Griz drop home game to Wildcats; give up 104 points in 2 games

(Montana Sports Information) Weber State struck with several big plays early to take an 11-point halftime lead and hit on more big plays in the second half to stifle a Montana comeback attempt, with the Wildcats upsetting the Grizzlies 55-48 in overtime at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday.

WSU quarterback Richie Munoz threw for 364 yards and six touchdowns, with three of those scores from 50-plus out. The Wildcats also rushed for 177 more to gash the Grizzly defense for 541 yards and added a kickoff return touchdown as well in a Big Sky shootout.

UM quarterback Logan Fife piled-up big numbers for a second-straight week, completing 73 percent of his passes for 344 yards and a pair of TDs. Led by four total touchdowns with three on the ground from Eli Gillman, the Grizzly rushing attack put up 172 yards for 527 total but couldn’t punch it in for one last score in overtime.

In a back-and-forth thriller that saw six lead changes, the Grizzlies scored four touchdowns and a field goal in the second half to take a 48-45 lead with less than a minute to play. The Wildcat one-minute drill marched the visitors back into Montana territory in short order, however, setting up kicker Kyle Thompson for a 43-yard field goal that snuck just inside the left upright to send it to overtime, 48-48.

In the extra period WSU scored first on a reviewed touchdown catch where it appeared Damon Bankston had come back to the field of play from running out of bounds. He was ruled as having been forced out by a Grizzy defender, however, making him eligible for the go-ahead touchdown catch to make it 55-48.

With an opportunity to send it to double overtime on the ensuing Grizzly drive, Fife was sacked and stripped of the ball, which Weber State recovered to seal its third-straight win over Montana.

The heartbreaker of a loss drops UM to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play, snapping the Grizzly streak of 15-straight wins at home. Weber State improves to 3-3 on the year and stays unbeaten in Big Sky play at 2-0.

“I’m proud of our team. They battled back. We were up against it, we were down, things didn’t go well early, but we really fought back, took the lead a couple times, but we just couldn’t come up with it,” said head coach Bobby Hauck, now 8-4 in his career over WSU.

“That’s unfortunate because we did enough to win it. There were a lot of close calls, it seemed like every break went their way, but those deep balls we gave up, the kickoff return, and the two fumbles really cost us.”