Missoula, Mont. -- (WLOS) Redshirt sophomore wide receiver De'Andre Tamarez caught eight passes for a career-high 229 receiving yards and a touchdown while junior tailback Branson Adams scored twice on the ground as 24th-ranked Western Carolina bolted to an early 17-point lead on Saturday afternoon against No. 10/9 Montana at famed Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
However, the Catamounts were unable to overcome 24-straight points by the Grizzlies as Montana rallied for a 46-35 victory in a matchup of nationally-ranked teams in the first-ever meeting between the two programs on the gridiron.
Montana redshirt freshman quarterback Keali'i Ah Yat led the Grizzlies' attack with four rushing touchdowns - a program record for a QB - and running back Eli Gillman ran for 177 yards and a score in the come-from-behind win. Ah Yat ran for 57 yards and added 145 yards on 16-of-27 passing before exiting the game late after an apparent injury on his final dive for the endzone and fourth ground score.
Nick Ostmo also rushed for 72 yards and a score as the Griz collected their 15th-straight home victory - and 19th consecutive over nonconference opponents at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Western Carolina's Cole Gonzales threw for a season-best 340 yards with two touchdowns on 25-of-47 passing. It was his fourth career 300-yard passing performance. His favorite target was Tamarez who posted the program's third-best single-game recording performance with his 229 yards that included a season-long 61-yard reception from Gonzales. Adams ran for 91 yards on 17 touches, eclipsing last week's season-high of 81 yards tallied in the road win at Elon. He added 50 receiving yards on seven catches for 141 all-purpose yards.
Junior receiver AJ Colombo caught five passes for 44 yards with a receiving touchdown for the Catamounts.
Upset-minded WCU drove the opening kickoff 75 yards in just eight plays including five passes and a trio of runs with the third coming on a five-yard TD rush up the middle by Adams. Stopping Montana's opening possession on four plays, Gonzales drove the offense down for its second score of the first quarter. Tamarez caught two passes for 42 yards on the drive with Adams pushing his way in from a yard out for his second rushing score.
Inside the final minute of the opening frame, Jordy Lowery jumped an out route for his second interception of the season to set the Catamounts up in plus territory to start the second frame. WCU capped its third possession with a 33-yard field goal by Christian Lowery, his first of two triples on the afternoon.
Down three scores, Montana used a chunk play to get on the scoreboard as Gillman gained the right edge for a 66-yard touchdown rush to make it 17-7 early in the second quarter. Lowery later capped a 12-play WCU drive with a 30-yard field goal as WCU led 20-7 with seven minutes remaining until halftime.
Ah Yat pulled Montana back within a score on his first of four rushing TDs with three minutes remaining until intermission at 20-14 before Gonzales found a streaking Tamarez up the sideline for a 61-yard touchdown pass, WCU's longest completion of the season for a 27-14 edge with 1:47 remaining before halftime. Slated to get the ball to start the second half, the Griz was able to cut back into the Catamount edge with Ah Yat scoring on a nine-yard rush to make it 27-21 at the break.
The QB's second rushing score of the day opened the string of 24-straight points scored by Montana with the Grizzlies adding two more rushing scores by Ah Yat to take a 35-27 lead late in the third quarter. The home squad tacked on a 34-yard Ty Morrison field goal early in the fourth quarter to lead 38-27.
Western Carolina looked to mount a rally of its own as Gonzales and the offense drove into the redzone before connecting with AJ Colombo on a three-yard TD pass to cut into the deficit. Gonzales succeeded on a two-point conversion rush to the left pylon to pull back within three points.
However, a decisive 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 12-yard scoring rush by Ostmo provided the final tally at 46-35 with the Catamounts failing to answer in its two-minute drill as a fourth-down pass attempt fell incomplete.
Defensively, Jordy Lowery led the Catamounts with a career-high nine tackles including three solo stops and one for loss. He jumped a route late in the first quarter for his team-leading second interception of the season that led to the first of Lowery's two field goals. The Catamount defense has five picks on the year, at least one in each of the first four games of the season.
Redshirt freshman Bo Simpson-Nealy likewise tallied a career-best with eight total tackles including five solo stops. Linebacker Antoine Williams finished with seven tackles with Mateo Sudipo, CJ Williams, and Caleb Fisher each credited with six stops apiece.
As a team, the Catamounts posted seven tackles for loss giving the unit seven or more TFLs in each of the first four games of the season.
Western Carolina (1-3) is idle next weekend before opening eight-straight weeks of Southern Conference play on Saturday, Oct. 5, in the first of back-to-back home dates when the Catamounts host the Wofford Terriers (2-1) on Family Weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.