livestock was identified as Michael Skor.

The second Williams County crash happened about 45 minutes later 23 miles southwest of Williston on Highway 1804, the state patrol said. A 2018 Harley Davidson motorcycle with a driver and passenger was traveling westbound on near mile marker 341 when it ran off the road and entered the north ditch.

Both occupants were transported to CHI St. Alexius in Williston. A 41 year-old man from Culbertson, Montana, died at the hospital. A 40 year-old woman from California suffered serious injuries. Neither was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Confirmation of which occupant was the driver and which was the passenger is still under investigation.

The third crash reported by the state patrol happened in Renville County, north of Minot, just after 3:30 p.m. A 2006 Harley Davidson Motorcycle driven by 66 year-old William Foondle of Minot was eastbound on County Road 26, approximately 2 miles east of Grano, when it failed to negotiate a curve and ran off the road.

A 52 year-old woman from Minot who was a passenger on the motorcycle died at the scene.

Foondle suffered serious injuries and was transported to Trinity Hospital in Minot. He faces charges of DUI and no motorcycle endorsement. Neither rider was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, the state patrol’s release said.

The names of the deceased victims in the crashes will be released on Monday, Sept. 9, according to the state patrol.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – In a game where No. 23/20 North Dakota (1-1) trailed Montana 24-7 at intermission, UND scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to upend No. 4 UM (1-1), 27-24, on Saturday night inside the Alerus Center.

Early in the fourth quarter, C.J. Elrichs booted home a 19-yard field goal to knot the game up at 24-24 with 11:12 left in the game. On the ensuing possession for the Grizzlies, the Fighting Hawk defense stood tall and forced a punt from the Griz 33.

NoDak received the ball at its own 34 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. The Hawks chewed up the clock and went 14 plays for 43 yards, eating up 7:44 of possession before Elrich drilled what would be the game-winning field goal from 40 yards out with 2:16 left on the clock.

Montana received the ball at its own 29 and went 34 yards before attempting a game-tying field goal from 54 yards out, which landed short. Wyatt Pedigo recorded a sack with less than a minute remaining which helped decide the ball game.

At intermission, the Fighting Hawks trailed 24-7 and came out with an intent to run the ball in the second half. UND had a 10-play, 75-yard drive after intermission which was capped by Gaven Ziebarth two-yard touchdown, which sent him diving over the pile to trim the deficit to 24-14 with 9:28 left in the third quarter.

On its next drive, the Hawks had a short, two-minute drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown rush from Simon Romfo on a broken play. Romfo’s rush set up the fireworks in the final quarter.

In the game, North Dakota rushed 49 times for 243 yards. In the second half alone, the Hawks rushed for 161 yards. Ziebarth paced the Hawks on the ground, toting the rock 22 times for 88 yards and a touchdown. He was trailed by Romfo, rushing seven times for 57 yards and a score.

The Fighting Hawk defense had a stellar game and sacked the Montana quarterbacks six times. Pedigo, Craig Orlando and Josh Navratil each had two sacks apiece. Pedigo also led the defense with seven total tackles, six of them being solo.

Montana led 24-7 at intermission. At the midway point of the first quarter, the Griz held a 14-0 lead before a 30-yard touchdown run from Isaiah Smith, which trimmed the deficit to 14-7. With just over one minute left in the opening stanza, UM scored on an 18-yard rush before closing the half with a 30-yard field goal to cap a 12-play, 65-yard drive.

In the opening 30 minutes, Montana had 286 yards of offense with 151 yards passing and 135 yards rushing. Comparatively, North Dakota recorded 136 yards of offense, led by 82 yards on the ground. The UND defense had three sacks in the opening half.

North Dakota will host Idaho State on Saturday. The Fighting Hawks and Bengals are set to battle inside the Alerus Center at 1 p.m. The game will air on Midco Sports and will be carried on the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.

Postgame Notes

• North Dakota is now 16-9-1 all-time in the series with Montana.
• The win extends UND’s nation leading home opening win streak to 38 wins.
• It was the largest comeback win for North Dakota since Nov. 12, 2016, vs. Northern Arizona (W, 38-31). The Hawks trailed by 21 points in the third quarter against the Lumberjacks.
• The victory gives NoDak its second-highest ranked win and highest-ranked win over a non-conference foe in UND’s Division I history. The highest ranked win in UND’s Division I history came on Feb. 27, 2021, a 28-17 win over No. 3 South Dakota State.
• Coach Schweigert is now 11-10 in games starting after 5 p.m. in his coaching career at UND.
• Simon Romfo was the second-best rusher for UND in the game, rushing seven times for 57 yards. He finished the day 11-for-24 for 97 yards and surrendered one interception. The Grizzlies only sacked the elusive QB once.
• Romfo had the most rushing yards by a NoDak quarterback since Keaton Studsrud rushed for 97 yards on Oct. 7, 2017, in a 48-38 win over Northern Colorado.
• Bo Belquist was the top receiver for the Hawks, hauling in four grabs for 33 yards. He is now tied for UND’s Division I record for receptions in a career with Greg Hardin (2010-13). Both Belquist and Hardin sit tied for the record with 216 grabs in their careers.
• On the game-winning drive, NoDak faced fourth-and-short at the Montana 44 and Quincy Vaughn picked up the first down to extend the drive.
• Montana was outgained by a 204-34 margin in total yardage in the second half. The Griz had only 17 offensive plays over four drives in the final 30 minutes. Their final drive went 34 yards and included their lone first down of the half, after their first three possessions netted zero yards of offense.

