MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies are in domination mode right now in the chase for the FCS championship.
No. 3-seeded Montana didn’t let No. 11 South Dakota blink before imposing its will Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, and the Griz went on to a 52-22 romp in the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs.
The victory sets up what we knew was possible — an unprecedented semifinal showdown between the Griz and archrival Montana State, which will be contested next week at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman for a berth in the national championship game. No. 2 MSU beat No. 7 seed Stephen F. Austin 44-28 in the quarterfinals on Friday.
ESPN reported during Saturday's broadcast that the semifinal will kick off at 2 p.m. next Saturday on ABC.
Against South Dakota, the Grizzlies received the opening kickoff and immediately marched 75 yards in 12 plays, capped by a 1-yard touchdown toss from Keali’i Ah Yat to Drew Deck and a 7-0 lead. Then on South Dakota’s third offensive play, UM’s Jareb Ramos forced a fumble that was recovered by Kenzel Lawler. That set up a 24-yard field goal by Jo Silver.
And when Eli Gillman scored on a short touchdown run early in the second quarter — his 20th rushing TD of the year and the 48th of his career — Montana had a 17-0 lead. At that point, the Griz had run 31 plays to just six for South Dakota.
At that point, visions of a Cat/Griz rematch became very real.
But the star of the day for the Grizzlies was Michael Wortham, who finished with 201 receiving yards, 43 rushing yards, 25 return yards and scored three total TDs. He also threw a lateral to Gillman on a razzle-dazzle third-and-20 conversion and later in that possession scored on an 11-yard rushing touchdown to seal the game.
In the process, Wortham broke the school record for all-purpose yards in a season set by Marc Mariani in 2008.
Related: Montana State returns to FCS semifinals with wire-to-wire win over Stephen F. Austin
The Coyotes’ offense didn’t achieve a first down until less than 5:00 remained in the second quarter. Montana outgained USD in yards 260 to 101 in the first half.
South Dakota got its first points on a 23-yard touchdown run by L.J. Phillips on fourth down with 34 seconds left before intermission. Phillips, who’d rushed for 1,847 yards and 18 touchdown coming into the game, was later lost to injury in the third quarter.
Lefty QB Aidan Bouman and USD's offense were hampered by early inefficiency and penalties. The Coyotes' offense was flagged for eight false starts and had 13 penalties as a team overall.
With the win, the Grizzlies improved to 13-1 and are back in the FCS semifinal round for the second time in three years and for the sixth time in the 15-year split tenure of coach Bobby Hauck. South Dakota ended with a 10-5 record under first-year coach Travis Johansen.
AH YAT ON A HEATER: With 5:30 left in the second quarter, Ah Yat delivered a strike over the middle to the all-purpose Wortham, who raced to the end zone untouched for a 53-yard touchdown. That play gave the Grizzlies a stranglehold up 24-0, and they went into the break leading 24-7.
It was another strong performance for Ah Yat, who finished with 305 yards and three touchdowns, including a 51-yard TD bomb to Wortham in the third. Ah Yat continues his stellar run leading Montana’s offense. He now has 23 touchdown passes and only two interceptions in the past eight games, and seven TD throws in the playoffs so far.
STACKED DECK: A senior from Kalispell, Montana’s Deck continues to make a major playoff impact.
In addition to his first-quarter touchdown catch Saturday, Deck returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter to put the Grizzlies ahead 31-7. He has now scored three touchdowns in two playoff games, including a spectacular diving catch in the end zone last week in a 50-29 rout of South Dakota State in the second round.
THEY WOULDN’T BREAK: Lost in the shuffle of the explosive plays was Montana’s defensive performance.
Ramos’ forced fumble and Lawler’s subsequent recovery constituted South Dakota first turnover on offense since Oct. 1, and it led to a two-score lead for the Griz. Peyton Wing later picked off Bouman in the fourth quarter.
But perhaps the true microcosm of the game came in the third quarter when USD put together a 17-play drive that ate up 9 minutes, 31 seconds — but produced no points. An incomplete pass by Bouman in the end zone on fourth down gave the ball back to the Grizzlies.
WHAT’S NEXT: What more could you want? Next Saturday’s semifinal matchup between the Grizzlies and Bobcats will be the 125th game between the programs but the first time they’ve gone head-to-head in the postseason, and the first time they’ll play twice in the same season since 1913.
Montana State beat Montana 31-28 in Missoula on Nov. 22 in the regular-season finale to earn the outright Big Sky title and the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. The Grizzlies lead the all-time series 74-44-5 but MSU owns a 12-10 edge since 2002.
