Griz edge out Eastern Washington in big offensive night
(Montana Sports Information) If you've ever watched Montana play at Eastern Washington before, you knew it wouldn't be simple or easy on Saturday night in Cheney
The Grizzlies and Eagles just don't play those kinds of games on the red turf of Roos Field, and Montana certainly needed to put together a big performance in order to win on the Inferno for the first time in program history.
There were gutsy fourth down calls, trick plays from both sides, surprise onside kicks, and so much more as the two teams combined for over 100 points and 1,252 total yards.
It took everything that Montana had, and a historic night from the offense, to leave Cheney with a 52-49 win over Eastern Washington. The Grizzlies totaled 701 yards, the second-most in program history, to outpace the Eagles in a late-night shootout.
The balance that head coach Bobby Hauck loves was on display as Montana as they passed for 364 yards and ran for 337 to eclipse the 700-yard mark.
"That was a great football game, a wild game," Hauck said. "Defensive fans are probably not as thrilled by it, but it was a great game. I've been saying all week what a fine job Aaron Best does here with this program. He had his team ready to fight. We had them on the ropes numerous times during that game, but they wouldn't give. They fought it out to the end and we were holding on for dear life, and found a way to get the job done."
Montana (4-1, 1-0 Big Sky) led for a majority of the game after scoring the final 21 points of the opening half, but it took some massive plays on fourth down for the Griz to pull out the win. They converted all three, including a touchdown pass in the final minutes, in a bold display of decision making, play calling, and execution.
Logan Fife started the game and went the distance in an impressive performance. The transfer quarterback went 30-for-42 for 364 yards and five touchdowns. It's the first time since 2021 that a quarterback has thrown for five scores, and the first time since the 2022 non-conference season that someone has thrown for 300-plus yards.
"Logan played really well. We needed every point, obviously, and he handled a lot of things," Hauck said. "There are some things that may have been a little gray for him, and I think when we go back and watch the film we will see he made a lot of good decisions throughout the game. Well played by Logan."
Nick Ostmo led the rushing attack with 160 yards on 15 carries, averaging 10.7 yards per carry behind a big 62-yard gain in the fourth quarter that set up the game-winning score. Ostmo scored on the ground, and also hauled in a receiving touchdown.
Ostmo moved into fifth place in Montana's all-time rushing yards list, passing Rocky Klever. He now trails only Yohance Humphery, Chase Reynolds, Lex Hilliard, and Jordan Canada.
Eli Gillman carried it 11 times for 109 yards, scoring from 69 yards out in the third quarter to continue his trend of making big plays. It's his third straight game with at least 100 yards, and he's also scored in all five contests.
He became just the 13th Grizzly to reach 20 rushing touchdowns in a career, tying Dave Dickenson and Josh Branen. Gillman also jumped several Griz legends and moved to 16th place on the all-time yardage chart with 1,598 career yards. He's averaging 10.1 yards per carry this season, and a seemingly improbable 6.2 yards per carry in his career.
It's the second time in the last three games that Montana had two rushers go for over 100 yards. Prior to this season, Montana hadn't done it since 2013.
