MISSOULA — Saturday was likely the final home game of the season at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, and this year’s No. 14 Montana Grizzlies football team made sure to go out with a bang.

And it all started with Junior Bergen doing what he does best, and that’s show up when the lights are brightest with a pair of punt return touchdowns to help spur the Grizzlies into the second round of the FCS playoffs as they defeated the Tennessee State Tigers, 41-27.

PHOTOS: NO. 14 MONTANA HOSTS TENNESSEE STATE IN FCS PLAYOFFS

“Super blessed. I thank God every night, every morning for it,” Bergen said. “These guys trusted me, and they look to me in some of these moments, and I’m just so grateful to be able to kind of capitalize in that. And, yeah, I’m just super grateful.”

“It’s a playoff tradition,” UM head coach Bobby Hauck added. And those words couldn’t ring more true as once again Bergen was called upon with the season on the line, and the senior from Billings delivered once again.

His first score — one that was blocked to perfection — came in the third quarter to make it 27-6. The second was desperately needed which gave the Griz 34-20 advantage in the fourth on a play where Bergen caught the ball running and had to make a lot of magic happen on his own to find his way into the end zone once again.

GRIZ POSTGAME: HAUCK, BERGEN, GRADNEY BREAK DOWN WIN OVER TENNESSEE STATE

That makes it eight career punt return touchdowns for him — five in the playoffs — as Bergen tied the FCS record with that mark.

“I mean, the kid’s unreal,” said UM senior cornerback Trevin Gradney, a childhood friend of Bergen’s growing up in Billings. “There’s not much else you can say about it. In the big moments, he shows up, and you can always count on him to do his job, and the other guys that do their jobs around him. He’s a playmaker, man.”

“It’s become so regular and done so regularly around here that we forget how hard that is to do,” Hauck added. “And these guys, sometimes they make it look easy. You know, you’re talking about doing two in one game three years in a row in the playoffs. Yeah, it’s pretty it’s pretty special. And I think it builds upon itself.”

Special teams was a savior for Montana (9-4) on Saturday, as kicker Ty Morrison went 4 for 5 on the day, providing most of the scoring early on through the third quarter. Kicker Grant Glasgow also had a kickoff recovered by Tyson Rostad just before half that set up Morrison for his third field goal of the day, a 50-yarder, that put the Griz up 16-3 heading into the break.

Offensively the Grizzlies were led by a big game from Eli Gillman who sealed the win with a late nail in the coffin 59-yard score and who finished the day with 136 yards and two touchdowns, but turnovers hurt the Griz with three second-half lost fumbles that allowed the Tigers to get back into the game.

Quarterback Logan Fife lost a pair of them while Gillman coughed up another as the Griz were on the doorstep of scoring in the fourth quarter.

Montana’s defense stood firm. The Griz held the Tigers to 3 for 14 on third down and only 277 total yards, and even as Tennessee State found some life to climb back in it, the Grizzlies stood tall and came up with timely stops, and ended it with an interception from Gradney.

“I think we did a good job handling them,” Gradney said. “We knew they’d like to throw the ball. I think we took that away early. They kind of got to us late a little bit, but we kind of kept the big one off of us when we when we needed to. And yeah, I was really proud of our guys.”

The game was all over the place Saturday night, but in the end, the Griz did everything needed to advance to the next round with their ninth win of the year. Next up for them is a rematch of last year’s FCS national championship game as UM hits the road to Brookings, South Dakota to take on two-time reigning national champ No. 3 South Dakota State (10-2) at noon on Saturday.

“It’s always hard to win this particular weekend,” Hauck said. “So thought our guys had a lot of juice all week long, and it showed they had that in the game tonight. And I was just proud of the way they they kept competing, and when they got a chance to to put it away, they did. So good by our guys.”

BILLINGS – Farming and ranching is ingrained within the culture of Montana and it’s why a new study from the nonprofit Farm Connect Montana has caused concern for some in the agriculture industry.

The report predicts that the state’s agriculture sectors will see a loss of more than 9,500 jobs and more than $181 million per year in labor earnings by the mid-century due to the impact of climate change.

Others, however, aren’t worried because they say adaptability is just a part of being a farmer.

“Our climate has gotten very erratic,” said hay farmer Gilles Stockton. “Each year we’re seeing extreme droughts or extreme wet.”

As a sheep rancher and farmer near Grass Range, Stockton knows weather plays a huge part in the agriculture industry.

“Erratic weather is very hard on farmers and ranchers because we don’t know how to plan for the next crop, sitting right here in the fall,” Stockton said.

Missoula-based nonprofit Farm Connect Montana wanted to know more about the subject. The mission of the organization is “to grow a healthy local food community by conserving farmland, supporting farmers, and making food accessible for all.” It was founded two decades ago by its executive director, Bonnie Buckingham.

“We really just wanted to look at what does that mean as we see things continually increasing as far as changes in climate and weather patterns,” Buckingham said recently.

MTN News

Farm Connect Montana focused on the economic impact climate change could have on the future of the ag industry.

The recently released report estimates that climate change could reduce Montana grain crop yields by 20%.

“Agriculture is still very much a large economic driver for our state,” Buckingham said. “And to have a loss of any type is something to really look at and to think about and to start having those conversations.”

The report also projects a 20% decline in “the rangeland cattle sector in Montana by mid-century or 4,514 cattle ranging jobs and more than $86 million in labor earnings from cow and calf operations.”

“I do think that the smaller operations that we mainly work with are better equipped to adapt and to make changes and to be more resilient,” said Buckingham.

Alina Hauter/MTN News

“I think that farmers are able to adjust and adapt to the temperatures and changes. And that’s what we do. We have to adapt,” said fourth-generation Huntley farmer Greg Gabel.

