Dec. 13 — MISSOULA, Mont. — The third-seeded Montana Grizzlies proved too much to handle as they defeated the 11th-seeded South Dakota Coyotes 52-22 in the FCS playoff quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Grizzlies Stadium in Washington.
The Grizzlies took advantage of their home crowd and put on an all-around dominant performance in all three phases of the game in front of 22,750 fans at home. The win sets the stage for the all-Montana semifinals of the FCS playoffs, where the Grizzlies will face No. 2 Montana State on Dec. 20 for the national championship.
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Led by first-year head coach Travis Johansen, USD finished the season with a 10-5 record.
From the opening kickoff, Montana’s defense quickly went three-and-out and never looked back, scoring 24 straight points with its fast-paced offense and tough defense.
The Coyotes gained 18 total yards in the first quarter and didn’t score their first down until the final drive of the first half, when L.J. Phillips Jr. rushed for 23 yards to cut the deficit to 17 points at halftime.
USD took possession of the ball after halftime but ended up kicking it back to the Grizzlies on Drew Deck’s 93-yard kick return for a touchdown, the longest kick return in FCS playoff history.
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USD scored two more touchdowns on back-to-back offensive possessions to get within 16 points, but it was a little too late for the Coyotes to come back with a 31-point deficit.
South Dakota’s Aidan Bouman connected with Jack Martens and Tysen Boze for scores of 69 and 20 yards, respectively. All told, the Coyotes ran the offense for 351 yards on 63 carries, but the 10 offensive penalties seemed to be the key difference in consistency.
Phillips Jr. exited the game early in the third quarter with 74 yards and one score on 15 carries. Jack Martens had three catches for 93 yards and Boze had three catches for 48 yards. Boorman finished his career with 231 passing yards, two scores and an interception.
Montana’s Keali’i Ah Yat had 305 yards and three passing scores, and Michael Wortham had 11 catches for 201 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 43 yards rushing and one score.