How It Happened
First Quarter
11:08 – UM | Xavier Harris scores on a 37-yard pass from Keali’I Ah Yat. (Ty Morrison kick). 4 plays, 56 yards, 1:20.
6:28 – UM | Eli Gillman scores on a 63-yard rush. (Morrison kick). 2 plays, 70 yards, 0:44.
4:15 – UND | Isaiah Smith scores on a 30-yard rush. (C.J. Elrichs kick). 5 plays, 70 yards, 2:07.
1:08 – UM | Aaron Fontes scores on an 18-yard rush. (Morrison kick). 7 plays, 65 yards, 3:07.
Second Quarter
0:00 – UM | Morrison connects on a 30-yard field goal. 11 plays, 65 yards, 1:51.
Third Quarter
9:28 – UND | Gaven Ziebarth scores on a two-yard rush. (Elrichs kick). 10 plays, 75 yards, 5:32.
6:32 – UND | Simon Romfo scores on a 19-yard rush. (Elrichs kick). 5 plays, 58 yards, 2:01.
Fourth Quarter
11:12 – UND | Elrichs connects on a 19-yard field goal. 16 plays, 67 yards, 8:11.
2:16 – UND | Elrichs connects on a 40-yard field goal. 14 plays, 43 yards, 7:44.

Game Recap: Football | 9/7/2024 10:39:00 PM | Tyler Wells, FightingHawks.com

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — All the momentum Montana had built had wilted away, and a tale of two halves resulted in an agonizing loss for the No. 4-ranked Grizzlies.

North Dakota erased a 17-point second half deficit to knock off Montana 27-24 in a matchup of top-25 FCS teams at the Alerus Center. The 23rd-ranked Fighting Hawks dominated the second half thanks to a persistent ground attack, second-half TDs by quarterback Simon Romfo and Gaven Ziebarth, and a pair of fourth-quarter field goals by C.J. Elrichs.

Elrichs’ 40-yard kick with 2:16 remaining put UND ahead 27-24, and a final possession by the Grizzlies resulted in a missed 55-yard field goal try by Ty Morrison.

Montana led 24-7 at halftime. Three consecutive touchdown drives by the Griz in the first half accounted for a sizeable advantage.

Xavier Harris, one of the heroes of last week’s win versus Missouri State, had a 37-yard touchdown catch and Eli Gillman broke free for a 63-yard scoring run. Finally, Aaron Fontes took an end-around 18 yards to the end zone as UM went up 21-7.

A 30-yard field goal by Morrison before the end of the first half extended the Grizzlies’ lead to 17 points.

But things changed drastically in the second half as UND’s defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs and the Fighting Hawks’ offense asserted itself on the ground. Ziebarth’s 2-yard TD run in the third cut into UND’s deficit to make it 24-14. Romfo then burst up the middle for a 19-yard scoring run (after bobbling the snap) to make it 24-21 later in the third.

The Grizzlies’ failure to move the chains on subsequent possessions allowed for Elrichs’ two fourth-quarter field goals, both of which were critical. On the winning drive, UND converted a fourth-and-1 and third-and-11 plays to keep the possession alive.

“They did a good job, but that wasn’t good enough by us,” head coach Bobby Hauck stated in a UM press release. “We had the game in hand, in control, I thought we were in the right frame of mind coming out of halftime and they got a big stop and then we just didn’t execute and get some first downs.”

“It was a wild game, good job by North Dakota coming back and getting us,” Hauck said. “But you know, I really think the enemy is us and that starts with me, certainly. We can’t go through them like that in the first half and then come out and not be able to get a first down in the second half, that’s ridiculous.”

Turning point: Both of the aforementioned conversion plays by North Dakota were significant. First, facing fourth-and-1, 240-pounder Quincy Vaughn dove over the line near midfield — with a little push from his teammates — to move the chains. Later, Romfo beat a Griz blitz with a pass to Nate Demontagnac for 12 yards on third-and-11.

That all led to Elrichs’ final attempt, which provided UND with the winning points with 2:16 remaining.

Stat of the game: Several numbers didn’t fall Montana’s way, especially in the second half. The Grizzlies managed to convert just one first down in the final 30 minutes, and that came on a 32-yard scramble by QB Keali’I Ah Yat on UM’s final drive. Otherwise the Grizzlies were sacked six times and were outgained on the ground 243 to 160.

Grizzly game balls: S Chrishawn Gordon (Defense). For a unit that was on the field way too much in the second half, Gordon stood out. He made seven total tackles (six solo) with 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.

What’s next: Montana, now 1-1, returns home next Saturday to play its third non-league game of the schedule against Morehead State of the Pioneer Football League.

Morehead State is located in Morehead, Ky. It will be the first ever meeting between the Grizzlies and the Eagles. The game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.