Montana
Offense struggles as No. 7 Montana drops 30-14 game to fourth-ranked UC Davis
MISSOULA — Montana’s offense, which has been one of the best in the country this season, couldn’t get untracked Saturday, as the seventh-ranked Grizzlies sputtered to a 30-14 loss to No. 4 UC Davis inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
It was just the Aggies’ second-ever win over the Grizzlies, who entered the game holding a 9-1 all-time advantage in the head-to-head series.
PHOTOS: NO. 7 MONTANA LOSES NIGHT GAME TO NO. 4 UC DAVIS
Montana’s offensive struggles wouldn’t have been expected — based on the body of work this season nor the early goings of Saturday’s game, as things couldn’t have started much better for Montana. The Griz held Davis to 15 yards on the game’s opening possession and then marched right down the field on a seven-play, 72-yard drive capped by a 23-yard Junior Bergen touchdown reception from quarterback Logan Fife. Fife was surgical on the drive, completing 4 of 4 passes for 55 yards and scrambling for another 13 yards.
But the Griz offense stalled the rest of the first half and the Aggies started to gain some footing. Davis answered UM’s touchdown with its own TD — a 2-yard flip to Trent Tompkins to tie the game at 7-7. That would be the score going to the second quarter, as the teams traded three-and-outs over the next five drives.
Davis took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter on a 42-yard field goal by Hunter Ridley after the Griz defense — and the Washington-Grizzly Stadium crowd — kept the Aggies out of the end zone. Davis had driven to the UM 13-yard line, but two false starts, a delay of a game and a negative play pushed the Aggies back to the 30. They gained 5 yards on third-and-27 to set up Ridley’s field goal.
GRIZ POSTGAME: BOBBY HAUCK, PLAYERS BREAK DOWN LOSS TO UC DAVIS
The Griz offense found some momentum on the next drive with Fife and running back Eli Gillman partnering to get Montana deep into Davis territory. But facing third-and-10 from the Aggies’ 11-yard line, Fife was intercepted in the end zone by Davis defensive back Rex Connors to keep the score 10-7.
The Davis offense didn’t do anything with the possession, punting after three plays and giving Montana another scoring opportunity before halftime. The Griz, though, turned the ball over on downs at the Aggies’ 42-yard line.
This time, Davis took advantage, quickly gaining 34 yards to get into field goal range. Ridley was good from 41 yards, and Davis entered the half with a 13-7 lead.
After both teams traded punts to start the second half, Keali’i Ah Yat — who again split time with Fife at QB — helped give the lead back to Montana midway through the third quarter. The redshirt freshman first ran for 12 yards to start the drive and then, on a designed quarterback draw from the Davis 18-yard line, powered through one Aggies defender and dragged another from the 6-yard line to inside the 1. Three plays later, Ah Yat helicoptered into the end zone on a 2-yard scramble. The point-after attempt gave Montana a 14-13 lead with 6:51 to play in the third quarter.
James Dobson / For MTN Sports
But, just as they did after Montana’s first touchdown, the Aggies had an answer. They drove 75 yards in eight plays — highlighted by running back Lan Larison catching a screen pass and hurdling a Griz defender on a 15-yard gain — with QB Miles Hastings finding Ian Simpson for a walk-in 22-yard touchdown. Davis took a 20-14 lead to the fourth quarter.
The Aggies made it a two-score game early in the fourth on a Hastings-to-Larison TD pass. The seven-play, 60-yard drive included a fourth-down conversion when the Griz had too many defenders on the field and a trick play where receiver C.J. Hutton completed a 29-yard pass to Simpson.
On the first play of Montana’s ensuing drive, Ah Yat was intercepted by Davis linebacker Porter Connors, setting up Ridley’s third field goal of the game.
Montana had three more offensive possessions the rest of the game, with those drives ending in a punt and twice on turnovers on downs. The Griz totaled only 286 yards of offense — 209 through the air and 77 on the ground. Ah Yat led the team with 29 yards on seven carries. He was 7-of-18 passing for 62 yards, while Fife completed 13 of 23 passes for 147 yards.
