CHENEY, Wash. (AP) — Logan Fife threw five touchdown passes and Montana held off Eastern Washington 52-49 in a wild finish on Saturday night in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.
Fife’s fifth TD pass, a 2-yarder to tight end Jake Olson , stretched the Montana lead to 52-42 with 2:34 remaining. Eastern Washington answered 10 plays later when Kekoa Visperas connected with Cole Pruett on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 52 seconds left .
Soren McKee’s ensuing onside kick bounced out of bounds. The Eagles had successfully recovered an onside kick earlier in the game.
Montana (4-1, 1-0) scored 21 points in the second half while Eastern Washington (1-4, 0-1) put up 35 points, 28 coming in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies, ranked ninth in the FCS, had 701 yards of offense. Eastern Washington finished with 551.
It was Montana’s first win on Eastern Washington’s red turf, which was installed in 2010. Montana leads the series 31-18-1 and had entered 11-11 in games played at Cheney, 0-6 on the red surface.