Grizzlies derailed in Chattanooga
12/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Montana Grizzlies could not overcome a three-touchdown first half deficit to the Richmond Spiders in the Football Championship Subdivision championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Spiders earned their first national championship in any team sport in school history on a final score of 24-7.
Griz quarterback Cole Bergquist was 19-of-36 for 267 yards and one interception. He connected with receiver Marc Mariani seven times for 172 yards. Running back Chase Reynolds ran 12 times for 47 yards and Montana???s only touchdown.
Bergquist was pressured all night by Richmond senior defensive end Lawrence Sidbury, Jr., who had three sacks on the night. Spider quarterback Eric Ward completed 12 of his 18 passes while throwing for one touchdown and caught another touchdown. Running back Josh Vaughan rushed 23 times for 162 yards and one touchdown.
Richmond struck first going 3-for-3 on third down thanks to Ward who ran for two first downs ??? one for 18 yards ??? and caught the third. On third and 4 Ward pitched to fullback John Crone. Crone then passed across the field back to a wide-open Ward for a 23-yard touchdown pass and catch at the nine-minute mark of the first quarter.
After Mariani laid out for a fingertip catch that went for 47 yards, they faced a fourth-and-1 from Richmond???s 21-yard line. Without hesitating, Montana went for it and got it on a Reynold???s 4-yard run. The Griz were forced to kick a field goal after Sidbury got the sack on third down. Freshman kicker Brody McKnight pushed his first field goal attempt to the right from 33 yards.
Richmond faced a fourth-and-1 early on their second drive with the ball on their own 29-yard line. The Spiders offense took the field to start the second quarter and tried to draw the Grizzly defense offside as their tight end went into motion to the left. Montana didn???t flinch, forcing Richmond to punt.
Montana gave it back to the Spider who got great field position on their 29-yard line after a short punt and good return. With 11:29 remaining in the second quarter, Vaughan bounced to the outside and scored from five yards out to give Richmond the 14-0 lead.
The Grizzlies punted for the second time in the game with 9:13 to go after Bergquist was sacked on third-and-8.
On third-and-2 with 3:46 to go, Montana stopped Vaughan short of the first down forcing the Spiders into a fourth-and-1 from Montana???s 21-yard line. Richmond gave it back to Vaughan who picked up 8 yards on the first down carry. Ward then connected with freshman running back Garrett Wilkins for the 13-yard touchdown to give the Spiders a demanding 21-0 lead with 2:13 remaining in the first half.
On a must score drive, Bergquist was stripped by defensive lineman Martin Parker. Spiders??? defensive back Michael Ireland recovered the ball and returned it to Montana???s 31-yard line. Richmond couldn???t come away with any points though as kicker Andrew Howard pushed it wide right from 28 yards out to end the half.
Montana got the ball first to start the second half and was faced with a third-and-1 from their 30-yard line. Bergquist found junior tight end Dan Beaudin for 13 yards on the play action pass. Bergquist then connected with Mariani for 13 more yards. Montana???s progress stalled after a late hit penalty on Levi Horn pushed Montana back 15 yards. UM couldn???t recover and had to punt for the third time in the game with 11 minutes on the third quarter game clock.
Montana???s defense forced a three-and out after Colt Anderson, on third down, popped Tre Gray two yards short of the first down. On first down, Sidbery used a spin move to sack Bergquist for the 12-yard loss. On second-and-22, Bergquist connected with Mariani for 30 yards and the first down on their 46-yard line. Yet Montana couldn???t advance the ball from there and punted.
The Grizzlies defense forced another three-and-out as senior linebacker Tyler Corwin stopped Vaughan short of the first down. Montana???s offense took the field without Bergquist as sophomore quarterback Andrew Selle took his place. Selle threw two incomplete passes as Montana punted for the fifth time.
Montana???s defense forced Richmond to punt. Special teamer Severin Campbell had a chance to block the punt, but just missed. Bergquist stepped back on the field to start the next drive. On third-and-10 from their 48-yard line, Bergquist connected with Mariani for the 22-yard pass. On third-and-14 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the game, Bergquist threw a shovel pass to Reynolds who picked up just enough to get the first down. Reynolds broke Montana???s scoring draught when he scored from five yards out with 11:56 to go, 7-21.
McKnight kicked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds giving Richmond the ball at Montana???s 40-yard line. Junior defensive end Jace Palmer pressured Ward to throw an incomplete pass on third-and-4 forcing another Spider punt.
A 26-yard completion to Mariani kept Montana???s next drive alive drive going. But on third-and-12 from Montana???s 37-yard line, Bergquist threw the ball behind junior receiver Tyler Palmer. Richmond linebacker Eric McBride intercepted the tipped ball and returned it to Montana???s 23-yard line. The Spiders came away with three points as kicker Brian Radford knocked it through the uprights from 39 yards out to give Richmond the 24-7 lead with 6:49 remaining.
Montana turned the ball over on downs as Bergquist had his passed knocked down at the line on a fourth-and-7.?? From there, Richmond moved the ball enough to run the clock out and win the championship.