Gabel grows sugar beets, malted barley, and winter and spring wheat about 20 minutes outside of Billings.

“This year, our sugar beets did about the best that we’ve ever done in sugar content and tonnage. So it’s been real great,” Gabel said.

He said he isn’t too concerned with the report’s findings, citing technology’s continued growth in helping farmers adapt.

“Future of Montana agriculture will depend on the producers themselves and their ability to adapt to any changes, including weather, different types of demands for products,” said Gabel. “We’re able to do that through our sustainable practices and the technology that we use today. And we only continue to increase that technology in order to produce.”

Greg Gabel

He uses a drone to spray the majority of his crops.

“I’m not worried about the future for my child or even the future of our Montana agriculture because farmers will continue to adapt to any type of change and we’ll be able to continue to produce,” Gabel said.

MISSOULA — Junior Bergen put on another virtuoso performance Saturday night and Montana is moving on in the FCS playoffs.

Bergen returned two punts for touchdowns — the FCS record-tying seventh and eighth of his career — and the Grizzlies eluded Eddie George-coached Tennessee State 41-27 in a first-round game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

UM, the No. 14 seed for the playoffs, will now hit the road for a second-round game against No. 3 seed South Dakota State next week.

Three turnovers on offense helped keep Tennessee State in the game, but Bergen returned punts for 52 and 54 yards to the end zone. The first helped give the Grizzlies a 27-6 lead in the third quarter. The second made the score 34-20 in the fourth.

PHOTOS: 14TH-SEEDED MONTANA HOSTS TENNESSEE STATE IN FCS PLAYOFFS

Bergen has now returned five punts for touchdowns in the playoffs alone, adding to those he had against SE Missouri in 2022, and versus Furman and North Dakota State last year.

Montana’s offense struggled to find consistency and turned the ball over three times to a Tennessee State defense that is coordinated by former Griz linebacker Brandon Fisher.

Thankfully for the Grizzlies, special teams played a huge role.

After going three-and-out to start the game, Montana got on the board on its second possession when Ty Morrison booted a 39-yard field goal. Tennessee State put together a drive of its own, though, and knotted the score at 3-3 with a 37-yard kick by James Lowery in the final seconds of the first quarter.

On Montana’s first drive of the second quarter, freshman running back Malae Fonoti had 36 yards on the ground, but Morrison was wide right on a 39-yard field goal try and the Griz came up empty.

Later, an Eli Gillman run on fourth down moved the chains, and then he capped the possession with a 7-yard touchdown run to put the Grizzlies back in front 10-3 with 4:35 left before halftime.

The Griz got more breathing room as Morrison hit consecutive field goals, one from 31 yards and the other from 50 — his career long — to go into halftime ahead 16-3.

Early in the third quarter, Montana quarterback Logan Fife coughed up a fumble near midfield, but TSU couldn’t capitalize other than a 26-yard field goal by Lowery to make the score 16-6 with 6:44 on the clock.

The Griz got those points back later in the third as Morrison banged home his fourth field goal of the night, a 30-yarder.

After Bergen’s first punt return touchdown, Tennessee State benefitted from a 63-yard kickoff return by Craig Cunningham and got a 3-yard TD pass from Draylen Ellis to Karate Brenson with 1:02 left in the third to cut Montana’s advantage to 27-13.

Fife lost a fumble for the second time at the start of the fourth quarter, which eventually produced an 11-yard touchdown run by Ellis to make it 27-20.

Xavier Harris responded with a long kickoff return for the Grizzlies, and Keali’i Ah Yat relieved Fife at quarterback. Stevie Rocker Jr. took a shovel pass from Ah Yat to the 3.

But Gillman fumbled an exchange from Ah Yat on the next play and Tennessee State recovered. The Tigers went backwards, though, and Bergen then scooped up a bouncing punt on the far sideline and took it back 54 yards for his second TD of the night.

The Grizzlies needed it, too, because the Tigers didn’t go away. Ellis hit Brenson with a touchdown pass for the second time, making the score 34-27 with 3:03 left.

On Montana’s next possession, Gillman refused to go down on the sideline, cut back against the defense and scored for a 59-yard touchdown run to extend the lead again.

The Grizzlies sealed the victory on a Trevin Gradney interception at the 2-yard line with 1:19 remaining.

Turning point: Bergen’s second punt return was a huge difference-maker because it came at a critical moment with Montana leading by just one score. It returned a sense of order to the game.

Bergen’s eight punt-return touchdowns tie the FCS record initially set by Leroy Vann, who played at Florida A&M from 2006-09.

Stat of the game: With his 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, Gillman achieved his first career 1,000-yard season. Gillman — last year’s Jerry Rice Award winner as the top freshman in the FCS — finished with 136 yards on 20 carries.

Grizzly game balls: RB Eli Gillman (Offense). It was an up-and-down offensive night for the Griz, but Gillman’s steady running, and his two touchdowns, were key.

LB Riley Wilson (Defense). Again, Wilson stood out on defense for the Grizzlies. The linebacker finished with seven tackles, 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss as UM held the Tigers to minus-19 rushing yards.

PR Junior Bergen (Special teams). Who else? With another outstanding playoff performance, Bergen further cemented his legacy as the best return man in the history of the Griz program.

What’s next: With the win, the Grizzlies (9-4) drew a second-round matchup with two-time defending national champion South Dakota State (10-2) next Saturday at 12 p.m. Mountain time. It will be a rematch of last year’s title game in Frisco, Texas, which the Jackrabbits won 23-3.

It will be the fourth playoff meeting between Montana and SDSU since 2009. The Griz haven’t faced the Jackrabbits in Brookings, S.D., since Nov. 14, 1970, a 24-0 Montana victory.