Montana
‘It’s what you dream about’: No. 5 Montana gelling rapidly after showcase victory
MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies got their revenge on the North Dakota Fighting Hawks with a thrilling 24-23 win Saturday afternoon, and as this team continues to gel, a win like this one is a big step forward.
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‘It’s what you dream about’: No. 5 Montana gelling rapidly after showcase victory
In a game where every yard had to be earned for Montana, the Griz had a hard-fought comeback after trailing by nine points in the fourth quarter.
The victory was set up by a 42-yard field goal by Ty Morrison, which put the Griz within one score of the Fighting Hawks.
Then on their next drive, quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat made the two biggest plays of the game, converting a fourth-and-12 to tight end Josh Gale and finding Brooks Davis wide open in the end zone to take the lead with less than two minutes left in the game.
“It’s what you dream about, it’s what great players are made of,” Ah Yat said. “You play in the backyard and you dream of this stuff, so like, I mean, just grateful for the opportunity. And we had a similar opportunity last year to go ahead and win the game, and I just tried to make the most out of this one.”
Photos: No. 5 Montana surges past No. 16 North Dakota in thriller
Not to be outdone, Montana’s defense also stepped up big in this one, forcing multiple stops throughout while holding North Dakota to 6 for 18 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth, and only giving up seven points in the second half.
The Griz defense also added an interception by Peyton Wing in the third quarter, which led to a Griz touchdown, bringing a spark to the rest of the team.
It was an impressive showing from a defense that’s just two games into playing with one another.
“I love all our guys and we all spent a lot of time together getting to know each other, and I think that really is what starts to show, especially towards the end of the game,” linebacker Elijawah Tolbert said. “Just the chemistry that we are building week in and week out, I think that is what’s most important and shows.”
Grizzly Replay: No. 5 Montana vs. No. 16 North Dakota
As the team continues to build that chemistry, head coach Bobby Hauck and the Griz saw this win as a key learning experience for the new faces and up-and-coming players who are still figuring out their roles on the field and alongside each other.
“We have inexperience on our team all across the board. We probably are not ready to win a game of that magnitude, but we did,” Hauck said. “I think as we get into the latter part of this season, if we can keep finding ways to win, we’re going to have a terrific football team.”
The Grizzlies now look forward to their next game against Indiana State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium at 1 p.m on Saturday, Sept. 20.
HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.
“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.
It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.
(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)
Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026
“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”
But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.
“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.
Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.
“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.
The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.
The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.
“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.
While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.
Montana
Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round
BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.
The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.
MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.
MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74
MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.
Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.
Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.
But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.
As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.
Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Montana Western 65, Carroll 56
After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.
Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.
The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.
Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.
Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.
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