MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Freshman quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat ran for four touchdowns, Eli Gillman ran for 175 yards and another score and Montana rallied for a 46-35 win over Western Carolina on Saturday.
After falling behind 17-0 and trailing 27-21 in an offensive first half, Montana’s defense held the Catamounts, who had 305 yards of offense at the break, to 172 in the second half.
Ah Yat scored his fourth touchdown, a Grizzly record for quarterbacks, to make it 35-27 with 3:01 to play in the third quarter but was shaken up earlier and didn’t return after the TD.
That left the offense up to Logan Fife, and after the Catamounts (1-3) closed within 38-35 with 8:22 to go on Cole Gonzales’ short TD pass and two-point conversion run, Fife came through. Fife led a 15-play, 75-yard drive that took up 6:38 with Nick Ostmo scoring on a 12-yard run. Fife flipped a two-point conversion for an 11-point lead with just 1:44 left.
Gonzales was 25-of-37 passing for 340 yards and two touchdowns, one to De’Andre Tamarez, who had eight receptions for 229 yards. Branson Adams had 91 yards rushing and two first-quarter touchdowns.
Gilman had a 66-yard touchdown run for the first score for the Grizzlies (3-1). Montana finished with 349 yards on the ground and 552 yards of total offense.
The 1,779-mile roadtrip was the second-longest ever for Western Carolina.
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