Hastings completed 28 of 38 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns for the Aggies, who got 97 rushing yards and 48 receiving yards from Larison.
Turning point: In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Davis lined up to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the UM 41-yard line. The Aggies got a first down by virtue of Montana having too many players on the field, and three plays later Larison was in the end zone to make it a two-possession game.
Stat of the game: Montana had just 286 yards of offense, 170 yards lower than its season average. The Griz entered the game ranked third in the FCS in scoring offense (39.4 points per game) and eighth in total offense (456 yards per game).
Grizzly game balls: WR Junior Bergen (Offense). Bergen didn’t have many opportunities in the return game, but he was Montana’s most consistent player on offense. He finished with six catches for 92 yards and the game’s first touchdown.
S Ryder Meyer (Defense). Meyer finished with a game-high 17 tackles, including eight solo and one tackle for loss. Fellow safety Jaxon Lee was in on 13 tackles.
What’s next: Montana (7-3 overall, 4-2 Big Sky) is back inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium for its final home game of the regular season next week against Portland State (2-7, 2-4). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. next Saturday, and the game will be broadcast on the MTN channel across Montana.
UC Davis (9-1, 6-0), which has now won nine consecutive games, has another big game next week in what will be the de facto Big Sky Conference championship game. The Aggies host second-ranked Montana State (10-0, 6-0) at 6 p.m. Mountain time next Saturday. The game will be broadcast on CBS affiliates across Montana.
BUTTE, Mont. — The Sentinel Spartans are the kings of Montana AA baseball.
In the inaugural season of AA baseball in the Treasure State, Sentinel took the title by winning three games in two days at the State AA Tournament, culminating with a 6-3 championship game victory over the Gallatin Raptors.
“It’s tough to find words right now,” said Sentinel head coach Brian Moser. “It was pretty emotional celebrating with the guys. Just really happy for them. What an opportunity. They took advantage of it. Very proud of them. Very appreciative of everything they’ve done for me and Sentinel High School and Sentinel baseball. It’s a great night to be a Spartan.”
Junior Stellan Ridley was stellar for Sentinel, with two triples, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Kaden Thennis added two hits, two runs, and an RBI while also drawing a hit by pitch. Owen Dale had a hit and a run batted in.
“We have a great mentality,” said Ridley. “I’m so proud of these young guys. As a junior and the seniors, leading us to this and showing how discipline works. We faced some chirpy people, and we just stayed with our level of the game and we performed, as you can see. We won the State Tournament!”
Each win for Sentinel in the tournament came in vastly different fashion.
The Spartans earned a nine-inning victory in their quarterfinal against Butte on Thursday, then came back from a 6-0 deficit after 4.5 innings in their Friday semifinal matinee against the Glacier Wolfpack. But on Friday night, in a game that started at 10 p.m. and ended at 12:08 a.m., Sentinel took an early lead and never trailed enroute to a victory over a Raptors team that had lost just one game all season.
“I had never played a game that late. Going from the early game, it was good that we had that little gap, we got to recuperate and take a solid power nap and come back out here with a lot of energy. Because if we came out flat, there was no way. But we came out with a lot of energy, and we stuck it to them. I mean, that team was good,” said Ridley of their hot start in the title game.
“Baseball is a funny game. There’s a lot of ways to win, there’s a lot of ways to lose. Just happy for the guys for sticking to it and never giving up.” said Moser. “Honestly, it takes a couple of lucky bounces here and there in a State Tournament, and we got those and took advantage. Beat a really, really good Gallatin team tonight. Just extremely proud.”
Gallatin managed to tie the game at 3 apiece in the fifth inning before the Spartans scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh, allowing freshman pitcher Lucas Johansson to earn the win and the save on the mound.
