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Furman came up short in its upset bid at Montana Friday night, falling to the Grizzlies 35-28 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs on a snowy, freezing night at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana.
Furman forced overtime with 13 seconds remaining when quarterback Tyler Huff found a leaping Mason Pline in the back of the end zone. Pline, who’s 6-foot-7, outleaped two defenders for the touchdown.
But in overtime, Montana scored on a 13-yard strike from quarterback Clifton McDowell to wide receiver Keelan White and the Grizzlies held the Paladins out of the end zone for four plays.
No. 7 Furman (10-3), the SoCon champion and a 17.5-point underdog against the Grizzlies, fell to 3-4 against opponents from the Big Sky Conference and 0-2 against Montana. Montana defeated Furman in their only previous meeting, prevailing 13-6 in the 2001 national championship game played in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Montana (12-1), the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, advances to play the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 3 seed South Dakota and North Dakota State.
The major takeaways from the game:
Furman had no answer for Junior Bergen
The Paladins’ defense performed admirably for the most part, but was undone on special teams by Montana wide receiver Bergen. A first-team All-Big Sky performer as both a return specialist and receiver, showed the Paladins why, totaling 242 all-purpose yards.
Bergen put the Paladins in arears from the outset, returning the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. He later added four receptions for 44 yards, but the clincher came with 9:40 left in the game when Bergen returned a Furman punt 59 yards for his second touchdown of the game.
Only quarterbacks were able to find running room
Both defenses were outstanding against the run – unless they were…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/furman-football-falls-overtime-montana-060248450.html
Author : Greenville News
Publish date : 2023-12-09 06:02:48
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