MISSOULA — After Kade Boyd and Peyton Wing awakened Montana from a third-quarter slumber, the Grizzlies rallied past North Dakota for a 24-23 win Saturday in a top-20 FCS showdown inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The fifth-ranked Griz trailed from the outset, but Boyd and Wing turned the tide in the third quarter. With the No. 16 Fighting Hawks looking to add to a 16-7 lead, Boyd hit UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski's arm as he was throwing, and the ball fluttered into Wing's arms.
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The interception gave Montana's offense — which had been mostly lackluster to that point — a short field, and quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat capitalized. He found Brooks Davis for a 24-yard touchdown that brought the Griz within 16-14.
From there, the game had the juice deserving of a top-20 matchup. North Dakota responded with its longest drive of the game, with six consecutive running plays, including a 40-yard designed run by quarterback Jerry Kaminski, getting the Fighting Hawks inside Montana's 10-yard line to start the fourth quarter. Kaminsky later found Korey Tai for a TD that gave UND a 23-14 lead.
Montana added a 42-yard field goal from Ty Morrison with 4:23 left to draw within one score.
North Dakota punted on its next possession, and Ah Yat orchestrated a six-play, 70-yard drive for the game-winning touchdown. The redshirt-sophomore quarterback converted a fourth-and-12 on the drive and then found Davis, who was wide open after a double move, for a 28-yard touchdown with 1:35 left.
Photos: No. 5 Montana surges past No. 16 North Dakota in thriller
FOURTH-QUARTER FLOURISH: After a sluggish start that extended well into the second half, Montana ignited its offense in the fourth quarter. Ah Yat completed 10 of 14 passes for 143 yards in the period, nearly matching what he did in the first three quarters. Ah Yat finished with 300 yards on 25-of-39 passing. He threw the two touchdowns to Davis but also had two first-half interceptions.
NORTH DAKOTA MISCUES: The Fighting Hawks will be kicking themselves for missing an opportunity for a marquee win in one of the toughest environments in college football. North Dakota missed a point-after attempt after its first touchdown of the game — an 82-yard pass from Kaminski to B.J. Fleming — that proved to be the margin.
But the Fighting Hawks came up empty on two other red zone trips, failing to convert a fourth-and-4 from Montana's 16-yard line and then inexplicably running out the clock right before halftime on another red zone trip.
UND also had a 56-yard touchdown early in the third quarter nullified by a penalty.
SACKS: North Dakota entered Saturday's game with only three total sacks on the season, but the Fighting Hawks had Ah Yat under pressure throughout. UND racked up five sacks for 33 yards. On the flip side, Kaminski, who passed for 258 yards and three touchdowns, was not sacked in the game.
WHAT'S NEXT: Montana is back inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium next Saturday for another non-conference game with a Missouri Valley foe. The Grizzlies will play Indiana State, which lost to Indiana 73-0 on Friday.
The Griz and Sycamores have played just once in their histories, with Montana recording a 49-14 win in 2022.
