Griz beat Weber 38-23
11/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
It's official. The Montana Grizzlies are in the I-AA playoffs.
The Griz secured their fourth straight Big Sky Conference title with a 38-23 win over Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday, along with the automatic playoff berth. This is the first time in conference history that a team has won the title four straight years.
Senior running back Yohance Humphery had a record-setting day. Humphery ran for 265 yards and four touchdowns on 38 carries, all single-game school records. With the effort, Humphery also broke his own single-season rushing record with 1,444 yards, and moved into second place in career scoring with 266 points. Humphery needs 15 points in the final two regular season games to break Kirk Duce's 280.
Montana's opening drive, highlighted by Brandon Neill scrambles for 34 and 12 yards, ended with a Humphery fumble at the WSU 1-yard line that rolled out of bounds in the endzone for a touchback. Weber's was just as ineffective in their resulting possession, ending with a missed 30-yard field goal attempt by Jason Zur that hit the crossbar. Montana took over at their own 20, and drove 80 yards in 7 plays, topped by a Humphery 46-yard touchdown run.
Weber State struck back with a 64-yard, 6-play drive largely on the legs of running back Johnnie Gray. Gray had 42 of his 204 rushing yards, including a 2-yard run for his first of two touchdowns. Montana answered back with another TD drive, this one covering 72 yards on 7 plays ending with a 38-yard Humphery run.
Weber went three-and-out on their next possession, and Jefferson Heidelberger returned a 34-yard Wyatt Kennah punt 23 yards to the Wildcat 24-yard line, but Weber got the ball back on the first play of the next Griz drive when Eric Lohnes picked off a Neill pass in the endzone. WSU took over at the 20 and drove the length of the field in 8 plays. The drive, highlighted by the longest passing play of the game, a 65-yard strike from Tyler Gladwell to Jamaal Peterson, was capped by an 8-yard Gladwell to Justin DeFour touchdown pass to open the second quarter.
The defenses tightened up, with both teams punting twice each before Montana drove 80 yards on 11 plays, including a Griz game-long 24-yard Neill to Spencer Frederick pass, topped with a Neill 6-yard TD scramble to close out the first half scoring with the Griz up 21-14.
The Wildcats were unable to move the ball to open the second half, and after Heidelberger returned the 36-yard punt 18 yards to the WSU 40, Montana drove 40 yards on 7 plays entirely on the ground ending with an 8-yard Humphery touchdown run.
Weber State's next drive went 12 plays for 60 yards, topped off by a 32-yard Zur field goal. Montana lost the ball on their next possession when Humphery's fumble was returned 11 yards by Lohnes to the UM 34. The Griz got it back three plays later when Trey Young sacked Gladwell and forced a fumble recovered by Curt Colter at the UM 39. Montana then drove 30 yards to set up a 48-yard Chris Snyder field goal.
WSU took their next possession 64 yards in 8 plays, capped by a Gray 32-yard touchdown run. Zur missed the extra point, making the score UM 31, WSU 23. The next Griz possession ended when Chris Snyder was wide left on a 46-yard field goal attempt. The resulting Weber possession ended in a punt into the end zone, giving the Grizzlies the ball at their own 20. The Griz had driven to the WSU 22 when Neill scrambled to the 8, but fumbled after being hit by Marcus Thurman. Neill recovered his own fumble, but left the game with an injury. After losing 2 yards on the next play, Humphery scored his fourth touchdown on a 10-yard run to the corner of the endzone with 1:19 left in the game.
The win was the Griz's 19th Big Sky win in a row. The Griz had a season high 377 rushing yards but a season low 167 passing yards in the game.
Montana will be back in action next Saturday against the MSU Bobcats at 12:05 p.m. in Bozeman.
The Griz secured their fourth straight Big Sky Conference title with a 38-23 win over Weber State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday, along with the automatic playoff berth. This is the first time in conference history that a team has won the title four straight years.
Senior running back Yohance Humphery had a record-setting day. Humphery ran for 265 yards and four touchdowns on 38 carries, all single-game school records. With the effort, Humphery also broke his own single-season rushing record with 1,444 yards, and moved into second place in career scoring with 266 points. Humphery needs 15 points in the final two regular season games to break Kirk Duce's 280.
Montana's opening drive, highlighted by Brandon Neill scrambles for 34 and 12 yards, ended with a Humphery fumble at the WSU 1-yard line that rolled out of bounds in the endzone for a touchback. Weber's was just as ineffective in their resulting possession, ending with a missed 30-yard field goal attempt by Jason Zur that hit the crossbar. Montana took over at their own 20, and drove 80 yards in 7 plays, topped by a Humphery 46-yard touchdown run.
Weber State struck back with a 64-yard, 6-play drive largely on the legs of running back Johnnie Gray. Gray had 42 of his 204 rushing yards, including a 2-yard run for his first of two touchdowns. Montana answered back with another TD drive, this one covering 72 yards on 7 plays ending with a 38-yard Humphery run.
Weber went three-and-out on their next possession, and Jefferson Heidelberger returned a 34-yard Wyatt Kennah punt 23 yards to the Wildcat 24-yard line, but Weber got the ball back on the first play of the next Griz drive when Eric Lohnes picked off a Neill pass in the endzone. WSU took over at the 20 and drove the length of the field in 8 plays. The drive, highlighted by the longest passing play of the game, a 65-yard strike from Tyler Gladwell to Jamaal Peterson, was capped by an 8-yard Gladwell to Justin DeFour touchdown pass to open the second quarter.
The defenses tightened up, with both teams punting twice each before Montana drove 80 yards on 11 plays, including a Griz game-long 24-yard Neill to Spencer Frederick pass, topped with a Neill 6-yard TD scramble to close out the first half scoring with the Griz up 21-14.
The Wildcats were unable to move the ball to open the second half, and after Heidelberger returned the 36-yard punt 18 yards to the WSU 40, Montana drove 40 yards on 7 plays entirely on the ground ending with an 8-yard Humphery touchdown run.
Weber State's next drive went 12 plays for 60 yards, topped off by a 32-yard Zur field goal. Montana lost the ball on their next possession when Humphery's fumble was returned 11 yards by Lohnes to the UM 34. The Griz got it back three plays later when Trey Young sacked Gladwell and forced a fumble recovered by Curt Colter at the UM 39. Montana then drove 30 yards to set up a 48-yard Chris Snyder field goal.
WSU took their next possession 64 yards in 8 plays, capped by a Gray 32-yard touchdown run. Zur missed the extra point, making the score UM 31, WSU 23. The next Griz possession ended when Chris Snyder was wide left on a 46-yard field goal attempt. The resulting Weber possession ended in a punt into the end zone, giving the Grizzlies the ball at their own 20. The Griz had driven to the WSU 22 when Neill scrambled to the 8, but fumbled after being hit by Marcus Thurman. Neill recovered his own fumble, but left the game with an injury. After losing 2 yards on the next play, Humphery scored his fourth touchdown on a 10-yard run to the corner of the endzone with 1:19 left in the game.
The win was the Griz's 19th Big Sky win in a row. The Griz had a season high 377 rushing yards but a season low 167 passing yards in the game.
Montana will be back in action next Saturday against the MSU Bobcats at 12:05 p.m. in Bozeman.
Thursday, June 11
Thursday, June 04
Friday, May 01
Monday, March 30
