Keali’i Ah Yat leads Montana over South Dakota State 50-29 in 2nd round of FCS playoffs

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Sophomore Keali’i Ah Yat passed for a career-high 360 yards, throwing three of his four touchdown passes during a 30-point run by Montana and the third-seeded Grizzlies rallied to beat South Dakota State 50-29 on Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

Montana (12-1), which had a first-round bye, will host No. 11 seed South Dakota in the quarterfinals. The Coyotes beat No. 6 seed Mercer 47-0 at home to move on.

Chase Mason hit Grahm Goering at the 20-yard line and Goering raced the final 80 yards for a 95-yard South Dakota State score and a 7-0 lead. Ah Yat answered with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Stevie Rocker Jr, but the Grizzlies trailed 7-6 after a missed extra-point kick.

Mason picked up his own fumble and ran 5 yards for a score and a 14-6 lead after one quarter. It was all Montana from there.

Jo Silver kicked a short field goal, Eli Gillman had a 5-yard touchdown run, and Ah Yat had a 5-yard scoring toss to Rocker with 6 seconds left for a 22-14 lead at halftime.

Ah Yat hit Drew Deck for a 29-yard third-quarter touchdown and connected with with Michael Wortham for a 28-yard score and a 36-14 lead early in the fourth.

Ah Yat completed 29 of 37 passes for Montana. Gillman totaled 135 yards on 24 rushes and Wortham finished with eight catches for 113 yards. Gillman and Malae Fonoti had fourth-quarter touchdown runs.

Mason totaled 356 yards on 19-for-36 passing with a touchdown and two interceptions for the 14th-seeded Jackrabbits (9-5), who advanced with a 41-3 first-round victory over visiting New Hampshire.

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