Dec. 13—MISSOULA, Mont. — The No. 3-seeded Montana Grizzlies proved too much to handle on Saturday afternoon, overwhelming the No. 11-seeded South Dakota Coyotes 52-22 in the FCS playoff quarterfinals at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Griz used the home crowd to their advantage in an all-around dominant performance in all three phases of the game in front of a home crowd of 22,750 fans. The win sets up an all-Montana semifinal in the FCS playoffs as the Griz will go to face No. 2 Montana State on Dec. 20 for a trip to the national championship.
USD ends its season at 10-5 under first-year head coach Travis Johansen.
From the opening kickoff, Montana’s defense provided a quick three-and-out and did not look back, scoring 24-straight points behind a fast tempo offense and a tough defense.
The Coyotes had 18 total yards in the first quarter and did not have their first 1st down until their final drive of the first half which ended in a 23-yard rushing score from L.J. Phillips Jr. to cut the deficit to 17 points at the break.
Coming out of halftime, USD started with the ball but ended up punting it back to the Griz, resulting in a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown from Drew Deck, which is the longest punt return score in FCS postseason history.
USD tacked on two more touchdown scores in back-to-back offensive possessions to cut it to within 16, but it was a little too late for the Coyotes to mount the 31-point comeback.
South Dakota’s Aidan Bouman connected with Jack Martens and Tysen Boze from 69 and 20 yards out for scores, respectively. All told, the Coyotes had 63 plays on offense for 351 total yards, but the 10 offensive penalties seemed to be a key difference in finding any consistency.
Phillips Jr. exited the game early in the third quarter, tallying 74 rushing yards on 15 carries and one score. Jack Martens had three catches for 93 yards, as Boze had three catches for 48 yards. Bouman ends his career with 231 passing yards, two scores and one interception.
Montana’s Keali’i Ah Yat had 305 yards and three passing scores, as Michael Wortham had 11 catches for 201 yards and two receiving touchdowns, as well as 43 rushing yards and a score.
About the Author
