Montana advances in FCS with 24-17 win over South Dakota St

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) Brady Gustafson threw for two touchdowns and Montana held off South Dakota State 24-17 in a Football Championship Subdivision first-round

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) Brady Gustafson threw for two touchdowns and Montana held off South Dakota State 24-17 in a Football Championship Subdivision first-round playoff game Saturday.

Gustafson threw for 202 yards to spark the Grizzlies (8-4) to a 24-0 halftime lead.

The Grizzlies head to four-time national champion North Dakota State for a quarterfinal game next Saturday. Montana beat NDSU 38-35 in Missoula in August.

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Gustafson had scoring passes of 4 yards to Jamaal Jones and 26 yards to Ellis Henderson as Montana took a 14-0 lead at 10:42 of the second quarter.

Jeremy Calhoun added a short scoring run for the Grizzlies.

South Dakota State (8-4) controlled the pace in the second half, getting a touchdown pass and scoring run from quarterback Taryn Christion.

The Jackrabbits closed to 24-17 when Christion hit Dallas Goedert for 30 yards and the score with 4:44 left in the game. Montana, with John Nguyen pushing his rushing total to 107 yards, then ran out the clock.