DILLON, Mont. – Montana Western turned two first quarter interceptions into touchdowns, as the No. 25 ranked Bulldogs completed a season sweep of the College of Idaho with a 30-20 victory at frigid Vigilante Field.
Jason Ferris picked off the Yotes (2-5, 1-5 Frontier) first play from scrimmage, returning the ball to the 4-yard-line, setting up a Sam Rutherford touchdown run to give Western a 10-0 lead. Skylar Roope added a pick on the next drive and after a 59-yard pass play from J.D. Ferris to Matt Fuhrman, Hunter Thomson punched it in from 6-yards out to give the hosts a 17-0 lead just nine minutes into the game.
C of I would cut the margin to 23-14 midway through the third quarter, as a 41-yard
Zach Garzoli run was followed by a
Tyler Cox 1-yard scoring plunge, but the Bulldogs (4-3, 3-3) put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter, as Ferris scored on a 14-yard scramble after an 11-play drive.
Darius-James Peterson scored two touchdowns for the Yotes, including a late score on a 4th-and-goal at the Western 1-yard-line, but C of I was unable to recover an onside kick and the Bulldogs were able to run the clock out.
Thomson rushed for 106 yards on 19 carries for the Bulldogs – part of a 199 yard effort on the ground by the hosts. Ferris finished the afternoon 14-of-27 for 236 yards and a 2-yard scoring pass to tight end Ryan Sullivan late in the second quarter that gave UMW a 23-7 lead. Fuhrman was the top receiver, catching seven passes for 156 yards.
Cox was 17-of-35 for 189 yards in the loss for the Yotes, finding
Marcus Lenhardt eight times for 140 yards. Garzoli had 42 yards on the ground, eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark for his C of I career.
C of I looks to snap a four game losing streak on Saturday, hosting Southern Oregon at 1 p.m.
NOTES: The Coyote defense limited UMW's leading rusher, Sam Rutherford to just 30 yards on 11 carries…Lenhardt became the first Coyote since R.C. Owens in 1953 to record back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, recording his sixth career game with 100 or more receiving yards…Garzoli became the 13th player in program history to break the 1,000 yard rushing mark for a career, joining
Teejay Gordon as the only players with 1,000 rushing yards since football returned in 2014…
Ryan Texeira had a banner day punting the football, averaging 46 yards on five punts – with three punts downed inside the 20-yard-line…
Malik Whitfield recorded his team-high third interception – and had a second pick nullified by a C of I penalty…Western's Mitch Pelroy had a 100-yard kickoff return erased thanks to a holding penalty…
Nate Moore led the Yotes with 10 tackles,
Carlos Murana had nine tackles, including a stop for loss and both
Troy Carr and
Matt Crispo had seven tackles.
