WORKING OVERTIME
Montana edges Sacramento St. despite career day by QB Safron
http://missoulian.com/sports/college/montana/football/montana-edges-sacramento-st-despite-career-day-by-qb-safron/article_7cdfdcb0-43fc-11e3-a520-0019bb2963f4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;SACRAMENTO, Calif. – When you find yourself in a shootout, it helps to have a repeating rifle.
For the second time in three weeks Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson fired a walk-off touchdown pass in overtime to Ellis Henderson on Saturday. The 12th-ranked Griz escaped with a dramatic 51-48 Big Sky Conference football win over Sacramento State in front of a crowd of 6,361 at sunny Hornet Stadium.
“Jordan was looking at it the whole way it seemed like and I really can’t tell you much more,” said a smiling Henderson, whose 25-yard dagger gives him an even dozen TD hookups with Johnson. “I kind of blacked out after that.
“The close games are definitely a little stressful, but winning like that is something you dream about since you were a kid. I’m more than grateful for it.”
Johnson, who ended Montana’s nail-biter with Cal Poly two weeks ago by throwing a 23-yard TD pass to Henderson in OT, showed resilience in bouncing back from a rocky first half in which he completed 6 of 16 passes. He finished 18 for 38 for 381 yards and two touchdowns.
“We needed this win more than any all season,” said the cool-headed junior. “If we drop this one the playoff picture gets really cloudy. So it’s huge in terms of playoffs and just moving on.
“I just feel like as a leader and captain I always have to stay composed, even if we’re not playing that great. Even though we scored 51 points, we left points out on the field. But a win is a win, especially on the road.”
Coach Mick Delaney’s Griz (4-2 conference, 7-2 overall) entered the weekend with a significant amount of injuries. Topping the list of those who did not make the trip were running backs Travon Van and Joey Counts.
Picking up the slack in the run game were starter Jordan Canada and true freshman John Nguyen. They combined for 96 yards and five touchdowns, with Canada scoring a career-high four.
Montana needed every one against quarterback Garrett Safron and the Sac State offense. The gutsy junior set four single-game school records, including completions (41), passing yards (412), total yards of offense (505) and total touchdowns (6).
“You know the second half really boiled down to we couldn’t stop them and they couldn’t stop us,” Delaney said. “We stopped them for a field goal (in OT) and they didn’t stop us for a touchdown and that was really what the whole … you know just putting it as simple as you can that’s what it came down to.”
Two weeks in a row now the Griz defense has allowed Big Sky quarterbacks to set single-game passing records, with Vernon Adams accomplishing the feat for Eastern Washington in a win at UM last week. No one is more frustrated than Montana’s middle linebacker, Brock Coyle. But the senior leader was proud of the way his unit finished.
“We are up by two scores and on defense we let them come back,” he said, referring to Montana’s 38-24 advantage heading into the final frame. “There were a lot of frustrating points in the game where I was just disappointed with us as a whole, as a defense, when we should make plays.
“But football is about wins and losses and we stuck it out and we played hard when it counted, holding them to a field goal in overtime. I’m really proud of the fellas for that. I really am.”
The Griz won the coin toss prior to overtime and elected to start on defense. Sac State (3-2, 4-5) moved the ball to Montana’s 8-yard line before sending place-kicker Brad Cornish on the field for a 25-yard field goal. That gave the hosts a 48-45 advantage.
Montana wasted no time in answering. On first down Johnson spotted Henderson running down the right side of the field near the 10-yard line and threw a perfect strike. Henderson had worked himself wide open after Hornets defensive back Osagie Odiase fell down biting on the sophomore’s inside move.
Afterwards, Johnson said he had a feeling that Henderson’s number would get called in overtime.
“He’s a great player and you want to give him the ball as much as we can,” the QB said. “They went one-on-one and he’s really tough to guard one-on-one. He made a really good play and I just had to put it on him.”
