Orediggers deliver first win

By Bill Foley - 09/14/2008

Walter Hinick/The Montana Standard Montana Tech running back Drew Savage is tackled by the Western defense after good yardage in the second quarter Saturday afternoon at Alumni Coliseum. Tech beat Western 21-17 to go 1-2 for the season.

About the time a lot of Oredigger fans were starting to panic, their football team didn't.

Sophomore quarterback Matt Komac threw three touchdown passes — all to Alex Grevas — and Montana Tech overcame a 14-0 deficit to beat Montana Western 21-17 in a Frontier Conference football game Saturday afternoon at Alumni Coliseum.

The last Komac-to-Grevas connection was a 3-yard strike to cap the scoring and give Tech its first lead with 10 minutes, 9 seconds left in the game.

The win was the first of 2008 for the Orediggers (1-2 overall, 1-1 in conference), and it quite possibly saved Tech's season.

"It pretty much would have eliminated us from the playoffs if we wouldn't have won this one," said Tech senior linebacker Billy Glennon, one of three Orediggers with an interception Saturday. "So it was great to go out and get a victory."

That victory looked unlikely thanks to the fast start by Western (0-3, 0-2).

"We trailed 14-0 and we hadn't even got in the way," Tech coach Bob Green said.

Four plays after Abe Copeland

recovered a Drew Savage fumble at the Western 49-yard line, junior quarterback Garrett Graves rolled right and found freshman Martin Iosefo in the very back of the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 11 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first quarter.

Western then forced a Tech three-and-out, and the Bulldog offense was at it again, driving 65 yards on 10 plays for a 14-0 lead.

Senior running back Derrick Pluff, who ran for 59 hard-earned yards on 22 carries, capped that drive with a 1-yard run on fourth down with 5:26 still on the first-quarter clock.

The run made it 14-0, but the Oredigger sideline acted as if it the game was still scoreless.

"The guys did a good job of keeping their composure and realizing the game goes 60 minutes," Green said.

The Orediggers marched 80 yards on 13 plays to cut the lead in half. Komac rolled right and hit Grevas over the middle for a 2-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal.

Colton Woods booted a 36-yard field goal early in the second quarter to make it 17-7 before the Orediggers answered again.

Western linebacker Jake Hayes caused and recovered a Skyler Knuchel fumble with a hard hit at the Tech 17. But the field-position backfired on the Bulldogs.

Lineman Jon Gallatin sacked freshman quarterback Micah Mamiya, who relieved Graves for one possession, inside the 1-yard line to force punter Brian Timmons to punt from the back of the end zone.

J.T. McIntyre returned the short kick 10 yards to the 22. One player later, Grevas, despite being heavily covered, made an acrobatic catch down the right side line for a touchdown.

"Grevas is 6-5, he's got about a foot on every corner and he can go up and get the ball," Komac said. "He makes my job a lot easier."

Western led 17-14 at halftime, but the Orediggers were feeling good.

"Even though we were down three points, it was the most positive I've seen our guys all year long," Komac said. "We were clicking, we had faith in our defense and we knew we could move the ball on these guys."

The Orediggers threatened a couple of times in the third quarter against the hard-hitting Bulldogs, but didn't move the ball into the end zone until their first possession of the fourth quarter.

Scott Gerken picked off Graves on the first play of the final frame. He caught the ball at the Oredigger 8 and returned it to the 18.

The Orediggers followed the pick with an 82-yard drive for the game-winning score.

Savage, who the Bulldogs slowed down early, busted a 38-yard run. A late hit on the play moved the ball to half the distance to the goal to the Western 8.

Three plays later, Grevas ran a fade rout and caught a perfectly thrown pass from Komac for the touchdown.

The Tech defense made up for its slow start by making several big plays to stop the Bulldogs in the final 10 minutes.

"We started out looking a little sloppy," Glennon said. "In the second half we finally played some 'Digger D. It felt good."

Green, the defensive coordinator, said his defense responded to his words of advice.

"I told our defense ‘Once you start flying around you'll have some fun," Green said. "They told me that's the most fun they've had with their cloths on."

Joel Wilson put an end to three Western drives. He pushed Connor Fuhrman out of bounds on fourth down, and he jumped to tip a first-down interception to himself.

Wilson's tip on a Graves pass to Craigh Cornelius on fourth down put an end to the game.

Jake Stagnoli, Cole Salo, Jason Watkins and Skippy Sims also made key plays down the stretch.

"When we were struggling on defense, our offense picked us up," Green said. "When we were struggling a little on offense, our defense made some plays."

Savage ran for 88 yards on 21 carries. He also caught three passes for 45 yards.

Grevas caught five passes for 37 yards.

Graves completed 20 of 37 passes for 282 yards, completing passes to 10 different receivers. Cornelius led the way with 114 yards on five receptions.

The Orediggers don't play at home again until next month. Tech plays at Rocky Mountain in Billings next week before playing at Carroll College in Helena on Sept. 27.

The Bulldogs return home to take on Eastern Oregon.

Montana Western 14 3 0 0 — 17

Montana Tech 7 7 0 7 — 21

First Quarter

MW — Martin Iosefo 30 pass from Garrett Graves (Colton Woods kick), 11:07. Drive — 4 plays 51 yards. Key play — scoring play.

MW — Derrick Pluff 1 run (Woods kick), 5:26. Drive — 10 play, 65 yards. Key play — Craigh Cornelius 36 pass from Graves to Tech 6 on 3rd and 8.

MT — Alex Grevas 2 pass from Matt Komac (Sean Kelly kick), :09. Drive — 13 plays, 80 yards. Scoring play, which came on 4th and goal.

Second Quarter

MW — FG Woods 36, 11:31. Drive — 8 plays, 42 yards. Michael Guelff 30 pass from Graves to Tech 24.

MT — Grevas 22 pass from Komac (Kelly kick), 5:55. Drive — 1 play, 22 yards.

Fourth Quarter

MT — Grevas 3 pass from Komac (Kelly kick), 10:09. Drive — 9 plays, 82 yards. Key play — Drew Savage 38 run plus late hit to Western 8.

MW MT

First downs 16 16

Rushes-yards 33-131 48-146

Comp.-Att.-Int. 20-37-3 12-22-1

Passing yards 282 119

Total yards 413 265

Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-2

Punts-Ave. 3-32.7 5-36.4

Penalties-yards 16-158 7-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Western, Pluff 22-59, Graves 8-65, Jordan Clary 4-17, Chad Schira 1-0, Micah Mamiya 1-(-10). Tech, Drew Savage 21-88, Komac 12-33, J.T. McIntrye 4-22, Skyler Knuchel 5-8, Team 3-(-5).

PASSING — Western, Graves 20-37-3-282. Tech, Komac 12-22-1-119.

RECEIVING — Western, Craigh Cornelius 5-114, Michael Guelff 3-55, Iosafo 3-43, Woods 2-26, Connor Fuhrman 2-17, Omar Rodriquez 1-14, Kekoa Prebera 1-5, Chris Wells 1-5, Bryce Hafso 1-2, Pluff 1-1. Tech, Greavs 5-37, Savage 3-45, Cal McQueary 2-27, Jusin Hansen 1-6, McIntyre 1-4.