Cat-Griz Report: Griz, Cats both romp at home

MISSOULA (AP) — Makena Simis threw for 321 yards and tied a school record with six touchdowns in his first start, and the No. 19 Montana Grizzlies swamped North Dakota 42-16 on Saturday.

Montana (4-3, 3-1 Big Sky), trailed early after John Santiago scored on an 80-yard run on North Dakota's first snap. The Grizzlies dominated after that, taking the lead for good at 14-10 on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Simis to Ellis Henderson with 5:27 left in the second quarter.

Henderson and Jamaal Jones each caught two touchdown passes. Henderson hauled in a 63-yarder to push the lead to 21-10 before halftime, and Jones caught touchdowns covering 74 and 22 yards, the last pushing the gap to 42-10 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Simis, a sophomore, began the season as the third-string quarterback. He completed 15 of 22 passes.

"He did a great job of executing the game plan," said Bob Stitt, UM's first-year coach. "We gave him some options and had some other things where we didn't give him options. He did a nice job checking protections when we needed it, and he gave our receivers a chance. And they made plays."

The game turned after North Dakota drove 57 yards to a short field goal from Reid Taubenheim for a 10-7 lead. Montana scored 36 seconds later, with Henderson snaring a TD pass at 5:27 of the second quarter.

Simis and Henderson hooked up again at the 2:43 mark, with the junior receiver going up and over a falling defender.

"It's easy when you've got dudes on the outside that can create separation," Simis said. "You just have to get them the ball. They made some incredible plays."

North Dakota quarterback Ryan Bartels was making his second start in place of the injured Keaton Studsrud, and the junior completed 10 of 21 passes for 113 yards.

Bartels was intercepted once, by linebacker Jeremiah Kose on North Dakota's first possession of the second half. Simis then found Josh Horner for 12 yards and a touchdown to make it 28-10 with 11:33 left in the third quarter.

"It was a back-and-forth game in the first half, but once again, you just can't give up big pass plays," North Dakota coach Bubba Schweigert said. "You've got to make offenses earn their scores and we didn't do a good enough job of that today."

Simis also had a 23-yard touchdown pass to Ben Roberts. Jones caught four passes for 139 yards, while Henderson had three catches for 114.

Santiago, a freshman, ran for a career-best 178 yards for North Dakota (4-4, 2-3).

The Griz must now play two straight on the road, starting with a huge showdown at Big Sky front runner Portland State this Saturday.

Bobcats 63, ETSU 7

BOZEMAN (AP) — Dakota Prukop threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns before leaving early in the third quarter in No. 20 Montana State's 63-7 win over East Tennessee State Saturday.

Montana State (4-3) built a 42-0 lead and gave way to backups from there. The Bobcats, who have struggled on defense, held ETSU (0-7) scoreless for first 51 minutes. The Buccaneers, however, gained nearly 400 yards and had 15 plays of 10 yards or more.

"There are two or three concepts that offenses are running against us that are more successful than I'd like to see, but generally I'm happy with how we played," MSU head coach Rob Ash said.

Prukop finished 15 for 21 and had 31 yards rushing on four carries. Jake Bleskin, who replaced him, led the Bobcats on a pair of scoring drives.

Jajuan Stinson and Tony Drew combined for 126 yards rushing on 17 carries to lead ETSU.

"We moved the ball pretty good at times," said ETSU coach Carl Torbush, whose Bucs threw for 206 yards, rushed for 170 and averaged 4.9 per play. "We still have to get it in the end zone. I don't care who it is, you have to score more than seven points."

The Bobcats will look for a much-needed road win this Saturday at North Dakota.