ST. GEORGE — It was deja vu all over again as a football team from Montana humbled Utah Tech on the gridiron for the second week in a row.
Utah Tech opened its home schedule for the 2023 season on the wrong side of a 43-13 decision against No. 13 Montana at Greater Zion Stadium Saturday night.
One week after Utah Tech was upended by No. 3 Montana State 63-20 on the road, lack of execution on offense and a failure to stop the run on defense led to the 30-point dismantling by the Grizzlies at home.
Montana had six possessions on offense in the first half of Saturday night’s contest and the Grizzlies produced touchdowns on four of them.
Add in a 47-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter by Junior Bergen and Montana took a comfortable 36-0 lead into halftime.
Starting quarterback Boone Abbott threw an interception on the third play of the game and the Trailblazers were playing catchup for the entire contest. The scoreboard read 43-0 for Montana in the fourth quarter before Utah Tech scored via a 23-yard touchdown pass by Kobe Tracy to Jaivian Lofton.
The Trailblazers got the ball back and produced their best sustained drive on the night, going 78 yards in 12 plays. Tracy found Rickie Johnson for a 7-yard touchdown with 4:17 remaining. Connor Brooksby booted the PAT to provide the final margin.
Montana rushed for 262 yards over 57 attempts in the victory. Nick Ostmo led the Grizzlies with 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns while Eli Gillman contributed 78 yards and two more touchdowns for the winners.
Ronnie Walker Jr. led the Trailblazers’ effort on the ground, finishing with 55 yards on 11 totes. Freshman Nygel Osborne ran six times for 48 yards for Utah Tech.
The Utah Tech quarterback duo of Boone and Tracy combined for 258 passing yards off of 21 completions in 49 attempts in the defeat to Montana. They combined for two touchdowns, three interceptions and two sacks.
The signal callers produced a nearly identical line in the loss against Montana State.
Boone and Tracy accounted for 260 yards in the air off of 21 completions in 41 attempts against the Bobcats. And again, they accounted for two touchdowns, three interceptions and two sacks.
Utah Tech (0-2) will seek its first win next week on the road at Northern Arizona (0-2).
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.