Montana
Junior Bergen does it again as Montana survives playoff scare from Tennessee State
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.
James Dobson / For MTN Sports
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.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing
03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing
06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing
21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing
28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.
Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:
The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….
There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:
While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.
The Missoulan article includes this response:
In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”
As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.
Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.
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