Montana wins thriller in Eastern Washington

CHENEY, Wa. — Much of the speculation surrounding No. 8 Montana's conference opener at Eastern Washington suggested that these two teams put up big offensive numbers. However, few could have imagined that there would be over 100 total points and over 1,000 yards of total offense, but here we are.

After a rare three-pointer and a shutout early in the game, Eastern Washington looked to take advantage, but Sorren Mckee's 40-yard field goal missed, remember those three points.

Montana scores its own field goal on the corresponding drive and takes the lead to three points.

From then on, the two teams exchanged touchdowns on four consecutive drives. On Montana's side of the ball, Logan Fife couldn't miss, hitting Erik Barker for a 29-yard touchdown and leading the Griz to the promised land on their next drive, capped by an 8-yard touchdown from Nick Ostmo.

The problem is Montana's defense couldn't get off the field. Kekoa Vesparas hit Efton Chism III for his first of three goals on the day.

With 1:47 left in the first half, Fife drove the team down the field again and found Barker for his second goal of the half, taking a 31-14 halftime lead.

A sure lead, right? Not quite. In the second week, Montana had a 17-point lead at North Dakota and lost at Grand Forks.

After trading punts, Eastern's Jared Taylor pushed through several players and scored a 48-yard touchdown that put the Eagles back by ten.

That’s when Eli Gillman happened. For the fifth time in as many games this season, the second-year running back scored a rushing touchdown of more than 30 yards, but that total was well over 30. Gillman broke free on the second play of the ensuing drive and scored a 69-yard Putting score for the Griz 38-21 in the 3rd quarter.

The two teams traded attacks, with EWU turning the game around on downs and Montana missing a 46-yard field goal.

Que the madness. Visperas threw 65 yards in two plays before hitting Chism III for a 6-yard touchdown to bring the score back to ten points.

The Eagles recover the onside kick and score again when Visperas puts it in the net himself, giving Montana a 38-35 lead.

However, this was Logan Fife's night. The Griz responded with an 11-play drive that lasted five minutes remaining and ended with Fife finding Ostmo in the end zone to retake the lead by 10.

Just when it looked like the Griz would stop the comeback, Chism III broke through in the second quarter and scored a 50-yard touchdown with about five minutes left in the 4th quarter.

Montana looked to the ground attack to respond, and Nick Ostmo answered the call by breaking free for a 62-yard run. EWU took advantage of their three timeouts and got the Griz to a 4th-and-2 on the goal line. Montana went for it when Fife found Jake Olson on the side of the end zone to get back within ten.

Eastern needed a miracle. The Eagles got step one when they scored another touchdown to bring the score back to 52-49 in Montana's favor, but the onside kick was caught by the Griz, who finally caught their breath, got to their knees and won the game 52-49. 49 behind 600 yards of total offense.

Logan Fife finished the day with 364 passing yards and five touchdowns.