DILLON, Mont. –
Darius-James Peterson capped a game-ending five-minute drive with a 4th-and-2 conversion with 60 seconds left, as the College of Idaho ran their win streak to five with a 17-14 upset of No. 20 ranked Montana Western at Vigilante Field.
Justin Hellyer scored on a 49-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to give the Yotes (5-5, 5-4 Frontier) the lead, with the C of I defense doing the rest – handing a fourth-straight Top-25 team a defeat.
Western (6-3, 6-3) had two chances in the fourth quarter – as Jon Jund hit Walker McKitrick three times for 45 yards on a 67-yard march to the C of I 2-yard-line. However, on a 2nd-and-goal rush, Jund was stripped by the Yotes
Tristen Alesi and
Jayden Dawson recovered to end the drive. After a short Coyote punt, the Bulldogs reached the C of I 25, but a Mark Kharchenko 45-yard field goal attempt clanged off the right upright.
The Coyote offense took over on their own 28-yard-line with just over five minutes remaining – and never gave up the football. A
Nick Calzaretta 11-yard run and a Hellyer 12-yard scamper provided first downs, with Peterson hooking up with
John Horn on a crucial 15-yard third down completion with two minutes left to move the chains. Facing a 4th-and-2 at the Western 25, Peterson broke three tackles to reach the line to gain – handing C of I their first-ever road win over the Dawgs.
Playing in a howling windstorm, Western struck first, as Jund found McKitrick on a post-corner route for a 73-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead. C of I answered with a defensive stand, stopping Western on a 4th-and-1 try late in the first quarter – turning the good field position into a touchdown. Peterson hit
Keegan Crafton on a 29-yard strike and three plays later, found
Connor Richardson in the end zone on a 10-yard scoring pass to even the score.
The score remained deadlocked into the third quarter until
Kai Walter blocked a Kharchenko punt, giving C of I the football on the Western 33-yard-line. Four plays later,
Kyle Mitchell booted a school-record 45-yard field goal to give the Yotes their first lead.
Western regained the lead late in the period, as Jund connected with Nate Simkins on a 50-yard touchdown pass, capping an 85-yard drive, but C of I answered in a hurry – as on the fourth play of the ensuing drive, Hellyer took a sweep and found a seem – outracing the Bulldog defense to the left pylon in the end zone for a 17-14 edge.
The Coyotes finished with 176 yards rushing against the stout UMW defense, as Hellyer had a season-high 70 yards on the ground and
Nick Calzaretta added 63 yards on 18 carries. Peterson finished 16-of-32 for 213 yards – connecting with eight different receivers, while adding 28 rushing yards.
Jund finished 24-of-37 for 317 yards for Western – but was intercepted in the end zone by Alesi and was sacked four times. McKitrick caught seven passes for 141 yards, with Kylar Prante rushing 18 times for 93 yards in the loss.
C of I closes out the regular-season on Saturday, traveling to Montana State Northern for a Noon kickoff.
NOTES – The five-game win streak is the Yotes longest since a 14-game win streak between the 1952 and 1953 seasons...making his second start of the season, freshman linebacker
Viliami Hansen led the Yotes with 11 tackles – including a sack – while Danny Garcia added 1.5 sacks, giving him a team-high 6.5 sacks on the season…Peterson broke the career passing yards record on his first completion of the day, surpassing
Teejay Gordon's previous mark of 4,100 yards…Mitchell's field goal broke his own school record by two yards – as the junior hit a 43-yard kick during the 2017 season…the Yotes converted 8-of-17 third down opportunities and held a 32-28 edge in time of possession…C of I sits in a three-way tie for third in the Frontier Conference standings at 5-4 – two games behind Rocky Mountain and a game behind Western.