“It’s a big deal. 3 runs are way more than 1. It takes a lot of what the offense can do away. So those were huge, huge runs,” said Moser.
Johansson picked up two of the three wins in the tournament for Sentinel, while fellow freshman Paxson Onstot had the victory in the triumph over Glacier.
“I’m not going to say that’s how we drew it up, but that hopefully gives them confidence to come back next year ready to go,” said Moser. “We’ll have a target on our backs, but that’s okay. A lot of youth, it’s fun.”
Keaton Elliott tossed the first 4.1 innings of the title game for Sentinel, allowing just two hits, three earned runs, and five walks while striking out two.
The title marked the end of a remarkable turnaround for a Spartans team that started the season with a record of 5-7 before winning 10 of their last 11.
“(We got) absolutely shamed by our entire school (at assembly). It sat with me this whole time and I hated that. I just had so much drive,” said Ridley. “What are they going to say now?”
Wyatt Ford pitched a complete game for Gallatin, allowing three earned runs, five hits and a hit by pitch while striking out 10 on 103 pitches.
Ford and Louis Musial had the Raptors only two hits on the night, a triple and double, respectively, while Harvey Kimmel had two runs batted in.
Sentinel ends their season with a record of 15-8, while Gallatin concluded their campaign at 18-2.
“I think Gallatin came in here a little cocky. One loss the whole season, thinking they were going to probably roll us,” said Ridley. “No. We showed them up. Their eyes got big, and they realized we’re not a team to mess with.”
HELENA, Mont. — Montana counties have accepted enough signatures for Seth Bodnar, running for U.S. Senate and Michael Eisenhauer, running in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District, to be on the November ballot, although counts are still unofficial.
County election officials are continuing to verify signatures submitted by Tuesday’s deadline as part of the candidate petition process.
The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has not yet verified, certified or accepted the petitions, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Counties must submit candidate petitions to the Secretary of State’s office by June 1.
The Secretary of State’s office will then conduct its “statutory review to ensure the petitions meet the necessary legal requirements under law.”
The deadline for the November general election ballot to be certified is Thursday, Aug. 20. By then, all qualifying candidates and any potential ballot issues that qualify for the general election will be officially certified.
The following was out by the Montana Secretary of State’s Office:
The attached report is unofficial. It includes totals that the county election officials have processed and entered in the system. These totals do not represent what the Secretary of State’s Office has received, reviewed, tabulated, or certified. The certified totals may differ from what is reflected.
Seth Bodnar, U.S. Senate
- 13,327 required
- 18,772 accepted
- 7,812 rejected
Kimberly Persico, MT-01
- 6,742 required
- 563 accepted
- 156 rejected
Michael Eisenhauer, MT-02
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- 7,274 required
- 7,754 accepted
- 4,720 rejected
Severe storms moved through parts of Montana on Thursday, prompting a total of 5 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. Reports included strong wind gusts and hail in several communities, including Augusta, Choteau, Sunburst, Bigfork, Kalispell and Evergreen.
The strongest reported wind gust was 60 mph near Augusta, while hail up to 1 inch was reported near Evergreen and Kalispell.
STORM REPORTS:
12 SE Grant — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
7 NNE Augusta — 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust
5 ENE Choteau — 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Sunburst — 54 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Ennis — 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust
3 SSW Ennis — 52 mph thunderstorm wind gust
2 E Helena — 54 mph thunderstorm wind gust
19 E Swan Lake — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
2 NNW Yaak — thunderstorm wind damage – Multiple downed trees reported along Highway 2 between MM 3 and 8
3 WSW Blacktail — 53 mph thunderstorm wind gust
1 NNW Troy — 49 mph thunderstorm wind gust
5 ENE Choteau — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Turah — 0.88″ hail
1 NNW Bigfork — 0.75″ hail
3 SW La Salle — 0.50″ hail
2 N Evergreen — 1.00″ hail
1 W Kalispell — 1.00″ hail
3 WNW Kalispell — 0.75″ hail
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