Canada’s fourth scoring run, a 1-yarder on a fourth-and-goal, gave Montana a 45-38 lead with 3:38 left to play. Delaney said he made the bold decision to go for six after carefully weighing his options.
“The game was tied at that time so we felt if we didn’t get it they had 99 and a half yards to go, even though we hadn’t slowed them down a whole lot,” Delaney said. “You know if you kick the field goal and happen to miss it – we’ve been struggling with that – man you go out to the 20. It’s like a turnover and you’re deflated.
“So I didn’t think it would be as much of a momentum swing to not get it on the fourth down and have the ball on the half-yard line as it would be missing a field goal. We just have enough confidence in our offensive line to get it done.”
The TD proved to be critical because the Hornets answered with a 10-play, 77-yard scoring drive. Safron’s 5-yard TD pass to Cole Hikutini in the closing seconds of regulation forced the OT.
The teams combined for 56 second-half points, the Griz out-scoring the Hornets 21-7 in the third quarter and then the Hornets doing the same thing to UM in the final stanza with a 21-7 scoring run.
“Our guys played their tails off and showed a resilient mindset and attitude to keep fighting back,” Sac State coach Marshall Sperbeck said. “This one stings a little bit.”
Quick kicks: In addition to Van and Counts, the Griz played without injured WR Taylor Walcott, WR Mitch Saylor, LB Kendrick Van Ackeren and S Steven Rominger. … Montana has won four of its last five games. … Wideout Jamaal Jones, a transfer from the University of Washington, scored his first TD for the Griz on a 54-yard pass from Johnson. Jones finished with a team-high seven catches.
Montana 3 14 21 7 6 – 51
Sacr St. 3 14 7 21 3 – 48
First Quarter
Sac–FG Cornish 24, 7:23.
Mont–FG Worst 22, 4:44.
Second Quarter
Sac–Carter 25 pass from Safron (Cornish kick), 7:33.
Mont–Canada 1 run (Worst kick), 2:25.
Mont–Jones 54 pass from J.Johnson (Worst kick), 1:33.
Sac–Hikutini 5 pass from Safron (Cornish kick), :18.
Third Quarter
Sac–Safron 1 run (Cornish kick), 9:33.
Mont–Canada 1 run (Worst kick), 7:42.
Mont–Nguyen 1 run (Worst kick), 1:16.
Mont–Canada 33 run (Worst kick), :14.
Fourth Quarter
Sac–Safron 10 run (Cornish kick), 12:03.
Sac–Maciel 4 pass from Safron (Cornish kick), 7:07.
Mont–Canada 1 run (Worst kick), 3:38.
Sac–Hikutini 5 pass from Safron (Cornish kick), :23.
Overtime
Sac–FG Cornish 25.
Mont–Henderson 25 pass from J.Johnson.
A–6,361.
Mont Sac
First downs 23 32
Rushes-yards 29-91 39-168
Passing 381 412
Comp-Att-Int 19-38-0 41-58-0
Return Yards 27 1
Punts-Avg. 5-41.0 4-44.3
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-3
Penalties-Yards 7-67 10-102
Time of Possession 25:06 34:54
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Montana, Canada 17-78, Nguyen 8-18, Team 1-(-1), J.Johnson 3-(-4). Sacramento St., Safron 20-93, Kellermann 9-69, McDade 1-8, Warren 2-5, Graham 1-1, Robinson 6-(-8).
PASSING–Montana, J.Johnson 19-38-0-381. Sacramento St., Safron 41-58-0-412.
RECEIVING–Montana, Jones 7-143, Henderson 5-180, Warren 4-41, Naccarato 1-10, Nguyen 1-5, Hagfors 1-2. Sacramento St., Carter 12-165, Norrise 10-100, Hikutini 5-42, Graham 4-19, Robinson 3-33, Harrison 3-25, Kellermann 2-16, Broadnax 1-8, Maciel 1-4.
