Fife throws 5 TD passes; Montana beats Eastern Washington 52-49 in a wild finish to open the Big Sky

CHENEY, Wash. (AP) — Logan Fife threw five touchdown passes and Montana held off Eastern Washington 52-49 in a wild finish Saturday night in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.

Fife’s fifth TD pass, a 2-yarder to tight end Jake Olsonextended Montana’s lead to 52-42 with 2:34 left. Eastern Washington responded 10 games later, as Kekoa Visperas connected with Cole Pruett on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 52 seconds left.

Soren McKee’s subsequent onside kick bounced out of bounds. The Eagles successfully recovered an onside kick earlier in the game.

Montana (4-1, 1-0) scored 21 points in the second half, while Eastern Washington (1-4, 0-1) scored 35 points, including 28 in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies, ranked ninth in the FCS, totaled 701 yards of offense. Eastern Washington finished with 551.

It was Montana’s first victory on the red turf in Eastern Washington, which was created in 2010. Montana leads the series 31-18-1 and was 11-11 in games played at Cheney, 0-6 on the red surface.

Fife completed 30 of 42 passes for 364 yards and hit Erik Barker for two scores. Junior Bergen had seven catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. Nick Ostmo carried 15 balls for 160 yards and a TD. Eli Gillman added 11 carries for 109 yards, including a 69-yard TD run.

Fife filled in for freshman Keali’i Ah Yat, who left the team after being scrambled late in the third quarter in the Grizzlies’ 46-35 win over Western Carolina. Ah Yat set the single-game program record for quarterbacks with four rushing touchdowns against the Catamounts and didn’t hold back against Eastern Washington.

Fife completed 21 of 28 passes for 309 yards in the first half while the Grizzlies racked up 396 yards on offense.

Visperas was 22 of 38 passing for 265 yards with four touchdown passes, three of them to Efton Chism III, who finished with eight catches for 107 yards. Visperas also rushed for 61 yards and two scores for the Eagles.

Montana defeated visiting EWU 63-7 in the team’s final game in 2022.

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