Montana
QB Keali'i Ah Yat's nose for the end zone helps No. 9 Montana rally past No. 24 Western Carolina
MISSOULA — Western Carolina quarterback Cole Gonzalez was running around in celebration after his 61-yard touchdown pass to De’Andre Tamarez gave the No. 24-ranked Catamounts a 13-point lead over No. 9 Montana late in the second quarter on Saturday.
PHOTOS: MONTANA FIGHTS BACK, TOPS WESTERN CAROLINA TO FINISH NON-LEAGUE PLAY
It was part of a huge statistical day for Gonzalez and pass-happy WCU. But stats don’t win football games, and the Grizzlies rebounded from a slow start for a 46-35 victory at Washington-Grizzly Stadium to wrap up nonconference play.
Montana’s Keali’i Ah Yat set a single-game school record for quarterbacks by rushing for four touchdowns, and Eli Gillman ran for 175 yards and a TD as Montana came back from what was earlier a 17-point first-half deficit.
Ah Yat’s diving 6-yard TD run in the third quarter put UM ahead for the first time 28-27, then Trevin Gradney intercepted Gonzalez on a tipped screen pass right after that to set up Ah Yat’s fourth touchdown rush, a 1-yarder.
After a Ty Morrison field goal, the Grizzlies led 38-27 early in the fourth, but WCU didn’t go away. A 3-yard TD pass from Gonzalez to A.J. Colombo, followed by a Gonzalez run for a two-point conversion, pulled the Catamounts within three points, 38-35, with 8:22 left.
But a 13-yard pass from Logan Fife to Junior Bergen into the red zone on fourth and 4 kept a late Montana possession alive, leading to a clinching touchdown run by Nick Ostmo, a 12-yard scamper with 1:44 left.
Montana prevailed despite 340 passing yards by Gonzalez and 229 receiving yards from his favorite target, Tamarez. The Griz rushed for 349 yards, and outgained the Catamounts 552 to 477 in total offense.
It was Montana’s 10th consecutive home victory over ranked teams since 2018. The Griz will open Big Sky play next week looking to defend their outright conference title from last season.
Turning point: Despite their slow start, the Grizzlies managed to make it a one-score game going into halftime, which was critical.
After Gonzalez hit Tamarez for that 61-yard TD with 1:47 left in the second quarter, the Grizzlies got a wonderful bit of help on a late hit by WCU’s Jordy Lowery and a subsequent unsportsmanlike conduct call on Catamounts coach Kerwin Bell, which gave UM 25 free yards and set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Ah Yat with 53 seconds left before the break.
That put Montana in position to take the lead in the second half and leave with a victory.
Stat of the game: Ah Yat’s four touchdown runs set a single-game record for a Montana quarterback, and already gives him six rushing TDs in this his redshirt freshman season.
Ah Yat is now only three shy of the total rushing touchdowns his father, former Montana QB Brian Ah Yat, scored from 1995-98. Brian Ah Yat scored four rushing TDs in 1998, two in 1997 and three in 1996.
Grizzly game balls: QB Keali’i Ah Yat (Offense). Ah Yat didn’t flinch while Montana trailed throughout the first half, and made his biggest impact as a runner. Ah Yat finished with 57 rushing yards on 11 attempts, an average of 5.2 per rush and, of course, scored 24 points on his own.
LB Ryan Tirrell (Defense). It was a challenge for UM’s defense to contend with WCU’s passing game, especially with their underneath and intermediate routes. But Tirrell led the Grizzlies’ linebacking corps with 10 tackles and a key breakup on a Catamount possession in the first half.
What’s next: After a four-game non-league schedule, Montana (3-1) opens Big Sky Conference play next week on the road against a familiar rival — Eastern Washington.
The Grizzlies lead the all-time series 30-18-1 but have not won a game on the road against the Eagles since 2008 and have never won atop “The Inferno,” EWU’s signature red turf that was installed for the 2010 season.
The Griz, though, have won the past two matchups (both in Missoula) including a 63-7 drubbing in 2022. Overall, the Eagles have won eight of the past 13. By rule, Montana will be without linebacker Riley Wilson for the first half next week; Wilson was disqualified for targeting in the second half against Western Carolina on Saturday.
Montana
Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Big Sky Bonus results for July 7, 2026
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 7, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from July 7 drawing
02-31-35-36-63, Mega Ball: 12
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 7 drawing
09-21-24-29, Bonus: 15
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 7 drawing
27-43-48-49-50, 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.
Montana
Surreal trail-cam footage shows giant, ‘big-headed’ grizzly bear
One characteristic that distinguishes male grizzly bears from female grizzly bears is a larger head.
With that in mind, check out the grizzly bear featured this week on the Mission Valley Montana Grizz Cam Facebook page. (Photo and video posted below; view Instagram version here.)
