DILLON — Montana Western saw its season come to an end Saturday in a 49-42 second-round NAIA playoff loss to Frontier Conference rival College of Idaho at Vigilante Field.
Andy Peters threw for school-record 419 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 83 and scored another TD on the ground, and Jon Schofield accounted for five total touchdowns as the Yotes advanced to the quarterfinal round.
Western saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end. The Frontier champion Bulldogs, playing their first home playoff game since 1994, finished the season with a 9-2 record. C of I improved to 9-2.
The Bulldogs tied the game 7-7 early in the second quarter when Michael Palandri hit Dylan Shipley with an 18-yard touchdown pass. But C of I reeled off three straight TDs, including a 51-yard strike from Peters to Bozeman High alum Jase Applebee and consecutive scoring plays by Schofield.
UM Western began its rally when Eli Nourse returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter to make it 28-14. Jake Humphrey closed the gap further with a 9-yard touchdown run.
Peters gave the Yotes a two-touchdown lead again late in the third with a 10-yard scoring run, but Western answered with consecutive TDs to tie it 35-35 early in the fourth — a 42-yard scamper by Humphrey and a 45-yard pass from Palandri to Shipley.
Schofield, though, put C of I back up with two straight TD runs, the first from 1 yard and the second from 2 yards. That made the score 49-35, and rendered Palandri's final TD pass — a 17-yarder to Nourse — inconsequential.
Palandri threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns while Humphrey finished with 63 rushing yards and two scores. Shipley hauled in 143 yards on seven receptions.
In what was a classic shootout, the College of Idaho had too much offense. The Yotes finished with 621 total yards on 71 snaps, an average of 8.8 per play.
Grand View (Iowa) 28, Dickinson State 3
DES MOINES, Iowa — Dickinson State's season came to an end Saturday in the second round of the NAIA football playoffs in a 28-3 loss at Grand View.
Grand View quarterback Jackson Waring threw for 202 yards and four first-half touchdowns. Damon Street had 106 receiving yards and two TD catches.
Dickinson State was limited to 205 yards of total offense. QB Will Madler threw for 125 yards while running back Braden Zuroff had 47 yards on 13 carries. The Blue Hawks got their only points on a 26-yard field goal by Chase Miller in the second quarter.
Dickinson State finished the season with a 10-2 overall record.
