MISSOULA -- Even after a rough start, Central Washington refused to back down against FCS No. 6 Montana Saturday night in front of a loud crowd at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Wildcats fell behind quickly before their offense roared to life, doing enough damage to take a brief lead in the second quarter. Montana's depth and athletes eventually took over to pull away in the second half, handing Central a 42-17 loss.
Starting running back Justice Taylor found some big holes to run through early, going for 10 yards on each of his first two carries. That wasn't enough for the Wildcats to answer Eli Gillman's 54-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the game, and the Grizzlies jumped ahead 14-3 late in the first quarter.
Central's offense finally started moving the ball consistently when quarterback Kennedy McGill completed a pair of key passes -- a 36-yard deep ball to Jalen Grable and a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide open tight end Camden Loidhamer on a misdirection play.
Following an interception in the end zone by Javonte Walker, the Wildcats marched 80 yards down the field without completing a pass. Sophomore Beau Phillips accounted for most of the damage, showing great balance and strength to bounce off three tacklers on his way to a 31-yard touchdown to put CWU in front 17-14.
Those would be the final points for Central and the lead lasted only four plays before Drew Deck broke free for a 50-yard touchdown reception. Another long touchdown pass, this one for 76 yards to speedy wideout Michael Wortham, opened the scoring after halftime.
McGill and the Wildcats struggled to do much of anything through the air and Montana's defense clamped down on the run in the second half. Phillips finished with a team-high 69 yards, followed closely by Taylor with 66, and Washington transfer Ryder Baumgarner added 47 yards on seven carries.
Central's methodical approach allowed it to dominate time of possession and a Jalen Webber interception early in the third quarter presented an opportunity to regain the lead. Instead, McGill forced a third down pass into coverage on a double lateral trick play.
Montana's explosive athletes proved difficult for the Wildcats to contain in the open field as Wortham racked up 93 yards on returns to go along with his 120 yards receiving. Central's run defense hardly fared any better, giving up more than 13.2 yards per carry and almost 200 yards to Gillman, a second team All-Big Sky running back a year ago.
Fisk expressed some concerns about the defense last week, when they gave up 303 yards to Colorado Mesa in a 42-14 win. This time the Wildcats couldn't consistently stop drives on their side of the field and didn't force a punt in the second half.
The game followed a similar trajectory to a 26-7 loss at San Diego last year and a 35-10 loss at Weber State in 2023. All three games saw Central stay competitive until halftime before failing to score again while its FCS opponent pulled away.
Lone Star Conference play begins Sept. 20 for Central when West Texas A&M visits Ellensburg. The Wildcats won 45-3 at WTAMU a year ago.
Central Washington=3=14=0=0= -- =17
Montana=14=7=14=7= -- =42
UM -- Eli Gillman 54 run (Ty Morrison kick)
CWU -- FG David Weber 44
UM -- Stevie Rocker Jr. 5 run (Morrison kick)
CWU -- Camden Loidhamer 15 pass from Kennedy McGill (Weber kick)
CWU -- Beau Phillips 31 run (Weber kick)
UM -- Drew Deck 50 pass from Keali'i Ah Yat (Morrison kick)
UM -- Michael Wortham 76 pass from Ah Yat (Morrison kick)
UM -- Gillman 11 run (Morrison kick)
UM -- Gillman 1 run (Morrison kick)
RUSHING -- CWU, Phillips 11-69, Justice Taylor 13-66, Ryder Baumgarner 7-47, Kennedy McGill 13-39. UM, Gillman 15-198, Rocker Jr. 5-72, Wortham 4-29, Hashim Jones 5-16, Team 1-(-1), Ah Yat 5-(-4).
PASSING -- CWU, McGill 7-16-2-76, Caleb Christensen 2-4-0-32. UM, Ah Yat 14-24-2-250, Jake Jensen 1-1-0-7.
RECEIVING -- CWU, Jalen Grable 3-43, Ty Snider 2-19, Andrew Molloy 1-18, Taylor 1-14. UM, Wortham 6-120, Deck 1-50, Blake Bohannon 2-27, Rocker Jr. 1-21, Evan Shafer 1-18, Brooks Davis 2-8, Monte Gillman 1-7, Jordan Dever 1-6.
VOLLEYBALL
Central falls to No. 3 SCSU
BELLINGHAM -- Central Washington's final upset bid of its trip to Bellingham fell just short in a 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 27-29, 15-9 loss to No. 3 St. Cloud State Saturday afternoon.
Yakima Valley transfer Kaitlyn Leaverton delivered the final kill of the first set for the Wildcats and they won two straight points to begin the decisive fifth set. But a 6-0 run by the Huskies proved decisive to end Central's two-match winning streak.
Veteran outside hitters Scottie Ellsworth and Ellie Marble contributed 10 kills each for the Wildcats, while Ellsworth also added 3.5 blocks and Marble tallied 21 digs. Ella Bines recorded six kills and Brooklyn Parker totaled 17 digs.
Central (2-1) beat No. 4 San Francisco State and No. 11 Cal Poly Pomona by winning six of seven sets earlier this week. The Wildcats will travel to Hawaii for four matches in Hawaii next week, starting Thursday against Hawaii Hilo.
CWU highlights: Scottie Ellsworth 10 kills, 3.5 blks; Ella Bines 6 kills, 1.5 blks; Ellie Marble 10 kills, 21 digs; Kayleigh-Shay Chang 24 assts, 4 digs; Hayli Tri 4 kills, 4 blks, 2 digs; Brooklyn Parker 17 digs, 4 assts; Corinne Westby 14 kills, 9 digs, 4 blks; Kaitlyn Leaverton 2 kills.
Yakima Valley drops two
Yakima Valley volleyball lost a pair of matches on the final day of the Idaho Border Crossover.
The Yaks began with a 25-19, 16-25, 25-21, 25-19 loss to NWAC East rival Spokane before getting swept by Edmonds. YVC will play Lower Columbia next Friday in the first of its four matches at the NWAC Crossover in Albany, Ore.