The imagery, captured after dusk on July 3, shows a large grizzly bear pausing and sniffing in front of the camera before exiting the frame. Several followers commented on the beauty of the the striking bruin.
“Absolutely MAGNIFICENT!” one person exclaimed.
ALSO: Bison fight on Yellowstone road reveals raw power of iconic beasts
But others remarked about the size and shape of the grizzly bear’s head, and the appearance of thicker fur on its shoulders.
This, along with the gray lighting, lends a surreal quality to the footage. (Click here if video player doesn’t appear below.)
“No doubt that’s a big-headed male griz,” one follower remarked. “It looks like he picked up some scent left at the camera site and moved off!”
“Look at that head! YEOW!” another follower exclaimed. “What an amazing critter.”
The folks behind Mission Valley Montana Grizz Cam use motion-sensor cameras in different locations to capture footage of grizzly bears in Mission Valley, in northwestern Montana.
The Grizz Cam website states: “In 2015 we started seeing a lot of Grizzly Bears on our property so we decided that setting up some trail cameras might lead to some interesting footage and give us insight.
“Several cameras were put in various locations, and we came to realize there were more bears than any of us had anticipated.”
While many Grizz Cam clips look similar, and some feature brilliant daytime colors and audio, this post stands out because of the unique appearance of the bear.
As one follower stated, “That’s a bad boy there.”
Montana
The Record is Clear: The Wilderness Society, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and Montana Wilderness Association have Consistently Undermined the Roadless Rule
Beartooth Range, Montana. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.
The Wilderness Society, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and the Montana Wilderness Association, now rebranded “Wild Montana,” all claim they support the Roadless Rule and have been asking people for donations to oppose efforts to repeal it. But a review of the record shows that these “conservation” groups have supported opening 1,585,000 acres or Roadless and Wilderness Study Areas to logging and road building since the roadless rule went into effect in 2001.
Tracy Stone-Manning, now the President of The Wilderness Society, has been widely quoted as supporting the Roadless Rule. But while working as a top environmental advisor for former Montana Senator Jon Tester, she strongly supported his 2009 Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. The Montana Wilderness Association, now doing business as Wild Montana, was also one of the main cheerleaders for Tester’s bill
Although the bill never passed, it would have opened one million acres of roadless lands in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in southwest Montana and mandated logging 10,000 acres per year for 10 years in the Beaverhead and Kootenai National Forests. The Kootenai contains the smallest, most threatened grizzly population in the world in the Cabinet-Yaak. Since most grizzly bears are killed within 1/3 of a mile of a road, more logging means more logging roads would be bulldozed into grizzly habitat, resulting in more dead grizzly bears. The measure was so extreme even the Forest Service opposed it.
The groups also strongly supported former Montana Senator Max Baucus’ Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, passed as a rider on the 2014 defense spending bill. The measure opened 208,000 acres of roadless lands to logging and road-building and guaranteed grazing in perpetuity with no environmental analysis or public review. The pitiful 67,000 acres of wilderness tack-ons also required the sacrifice of four Wilderness Study Areas in Eastern Montana, opening 29,000 acres to oil and gas exploration and development.
Then came Tester’s 2017 Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act that carved up 50,000 acres of an Inventoried Roadless Areas contiguous to the Scapegoat and Bob Marshall Wilderness Areas. The measure also allowed loggers to decide where to build roads and designated 5,000 acres as a play area for snowmobiles and mountain bikes.
The bill didn’t even make it out of committee, but now these same groups have renamed it “A River Runs Through It Act” — although there is no sponsor and no “act.” In addition to the roadless lands Tester’s bill would have destroyed, it turns over management of 70,000 acres in grizzly, lynx and wolverine habitat in the Ogden Mountain Roadless Area northwest of Lincoln Montana to the timber industry. It also converts 130,000 acres of Inventoried Roadless Areas into play areas for motorized recreation and mountain bikers.
The clearcutting, bulldozing new logging roads, and motorized recreation in roadless areas will send tons of sediment into the Blackfoot River which has been designated critical habitat for bull trout, a threatened species. It should be called “A Clearcut Runs Through It Act.”
Finally, all three groups support the Greater Yellowstone Conservation And Recreation proposal. There is no sponsor and no bill, but the proposal opens much of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Study Area and other Inventoried Roadless Areas to motorized recreation, logging and road building. While adding only 102,000 acres as wilderness — less than half of the 250,000 acres that qualify for wilderness designation — it also significantly reduces the 155,000 acre Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area by 53,000 acres.
Don’t fall for the con. The record is clear: these groups have supported reducing, not protecting Inventoried Roadless Areas in the past and are doing so now.
Please consider helping us get the only bill before Congress that would designate all 23 million acres of roadless in the Northern Rockies designated as wilderness, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act. Please also consider donating to Counterpunch to help them continue exposing hypocrites.
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