South Dakota State started its journey back to Frisco with a bang, taking down the Montana Grizzlies 35-18.
It was the 10th all-time meeting between the Jacks and Griz. Montana, on its first trip to Brookings since 1970, was looking to avenge its national championship loss from a year ago.
And, at least in the game’s opening minutes, it felt like the Griz might get their revenge.
While the Jacks’ defense set the tone with a quick three-and-out of the Montana offense, it was the UM defense that forced the first takeaway.
Running back Angel Johnson fumbled the football on his first carry of the game, leading to a Ty Morrison 34-yard field goal 10 plays later.
“We had a good first couple of plays there to start off the game and I mean, that’s just a simple mistake and we ended up letting a guy get through the offensive line and he made a good play on it,” said quarterback Mark Gronowski on the early turnover. “But the defense did a good job of responding and only giving up a field goal.”
As much as the early field goal set the Grizzlies in the right direction, the Jacks didn’t take the turnover lightly.
On the ensuing drive, Gronowski threw a lateral to Kevin Brenner who threw it right back to Gronowski on a double pass taking it to the one-yard line, setting up a Gronowski quarterback sneak the very next play.
“We’ve been working on that trick play since the beginning of the season,” said Gronowski. “Standing in the huddle, usually you have a running back in the huddle with you. I look around and I don’t see Amar in there and I’m like ‘What is going on’, then I see the three tight ends and I’m like ‘Oh we’re running this, we’re running this’, so it was really cool.”
SDSU got the ball back and Gronowski was able to get receiver Griffin Wilde involved with back-to-back big completions, the second going for a 34-yard touchdown.
Gronowski ended the day completing 12-of-16 pass attempts for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
“We were playing really well today, everything was kind of clicking,” said Gronowski on the passing game. “I was seeing things really well, and the offensive line played an awesome game and gave me a lot of time back there and be able to make those reads.”
Wilde, on the other hand, finished with seven catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns while surpassing 1,000 receiving yards this season as well.
“I’ll take Griffin one-on-one against anybody in the country, and he got his opportunity and made plays,” said Gronowski on Wilde.
The Jacks had a missed opportunity to put more points on the board following an interception by Tucker Large, with Hunter Dustman missing a 44-yard field goal wide left, but the Gronowski to Wilde connection struck again to end the first half on a 24-yard touchdown pass.
With a 21-3 halftime lead and receiving the ball out of the break, the Jacks leaned on their top-ranked defense and ground attack the rest of the way.
The unsung portion of the game was exactly when the Jacks played their best and have played their best all season, the third quarter.
While they didn’t score or have any big plays in the entire 15 minutes, they completely took away any rhythm and comeback hope Montana had by limiting them to just one possession.
“We had one defensive series in the third quarter after scoring going into the half, so I think that played a huge part in it,” said SDSU coach Jimmy Rogers.
What blew the game wide open was the first 90 seconds of the quarter, where the Jacks scored twice in a little over a minute.
Gronowski found paydirt once again on a quarterback sneak, which preceded senior linebacker Adam Bock’s second career pick-six, pushing the game to a 32-point route.
Bock finished with eight tackles, an interception, and a quarterback hit in the victory.
“I got a nice assist from Matt Durrance and it kind of ended up right in my lap,” said Bock on the interception. “And then the running back instincts kind of kicked in.”
The Griz and freshman quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat scored two touchdowns late in the game, but it was far too big a hill for Montana to come back from.
UM takes its second-ever loss to the Jacks, as well as its second loss to SDSU in 2024.
South Dakota State totaled 222 rushing yards in the victory, including 103 yards from senior tailback Amar Johnson and 91 yards from Angel Johnson.
Defensively, Joe Ollman, Matthew Durrance, Chase Van Tol, Jarod DePriest, Kobe Clayborne and Bryce Hawthorne each tallied four sacks in the win, including 1.5 sacks by Hawthorne.
Montana’s Ah Yat totaled 231 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, as well as leading the Griz in rushing with 25 yards.
“He’s a great athlete,” said coach Rogers on Ah Yat. “Most of their rushing yards came off of scrambles and he created that just cause he’s a great player. I think we need to do a better job of finishing at the quarterback and turning those big plays into sacks.”
Keelan White and Sawyer Racanelli were Ah Yat’s favorite targets in the loss. White collected five receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown, while Racanelli totaled three catches for 66 yards and a score as well.
Ryder Meyer led the Montana defense with 10 tackles, safety Jaxon Lee tallied eight tackles and Henry Nuce recorded seven tackles, including a forced fumble.
“Excited about the win,” said coach Rogers. “All playoff wins are tough. Montana is a really well-coached football team, and I felt like we came out and executed really well.”
Up next
The Jacks advance to the FCS quarterfinals and will host Incarnate Word, who it beat earlier this season 45-24, at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.
