Montana

Scottre Humphrey, Tommy Mellott power No. 2 Montana State past resilient Eastern Washington

Published

1 year ago

November 3, 2024

Scottre Humphrey, Tommy Mellott power No. 2 Montana State past resilient Eastern Washington

CHENEY, Wash. — It wasn’t the typical football game Montana State has come to expect this season.

But the second-ranked Bobcats found a way to outlast a resilient Eastern Washington squad 42-28 on Saturday at Roos Field to improve to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in Big Sky Conference play.

The game started with Montana State looking like it was well on its way to another lopsided victory. Scottre Humphrey put the Bobcats up 7-0 with a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and the Bobcats got the ball right back on the ensuing kickoff. Eastern Washington return man Michael Wortham brought the ball out of the end zone, but MSU’s Max Murphy forced a fumble that Carson Williams recovered.

One play later, quarterback Tommy Mellott found a wide-open Taco Dowler for a 19-yard touchdown, and the Cats were quickly up 14-0.

But the Eagles got an answer from standout receiver Efton Chism III, who made a nice adjustment on a pass thrown by quarterback Jared Taylor to score Easter’s first touchdown. Montana State led 14-7 after the first quarter.

The second quarter brought more fireworks. Adam Jones scored on a nifty run to push MSU’s lead back to 21-7, but Wortham responded with a 75-yard TD run on the Eagles’ next possession. It was the first time this season an FCS team scored two first-half touchdowns against the Bobcats.

The MSU offense settled things down on the next drive, chewing up 9:33 of game clock on a 16-play, 70-yard drive. Humphrey capped the possession with a 4-yard scoring run, and the Bobcats led 28-14 at the break.

Eastern Washington running back Tuna Altahir evened the score in the third quarter, though. He first caught a 3-yard touchdown from Taylor and then added an 11-yard TD run that tied the game at 28-28 with 1:26 left in the third.

But Mellott took control from there. The senior quarterback hit the Bobcats’ most explosive play of the game moments later, breaking away for a 76-yard touchdown run that gave MSU a 35-28 lead going to the fourth.

And in the fourth, Mellott — after throwing his first interception of the season — hit another explosive play. Facing a crucial third down with less than four minutes to play, Mellott dropped back to pass and aired it out to receiver Ty McCullouch along the left sideline. McCullouch ran under the pass and then outran the Eastern Washington defense for a 61-yard touchdown that put the game away.

Turning point: After Mellott threw an interception, the Montana State defense forced Eastern Washington to turn the ball over on downs four plays later. On the Bobcats’ next offensive possession, Mellott went deep to McCullouch, who displayed his speed in pulling away from the defense to give MSU a two-score cushion.

Stat of the game: In a game in which the defense gave up 28 points, Montana State’s offense had the answers, especially on the ground. The Bobcats racked up 316 rushing yards, with Mellott (125 yards on six carries) and Humphrey (110 yards on 21 carries) both breaking the century mark.

Bobcat game balls: QB Tommy Mellott (Offense). When his team needed him most, Mellott stepped up with two big-time plays. Mellott’s 76-yard touchdown run and 61-yard touchdown pass broke open a 28-28 tie game to help the Bobcats secure their ninth win of the season.

LB McCade O’Reilly (Defense). The defense struggled more than it has against an FCS team all season, but O’Reilly made his presence felt. The linebacker was in on six tackles, including four solo, had two tackles for loss and a sack.

FB Max Murphy (Special teams). Murphy made the hit that forced the fumble on Wortham’s kick return in the first quarter. The immediate change of possession gave the Bobcats an instant red zone opportunity, and Mellott and Dowler capitalized for a touchdown.

What’s next: Montana State (9-0 overall, 5-0 Big Sky) returns to Bozeman to host Sacramento State on Nov. 9. The Bobcats have won nine of the past 11 against the Hornets, including a 42-30 win in Sacramento last season.

Eastern Washington (2-7, 1-4), meanwhile, will look to snap its three-game losing streak at Northern Colorado next week.

Source link

Click to comment

Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

10 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

State

Zip Code

Country

Source link

Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

22 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

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.

Source link

Montana

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

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.

Source link