A stretch of three straight touchdown drives in the second half rescued Montana’s offense after a listless opening half and propelled the Grizzlies to a 31-14 win over Dixie State on Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kris Brown, making his first start in place of the injured senior Cam Humphrey, completed 20 of 30 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
He also ran for two 1-yard touchdowns and lost two fumbles, one of which was returned for a score by Dixie State.
Montana was held scoreless for nearly the entire first half and led just 3-0 at halftime after a short Kevin Macias field goal with just over two minutes before the break.
Macias missed a field goal on the opening possession of the second half, but Montana’s offense was slowly waking up. Junior Bergen went around right end for a 6-yard score on Montana’s next drive, the first touchdown of his career for the freshman from Billings.
Brown then hit Cole Grossman for an 8-yard score, the first touchdown of the tight end’s career, and snuck in for the first of his two touchdowns on the drive after that to give Montana a 24-0 lead 30 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Xavier Harris ran 29 times for 119 yards for the Griz. Grossman had a team-high 70 receiving yards on five catches. Cornerback Justin Ford intercepted a pass and forced and recovered a fumble. Freshman tailback Junior Bergen also scored the first touchdown of his career, which also served as the first touchdown of the game midway through the third quarter.
The win moved the No. 6 Grizzlies to 4-1. Montana hosts Sacramento State next weekend.
