By DAVE GUFFEY | Photos by MARK MESENKO
The University of Montana’s Jordan Canada, Jordan Johnson, and Zack Wagenmann led the way as the Grizzlies defeated the University of South Dakota Coyotes 28-20 Saturday evening in front of a Washington-Grizzly Stadium record crowd of 26,303.
Canada rushed 16 times for 114 yards, while Johnson passed for 2 touchdowns, and Wagenmann led a solid effort by the entire “D” with 3 sacks.
The Grizzlies (2-1) led the entire game, and took a 21-10 lead when Johnson tossed a 14-yard scoring pass to Jamaal Jones with 2:22 left in that stanza.
Josh Wagenmann. UM vs USD. Photo by ©Mark Mesenk for MakeItMissoula.com
The Coyotes (1-2) trimmed UM’s lead to 21-13 early in the fourth quarter (11:18) on a 29-yard field goal by Miles Bergner. But, the Griz regained a double-digit lead at 28-13 with 6:18 to go when halfback Travon Van broke loose for a 28-yard touchdown run.
USD got on the board with 1:50 remaining on a 31-yard TD pass from quarterback Ryan Saeger to Eric Shufford. The Coyotes’ subsequent on-side kick went out of bounds, and back-to-back runs by Canada secured a first down for the Griz, and they ran out the clock for the victory.
Montana scored the only points of the opening quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run by halfback John Nguyen with 39 seconds to go to take a 7-0 lead. USD cut the margin to 7-3 on a 35-yard field Goal by Bergner with 3:18 to go in the second stanza, and that’s how the first half ended.
Travon Van. Photo by ©Mark Mesenko for MakeItMissoula.com
The Griz upped their lead to 14-3 with 11:45 to go in the third quarter on a 12-yard hook-up between Johnson and tight end Mitch Saylor. The Coyotes countered that TD with a 2-yard run by Jasper Sanders with 7:16 left in the third quarter, but that was followed by the Johnson-to-Jones touchdown pass.
Canada rushed 16 times for those 114 yards, averaging 7.1 per attempt. Van had 12 totes for 59 yards, while Nguyen had 6 carries for 34 yards.
Johnson was 16-of-27-0 for 127 yards and the two touchdown passes. Jones had team-highs of 6 catches for 62 yards.
Wagenmann had 6 tackles to go with his 3 sacks. Senior free safety Matt Hermanson and junior linebacker Kendrick Van Ackeren each had a game-high 9 tackles, and Hermanson had his second interception in the last two weeks. UM senior tackle Trevor Rehm added 7 stops. UM’s defense held USD’s vaunted running attack to 134 yards on 37 attempts – 3.6-yard average per rush.
Jordan Johnson. UM vs USD. Photo by ©Mark Mesenko for MakeItMissoula.com
Johnson now has 6,143 career passing yards, moving him up to seventh on the career list, passing Marty Mornhinweg (6,083 yards, 1980-84).
Wagenmann now has 26 career sacks to move up to fifth, passing Corey Falls (24, 1993-96). He also moved up on the career tackles for loss list to sixth with 36 TFLs, passing Trey Young (34.5, 1999-2002).
Hermanson now has 263 career tackles, passing four players to move to 20th on the all-time list.
Photo by ©Mark Mesenko for MakeItMissoula.com
Saeger was 16-of-25-2 for 183 yards and a TD. Tight end Aaron Ramsey led USD with 5 receptions for 76 yards, while Jasper rushed 12 times for 74 yards and a score. Cornerback Mike Lilly had a team-high 8 tackles for the Coyotes.
The Griz eclipsed the former WGS attendance record of 26,293, set last year in the season and home opener against Appalachian State.
Montana plays at No. 1-ranked North Dakota State, the three-time defending FCS national champion, next Saturday in a 1:30 p.m. game in Fargo. USD hosts Northern Arizona next Saturday.
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