Mark D. Robertson

MISSOULA – Jordan Johnson and the Montana Grizzlies started fast and didn’t look back in a 38-13 Homecoming thrashing of Big Sky rival Northern Colorado at Washington-Grizzly Saturday afternoon.

The Grizzly defense set the tone early, forcing Northern Colorado (1-4, 0-1 Big Sky) into a three-and-out and two straight false starts on the Bears’ first possession. Backed up against Washington-Grizzly Stadium’s famed north end zone, Montana junior Addison Owen broke through the punt protection and blocked the Bears’ punt to set the Grizzly offense up at the Bears’ 10-yard line. It took Montana just two plays to score.

“We came out fast like we said we had to,” Montana head coach Mick Delaney said. “We executed well in the first half. Obviously we’ve still got some work to do, but there’s a lot of good things.”

After another Northern Colorado three-and-out, the Grizzlies (3-2, 1-0 Big Sky) embarked on a seven-play, 71-yard scoring drive capped off by Jordan Johnson’s 41-yard pass to Billings Central alum Ryan Burke. Johnson finished with three touchdowns and 181 yards passing Saturday, carving up the Bears’ pillow-soft zone coverage. The senior signal called ran another score in from nine yards out.

On their next possession, the Grizzlies took a little less time. Travon Van broke a 71-yard run on Montana’s second play of the possession, zig-zagging through traffic and beating a pair of Northern Colorado players around the angle to the end zone.

“I thought, more than any other game this year, we got into that rhythm we need to get into,” Johnson said. “A big part of it was the blocked punt. We just got going on offense, got in that rhythm. We haven’t really been a fast-starting team since I’ve been here … but I think that’s a big thing for us to get some confidence going and get some points early.”

Northern Colorado quarterback Jonathan Newsom responded with a 74-yard run of his own, taking advantage of an open lane and holding off the Grizzly secondary as he dove into pay dirt.

Newsom, the Bears’ third-string quarterback on the depth chart, performed admirably on short notice in place of Sean Rubalcaba, who woke up Saturday with a twinge in his throwing shoulder. Second-stringer Brock Berglund was out with an ankle injury.

Newsom was 22-for-40 passing with an interception. He threw for 198 yards and ran for another 72 despite being sacked five times by the Grizzlies’ rowdy defensive front. The junior evaded multiple other sacks throughout the course of the game.

“I’d never seen this kid,” Delaney said of the transfer from Orange Coast College. “He’s a good football player. We’ve got pretty darn good defensive front guys, and we couldn’t really get our hands on him.”

Montana retaliated with another first-stanza score, this time going 66 yards in five plays, capped by a 9-yard run by Johnson.

The score put the Grizzlies up 28-7, which would be the first quarter deficit, and comfortably in possession of the game. Johnson collected 115 of his 181 passing yards in the first.

“We can’t come out and start as slow as we did,” said Northern Colorado head coach Earnest Collins Jr. “… Those types of things we can’t do in this conference, especially against a team the caliber as Montana.”

Northern Colorado added a 41-yard field goal from Seth Czapenski late in the second, and the Griz countered when Johnson found Mike Ralston on a 21-yard slant for a score; Montana took that 35-10 lead into intermission.

Each team added another field goal in the third quarter – Montana’s Dan Sullivan punched a 37-yarder through the wickets and Czapenski added a 26-yarder to cap Northern Colorado’s 19-play, 66-yard possession that ate 9:08 off the third-quarter clock.

The two teams would combine for just six first downs in a scoreless fourth quarter.

Van highlighted the UM rushing attack, netting 127 yards on nine carries. Jordan Canada added 14 totes for 51 yards.

Jones led all Montana receivers with four catches for 47 yards.

Chris Lider, handling punting duties for the injured Stephen Shaw, performed admirably. The junior laid two of his five punts inside the 20-yard line and averaged 37.8 yards-per-kick.

The place-kicking game seems to belong to Sullivan after the transfer from Wyoming was true on his field goal and all five extra points and pinned the Bears to a touchback on five of seven kickoffs Saturday.

“I think we’ve settled into where we have to be in the kicking game,” Delaney said.

Starting nose tackle Tonga Takai sat out Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury, and receiver/return man Ellis Henderson did not appear in the game either. Henderson has been battling a bacterial infection in his stomach since the offseason.

In other injury news, receiver Chase Naccarato appeared to re-aggravate the left ankle injury that held him out of the Grizzlies’ first four games of the season late in Saturday’s contest.

Johnson’s three touchdowns Saturday bump the senior up to third on the Grizzlies’ all-time leaderboard with 59 in his career.

The Grizzlies hit the road for Grand Forks, N.D., next week for an appointment with North Dakota. The mascot-less university fell in its conference opener, 29-18, Saturday at Montana State. It will be Montana’s second trip in three weeks to the Peace Garden State following last weekend’s loss to North Dakota State in Fargo.

Delaney, though, was happy to see his club respond the way it did in Saturday’s Homecoming blowout.

“Leaving Fargo, N.D. last week was not easy – and I know we put it to bed, but that was a hard loss,” the coach said. “You never know how I’m going to react, how the coaches are, how the players are.”

But Saturday marked the start of a new season – the Big Sky Conference season – and in that, the Grizzlies sit a perfect 1-0.