MONTANA AT MONTANA STATE KICKOFF: NOON, SATURDAY, NOV. 23, 2019 BRAWL OF THE WILD INSIDE Montana State’s Jalen FUMBLE GAME Cole tackles Montana’s Looking back at last year’s epic finish Jerry Louie- McGee in last year’s GREGORAK Q&A Brawl of the Wild. ‘It was not OK to lose’ TOMMY MARTINO, MISSOULIAN View prices and schedule an FOR ANY WEATHER appointment at www.LesSchwab.com 2 | SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 FUELING YOUR MONTANA ADVENTURESSUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 | 3 townpump.com @townpumpMTwnpumpMT Behind every great Want more day is a great night. money? ask us how to join real real rewarards $40 Free Play TEDD HOLLY $20 Free Play ABBY STANLY $50 Free Play BARB BEST ABAQBAS G7HB01W GGASD4W MONTANA’S HIGHEST PAYING Reward Club Please play responsibly. If you or someone close to you has a gambling problem we want to help. Free counseling is available at 1-888-900-9979. All calls are confidential. 4 | SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 BRAWL OF THE WILD BRAWL OF THE WILD | ‘THE FUMBLE’ GREATEST BRAWL OF THEM ALL? Last year’s thriller in Missoula will be tough to top GREG RACHAC 406mtsports.com BOZEMAN — The looks on the two men’s faces on that day last November could not have contrasted more. But they nevertheless expressed the same emotion: Disbelief. Je Choate sat down not long after his Montana State football team capped a surprising come-from-behind victory against heated rival Montana — in the most stunning way possible — and wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Some of it seems like a little bit of a blur right now,” a wide-eyed Choate told the gathered media following the Bobcats’ 29-25 victory in Missoula. “Processing all this is probably not going to hit me for a while.” Understandably so. Montana coach Bobby Hauck was simi- larly dazed. His Grizzlies were rolling over MSU earlier in the day, seemingly poised to blow the Bobcats right out of Wash- ington-Grizzly Stadium. But that didn’t happen. “I’ve got a pretty sour taste,” said Hauck after coaching in his first Brawl of the Wild game since returning to the Grizzlies as coach 11 months earlier. “There’s a lot of ways to find a way not to win, and this one’s particularly gut-wrenching.” There was no other way to describe it. To summarize, it was the Bobcats’ third consecutive victory over the Grizzlies, which hadn’t occurred since the mid- 1980s. And the sheer impossibility of the way it transpired made the game one of the true classics in the long history of the rivalry. A recap: After trailing 22-0 in the first half the Bobcats reeled o 29 unanswered points, including three short touchdown runs by quarterback Troy Andersen. MSU took the lead on a 13-yard TD run by running back Logan Jones with 2:19 remaining, leaving the 26,508 in attendance reeling. But Montana’s Malik Flowers returned TOMMY MARTINO, MISSOULIAN the ensuing kicko 47 yards to the 50- Montana State tight end Ryan Davis, center, carries the Great Divide trophy with Walker Cozzie, left, and Grant Collins, right, after the Bobcats beat the Montana Grizzlies 29-25 last year in the 118th Brawl of the Wild at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Montana has lost three Please see THRILLER, Page 6 straight to Montana State. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 | 5 Missoula, MT 4800 Grant Creek Rd. 406.541.4800 WHICH SIDE www.BRETZRV.comwww.BRETZRV.com ARE YOU ON? BILLINGS, MT 2999 Old Hardin Rd. 406.248.7481 6 | SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 BRAWL OF THE WILD BRAWL OF THE WILD | ‘THE FUMBLE’ Thriller From 4 yard line, setting the Grizzlies up with great field position and a chance to steal victory from defeat. Quarterback Dalton Sneed quickly completed passes to running back Adam Eastwood, Jerry Louie-McGee and Keenan Curran as the Grizzlies moved inside MSU’s 10-yard line. Sneed then rushed five yards to the 4, and Eastwood carried the ball for three more yards to the 1. There were 14 seconds on the clock, and Montana, on the doorstep of a wild vic- tory, called time out. But that’s when things got positively crazy. From the 1-yard line, Sneed lined up in the shotgun with Eastwood at his side. The ball was snapped, Sneed handed it to Eastwood and he crossed the goal line with ease. Touchdown. Game over. Right? It would have been, but a split second before the play began Choate had called time out and the o¥cial’s whistle negated the play. As he told it, Choate wanted to see what formation the Grizzlies