Oct. 15, 2006

From Montana Athletics

MISSOULA, Mont. (www.montanagrizzlies.com)-- The third-ranked University of Montana Grizzlies defeated the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 24-21 in a crucial Big Sky Conference contest to win their annual Homecoming Game, and it was also their fifth victory in a row, and they remained undefeated in league games.

A Washington-Grizzly Stadium crowd of 23,626 - the sixth biggest in stadium history in 146 games, saw Montana improve to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Sky. NAU is now 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Sky.

The Grizzlies' 14th straight Homecoming victory was not an easy one.

Montana scored the only points of the first quarter when junior Eric Allen, who missed last week's game at Eastern Washington with an injury, hauled in a 25-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Josh Swogger with 7:19 to go in the opening stanza.

NAU bounced back to tie the game 7-7 when veteran senior quarterback Jason Murrietta connected with sophomore wide receiver Skyler Moore on a 9-yard touchdown pass at the 10:58 mark of the second quarter.

The Griz regained the lead for good as Brady Green scored on a 10-yard to give UM a 14-7 advantage with 8:49 to go until intermission. Montana's five-play, 65-yard scoring drive was highlighted by a 39-yard pass completion from Swogger to junior wide receiver Craig Chambers.

The Jacks cut the Griz lead to 14-10 about three minutes later when NAU sophomore kicker Robbie Dehaze connected on a 40-yard field goal.

Montana went up 17-10 after junior kicker Dan Carpenter booted a 43-yard field goal, which tied his Longest effort so far this season, with 29 seconds left until intermission.

A defensive struggle ensued in the final 30 minutes.

Griz junior halfback Reggie Bradshaw tallied the only points of the third quarter when he rushed for a 4-yard touchdown at the 2:00 mark. That vital score was set up when NAU punter Rhian Madrid was kicked out of his own end zone, and UM sophomore cornerback Tim Parks blocked the punt and Montana took over on the Jacks' seven-yard line. Two runs by Bradshaw, first a three-yarder, and then the 4-yard TD burst, gave the Griz a 24-10 lead.

However, the Jacks scored 10 unanswered points in the first five minutes of the final quarter, first on a 46-yard field goal by Dehaze, and then on a 9-yard run by redshirt freshman halfback Alex Henderson.

After Henderson's touchdown run the Jacks scored on a two-point conversion when the elusive Murrietta scrambled to his right and connected with Moore, making it 24-21 with 10:11 remaining in the game.

Montana went three-and-out after Henderson's TD, and NAU's next possession resulted in a quick kick by Murrietta on a third-and-17 from the Jacks' 14-yard line.

After Murrietta's 53-yard quick kick/punt Montana started an important clock-killing drive with 6:16 to go in the contest. Green carried the ball nine times in UM's final possession, picking up 39 yards for his efforts, while Swogger had two carries for 12 yards, including a key 5-yard run for a first down on a fourth-and-1 from UM's 42-
yard line. The only pass attempt in that final drive was a 4-yard completion from Swogger to freshman h-back Kevin Klaboe.

NAU had one last possession, taking over on its own 11-yard line with just 1:13 to go and no timeouts left. But, Murrietta, who dodged Griz pressure all day long, managed just one completion for six yards on his team's final, last-ditch drive.

The Griz defense held NAU to 75 total yards in the second half, including 19 net yards rushing on 15 attempts, and sacked Murrietta three times.

Green picked up 70 hard-earned yards on 17 carries, Bradshaw gained 28 yards on 10 totes, and Swogger ended up with six net yards on 12 rushes, despite suffering five sacks.

Swogger was 10-of-22-0 for 138 yards and a score. UM's leading receivers were junior Ryan Bagley (4 catches-53-yards-0 TDs) and sophomore Mike Ferriter (2-24-0).

In the special teams area UM senior Tuff Harris averaged 18.0 yards on two punt returns; sophomore Rob Schulte averaged 30.3 yards on three kickoff returns; and Carpenter made his only field goal attempt and averaged a lofty 45.3 yards on nine punts.

Junior linebackers Tyler Joyce and Kyle Ryan led UM with 8 tackles each, and Ryan had two stops for losses, while senior end Dustin Dlouhy had 1.5.

Murrietta was 16-of-32-0 for 93 yards. Junior Alex Watson was NAU's top receiver (5-23-0), followed by junior Kenny Mahone (4-31-0), and Moore (2-19-1).

Henderson had 21 carries for 114 yards - both highs by a UM opponent this season.

NAU senior linebacker D.J. Wade had a game-high 12 tackles along with 1.5 stops for losses.

Montana is at Weber State next week, while NAU hosts Sacramento State.