CHENEY, Washington — Montana controlled the first three quarters of Saturday night’s top-six showdown between two of the Big Sky Conference’s best teams. The Griz held a 21-10 lead early in the fourth quarter before an Eastern Washington avalanche of points.
Andrew Boston started the rally with his second touchdown catch to cut the lead to 21-16. Micah Smith scored from two yards out after Talolo Limu-Jones hauled in a 58-yard bomb on his 11th and final catch of the game. He finished with 231 yards but had to be carried off the field early in the fourth quarter.
Smith’s touchdown gave Eastern the lead for good. Montana nearly answered the bell after falling behind 24-21. Senior Cam Humphrey drove UM into the red-zone only to throw an interception in the end-zone while attempting to find Sammy Akem.
Instead, Demetrius Crosby Jr. picked Humphrey’s pass off, one of two picks thrown by Montana’s senior quarterback on a night where UM’s offense struggled.
Eastern turned that takeaway into Dennis Merritt’s eighth rushing touchdown of hte season to pus the lead to 31-21. Montana showed one last sign of life as Malik Flowers took a kick for a touchdown after Merritt’s touchdown.
But the Eagles got one more field goal, then knocked Humphrey out of the game, forcing UM freshman Kris Brown to take over the controls of the Griz offense.
Brown’s last-ditch efforts could not save the Griz as the visitors fell for the sixth time in as many visits to the “Inferno”.
What follows is a photo gallery of the action courtesy of Skyline Sports photographers Blake Hempstead and Jason Bacaj.