would line up in before deciding what to do de- fensively. Only his players weren’t aware. “The first play where they thought they scored, apparently (the coaches) knew TOMMY MARTINO, MISSOULIAN we were going to take a timeout but they Montana center Cody Meyer reacts after running back Adam Eastwood fumbled the ball on the goal line to lose the Brawl of the Wild for didn’t tell any of us,” MSU defensive line- Montana last year. The Grizzlies lost to the Bobcats 29-25 for the third time in a row in the 118th Brawl of the Wild Nov. 17, 2018, in Missoula. man Tucker Yates said. “Choate didn’t tell any of the defensive guys. Emotions ran deep in the immediate came in and finished him o and the ball season at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, “We called a super, super base play that aftermath. The Grizzlies, of course, were came out,” Yates explained. “We’re never there could be similar spoils up for grabs. isn’t normally a goal-line play so we were crushed. going to forget that play. That’s going to be By early November the Grizzlies were a like, ‘What the heck? We’re calling this?’ “It was tough,” Eastwood, a sopho- special between me and Grant for a long game back of league-leading Weber State So we were all surprised.” more on this year’s Griz team, told time.” in the Big Sky standings, as the second As the teams lined up again, the Griz- 406mtsports.com. “I wish I could go back Whether it’s the greatest Brawl of them year of Hauck’s second stint as coach was zlies showed the same formation. Though and change it. I can’t. It happened.” all is up for debate. MSU fans will prob- producing more consistent performances the Bobcats, on the contrary, were lined “It was definitely tough on him,” Sneed ably say it is. Griz fans would just as soon — and more consistent winning. up in their heavy goal-line set. said. “No one wants to be in that position. forget it. The Bobcats were also chasing a playo The ball was snapped. Again. Same play. It’s (your) worst nightmare.” Either way, it has to rank right up there berth in Choate’s fourth year at the helm, This time, Eastwood was met hard at The Bobcats were naturally elated, with the 1997 game in Bozeman — in and were one game back of the Grizzlies the line of scrimmage by Yates and line- and it showed on the field. Their defense which a deep pass from UM quarterback in the league standings. backer Grant Collins. The ball popped out. made a play with their backs to the wall Brian Ah Yat to Helena product Justin The only thing that’s certain right now Bobcats defensive lineman Derek Marks to preserve its third consecutive win over Olsen set up a 37-yard field goal by Kris is that the Great Divide Trophy has taken landed on it to snu out Montana’s scor- Montana. Heppner as time expired to give the Griz up residence in the locker room at Montana ing threat and cap the most consequential Yates, a Colstrip product whose eligi- a 27-25 victory and continue a winning State for the past three years — and that goal-line stand in rivalry history. bility ended after last season, was o¥- streak that would eventually reach 16 in Montana desperately wants to take it back. MSU’s o ense then ran out the final 10 cially credited with the forced fumble but a row. How will the drama unfold this time? seconds and the Bobcats had won. It was those within the MSU football program A year removed from what some de- Sit back, relax and enjoy. a victory that clinched their first postsea- said Collins, who was a senior out of Boz- scribed as a “miracle” in Missoula, the son berth in four years. eman High at the time, helped dislodge memories are still fresh. Email Greg Rachac at Greg. The Grizzlies had lost, ending their the ball. Last year, a playo berth was on the [email protected] or follow him on season. “I gave him a good pop and then Grant line. In the 119th Brawl of the Wild this Twitter at @gregrachac BRAWL OF THE WILD SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 | 7 8 | SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 BRAWL OF THE WILD BRAWL OF THE WILD | TY GREGORAK ‘IT WAS NOT OK TO LOSE’ Ex-UM, MSU coach Gregorak gives look inside Cat-Griz rivalry FRANK GOGOLA [email protected] y Gregorak knows one thing for sure come Nov. 23: He’ll be warm while watching the Brawl of the Wild football game. The former assistant coach Tand defensive coordinator at both Mon- tana and Montana State will either be watching the game from the comfort of his home or calling it on TV in a broad- cast booth at Bobcat Stadium.