Bobcats Claim Great Divide Trophy For Third Straight Year Behind Dramatic Ending

Photo by: Garrett Becker

Bobcats Claim Great Divide Trophy For Third Straight Year Behind Dramatic Ending

11/17/2018 4:59:00 PM | Football

Montana State outscored Montana 29-3 over the game's final 31 minutes to defeat Montana and earn another win in the Brawl of the Wild Series

By: Andrew Pedersen

MISSOULA, Mont. – It was all home team for 29 minutes at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Then the visitors completed a comeback and earned a victory in one of the most entertaining contests in the 118-game Brawl of the Wild Series between Montana and Montana State.

The Bobcats defeated the Grizzlies 29-25 on Saturday, Nov. 17, thanks to multiple second-half heroics in front of a stadium record-crowd of 26,508 fans in attendance. The victory was Montana State's third consecutive win over Montana.

Montana had the momentum as quarterback Dalton Sneed connected on a 37-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Akem to give the Griz a 22-0 lead with 8 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Bobcats were able to produce a 10-play, 72-yard drive towards the end of the first half to cut the deficit to 22-7 at the break.

Things on the offensive side of the ball didn't get off to a fast start in the second half for Montana State. The Bobcats only picked up one first down on their first two drives, but the MSU defense stepped up. The Griz missed a field goal after driving 75 yards down field and had to punt on the ensuing drive.

That's when the Bobcat offense began to find its rhythm.

Montana State eventually scored touchdowns on three straight drives. A drive that started in the third quarter and ended to start the fourth quarter went 87 yards in nine plays. The drive was highlighted by Troy Andersen completions to Kevin Kassis, Lance McCutcheon and Logan Jones and was capped with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by Andersen. The Bobcats chose to go for the 2-point conversion and were successful, cutting the deficit to 22-15.

The Griz wouldn't relinquish the lead easily.

Montana marched down the field 58 yards over the course of 14 plays. Sneed completed passes on three different third-down plays to keep the Grizzlies moving, but a sack by MSU's Tucker Yates forced Montana to settle for a 34-yard field goal. The kick went through the uprights to lift the Griz advantage to 25-15 with 7:46 remaining.

The Bobcats responded and took less than 2 minutes off the clock.

Andersen threw four consecutive passes to Travis Jonsen for a combined 68 yards, with the biggest strike going for 45 yards to put MSU into the Montana red zone. Andersen followed his offensive line for two consecutive rushes and found paydirt with 6:01 on the clock and cut the deficit to 3 points.

The Grizzlies had an opportunity to seal the game, but were unable to as the Bobcat defense rose to the occasion. Sneed rushed for 1 yard on Montana's opening play, then had an opening down the field and battled to pick up the first down on the Grizzlies' second play. As he fell towards the ground, senior linebacker Grant Collins forced a fumble and recovered it at the Montana 35-yard line.

MSU's game on the ground was its best at the end.

Andersen, Jones and Ifanse ran up field behind their blockers to move the chains twice and set the Bobcats up inside the Montana red zone. Despite a holding call on the offense, the Bobcats faced second-and-12 on the Griz 13. The Bobcats took their first lead of the game as Logan Jones took a hand off around the right end and ran it in for a 13-yard rushing touchdown. After Tristan Bailey's point after attempt was good, MSU held a 29-25 edge with 2:19 remaining.

Montana wasn't out of it yet.

The Grizzlies' Malik Flowers returned the ensuing kickoff to the 50-yard line where Montana started its final drive with 2:07 on the clock. The Griz completed three passes for 34 yards and picked up 15 yards on the ground to move the ball to the Bobcats' 1-yard line. Montana and Montana State called back-to-back timeouts on the edge of the goal-line with 14 seconds to go with the biggest play of the game awaiting.

Montana ran the ball up the middle into the interior of the Bobcats' defensive line on third-and-goal and was stuffed. As the Griz ball carrier neared the end zone, senior Tucker Yates, with the help of fellow senior Zach Wright dislodged the ball and it fluttered behind the Montana line of scrimmage. Junior Derek Marks was there to corral the recovery and the Bobcat sideline sprinted on to the field to celebrate.

The Bobcats (7-4, 5-3 Big Sky) were outgained by the Grizzlies (6-5, 4-4) by a margin of 454-387 yards of total offense, but MSU did its work on the ground with 229 yards rushing. Andersen completed 15 of 24 passes for 158 yards and carried the ball 23 times for 107 and three touchdowns. Ifanse and Jones combined for 110 yards rushing. Jonsen led the Bobcats in receiving with 11 receptions for 101 yards.

Montana State's defense registered 7 tackles for loss with Bryce Sterk leading the way with 3. He also had 2 of the Bobcats' 4 sacks. Collins had a team-high 12 tackles and forced 2 fumbles, while Michael Jobman had 8 tackles.

The Bobcats earned their third straight win over Montana and second consecutive win in Missoula. Montana State will hope to see its name chosen for the FCS playoffs with the bracket being revealed at 10:30 a.m. MST on Sunday, Nov. 18, as part of a 60-minute show on ESPNU.