Montana snaps Northern Arizona’s 6-game win streak

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Makena Simis had 101 yards rushing on 19 carries and Jerry Louie-McGee had a 48-yard punt return for a touchdown to help Montana beat Northern Arizona 17-15 on Saturday to snap the Lumberjacks’ six-game win streak.

Simis, a redshirt senior, moved from quarterback to receiver after the 2015 season but came into the week as the backup quarterback. He entered the game after the first drive and was 6-of-15 passing for 44 yards with one interception.

With less than a minute left, Northern Arizona’s Stone Smartt scampered around the edge, dove and touched the pylon for a 2-yard touchdown that made it 17-15 with 50 seconds left. On the ensuing 2-point conversion attempt, he rolled right and had a wide open receiver in the back of the end zone, but threw behind his target.

Montana (6-3, 4-2 Big Sky Conference) recovered the onside kick to seal it.

In the first quarter, Smartt replaced quarterback Case Cookus, who was ejected for targeting on a block downfield.

The Montana defense had seven sacks and, after Cookus left, allowed just 278 total yards. Northern Arizona (6-3, 5-1) came in averaging nearly 461 yards, and more than 35 points, per game.