Jacks Season Ends in Playoff Loss at Montana

MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns to lead the third-seeded Grizzlies to a 50-29 victory over South Dakota State in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday afternoon at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Montana improved to 12-1 overall and will host South Dakota in quarterfinal action next weekend. The Jackrabbits had their season end with a 9-5 overall record under first-year head coach Dan Jackson.

The Grizzlies scored 30 consecutive points between the second and third quarters to gain control of the game. A 31-yard field goal by J Silver started the run and Montana gained the lead for good at 15-14 on a 5-yard touchdown run by Eli Gillman. The Grizzlies extended their lead to 22-14 with six seconds remaining in the opening half as Stevie Rocker Jr. caught his second touchdown pass of the game, a 5-yarder from Ah Yat that closed out an eight-play, 59-yard drive.

SDSU and Montana traded long touchdown passes in the first 10 minutes of the game, starting with the longest pass play in Jackrabbit history. After the SDSU defense came up with a goal-line stand on Montana's first possession of the game, Chase Mason found Grahm Goering open across the middle for a 95-yard catch and run. Goering would end the afternoon with four receptions for a career-high 137 yards.

The Grizzlies answered less than two minutes later when Ah Yat evaded pressure and connected with Rocker down the left side for a 45-yard scoring strike. The extra-point attempt was no good.

The Jackrabbits pushed their lead to 14-6 with an eight-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Mason scoring from a yard out. Mason would eventually end Montana's 30-point run with another 1-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the game, which was followed by a two-point pass to John Pica that made the score 36-22.

Ah Yat, meanwhile, threw touchdown passes of 29 yards to Drew Deck and 28 yards to Michael Wortham in the third quarter before Gillman put the game away with an 11-yard touchdown run following an unsuccess onside kick after Mason's fourth-quarter score.

James Basinger capped the scoring for SDSU with a 4-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

For the game, Ah Yat completed 29-of-37 passes and connected with nine different receivers, highlighted by Wortham's eight catches for 113 yards. Montana held a 556-417 advantage in total offense and picked up 32 first downs.

Gillman ended the afternoon with 135 yards on 24 carries to pace the Grizzlies' rushing attack.

Mason established a new career high in passing yards for the Jackrabbits with 356 after completing 19-of-33 attempts. He was intercepted twice.

Alex Bullock hauled in six receptions for 116 yards while Josiah Johnson was the leading ground gainer with 44 yards on 10 carries.

SDSU defensive end Dawson Ripperda registered a career-high nine tackles, including a pair of tackles for loss, to lead all players. T.J. Rausch posted eight stops for Montana.

NOTES

Montana leads the all-time series, 9-2, including a 3-2 edge in FCS playoff games
SDSU dropped to 25-14 all-time in FCS playoff games
The previous Jackrabbit record for longest pass play was 91 yards on two occasions (both for touchdowns): Ted Wahl to Jeff Tiefenthaler versus St. Cloud State on Nov. 8, 1986, and Austin Sumner to Jake Wieneke at Indiana State on Nov. 8, 2014
SDSU had two 100-yard receivers in the same game for the first time since Sept. 24, 2022, at Missouri State with Jadon Janke (8 catches, 102 yards) and Zach Heins (7 catches, 127 yards) combining to accomplish the feat
Mason's 356 passing yards and 366 yards of total offense both set Jackrabbit single-game playoff records
Bullock ended the season with a team-best 71 receptions to finish 10^th on the SDSU single-season charts
Attendance was 18,197

-GoJacks.com-

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