VALLEY / VENTURA COUNTY SPORTS : BIG SKY FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Montana State Rallies to Opening Victory

Montana State, which tied for second in the Big Sky Conference last year, survived a scare Saturday to pull out a 20-10 opening victory over Division II Chadron State at Bozeman, Mont.

Lathian Tyler, the only Bobcat to rush for positive yardage, scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to rally Montana State from a 10-6 deficit.

Tyler’s three-yard run up the middle with 11:48 left gave the Bobcats a 13-10 lead, their first lead since midway through the first quarter.

“We knew we had to pick it up in the fourth quarter,” said Tyler. “We had a lot of confidence in our offensive line. Late in the game they came through for us.”

Tyler scored on a five-yard run with 4:52 left after the Eagles muffed a punt on their own 43-yard line. He finished with 10 carries for 33 yards, but as a team, the Bobcats had seven yards rushing.

Chadron State, led by Matt Strand’s 284 yards passing, scored first with a 26-yard field goal by Aaron Turner with 8:11 in the first quarter.

Strand’s 67-yard touchdown pass play to Matt Mason later in the quarter gave the Eagles a 10-6 lead that lasted until the fourth quarter.

“I really felt good in the fourth quarter,” said Coach Brad Smith of Chadron State. “But MSU did a heck of a job on that drive.”

In a sloppy game for both teams, Chadron State was penalized 11 times for 107 yards including two crucial pass interference calls in the fourth quarter that kept alive Montana State’s first scoring drive.

The Bobcats were penalized nine times for 67 yards and had to give the ball back to Chadron in the fourth quarter after returning a punt with 13 men on the field.

Montana 45, South Dakota 13--Drew Miller passed for 354 yards and three touchdowns in the Grizzlies’ victory at Missoula, Mont.

Miller, a junior who transferred from BYU, completed 18 of 30 passes, including touchdowns of 17 and 44 yards to Tanner Hancock, a transfer from Kansas. The second score put Montana up 20-7 early in the second quarter.

The Grizzlies, ranked No. 3 in Division I-AA, took a 6-0 lead on a blocked punt returned for a touchdown.

The Division II Coyotes went up, 7-6, just over a minute later when Jamel White, who had 219 yards in total offense, scored on a 63-yard pass play from Peter Martin.

After Miller’s touchdown passes, South Dakota answered with a 22-yard field goal by Adam Hicks. Montana took a 27-10 halftime lead on a two-yard run by Nate Sanders.

Idaho State 54, Eastern Oregon 28--Nick Whitworth rushed for 221 yards and Larry Lewis won his debut as Idaho State’s new coach in Pocatello, Idaho.

Whitworth scored on runs of 72, 2 and 40 yards. His 2-yard touchdown two minutes into the fourth quarter was the first of four unanswered scores in the period as Idaho State extended a 26-21 lead.

Shane Griggs, a Pocatello native playing his first game in three years after transferring home from South Carolina, threw three touchdowns in the first quarter as the Bengals built a 19-7 lead.

The Mountaineers, an NAIA team, cut the halftime margin to 26-14 when Chuck Nyby threw a 56-yard scoring pass to Kyle Washburn with 2:57 left in the half.

Lewis came to Idaho State after 18 years as an assistant to Mike Price at Weber State and Washington State.

CS Sacramento 41, St. Mary’s 7--Charles Roberts rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Hornets in Sacramento.

Sacramento opened a 14-0 first-quarter lead on two Roberts’ runs. St. Mary’s responded with a four-yard run by quarterback Gus Papanikolas with 3:16 left.

But the Hornets dominated the rest of the game as their defense did not allow a St. Mary’s first down in the second half.