MISSOULA, Mont. — Junior Bergen returned two kicks for scores and Clifton McDowell threw a touchdown pass to Keelan White in overtime to send Montana to the FCS Championship semifinals with a 35-28 victory over Furman on Friday night.
Montana (12-1), the second seed, will host and take a nine-game win streak into its semifinal against the winner of Saturday’s matchup between No. 3 seed South Dakota and North Dakota State. The Grizzlies, making a record 27th appearance in the FCS playoffs, have won 11 straight at home and improved to 11-0 all time at home in the quarterfinals.
Montana, which grabbed a 7-0 lead on Bergen’s 99-yard kickoff return to start the game, had not trailed in the second half since its lone loss in the fourth game of the season — a 28-14 defeat at Northern Arizona — when Bergen took a fourth-quarter punt and raced 59 yards to the end zone for a 26-21 lead. McDowell passed to Sawyer Racanelli for the two-point conversion.
Furman (10-3), which punted 12 times up to then including nine after going three-and-out, got the ball for a final time with 1:37 left to play. A pass interference penalty gave the Paladins a first-and-10 at the Montana 13 with 36 seconds to go. Tyler Huff threw three straight incompletions before connecting with Mason Pline for a touchdown. Furman lined up to go for two points and the win, but a false start changed it to a kick and forced overtime.
Montana got the ball first in the extra period and McDowell connected with White for a 13-yard score. The Grizzlies stuffed Wayne Anderson Jr. for a 5-yard loss on a first-down run and Huff threw incomplete on the next three downs.
Bergen set a school record with his fourth career punt-return score. He is the first player in program history to return a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the same game.
Furman needed 85 seconds and four plays to even the score on its first possession. Huff connected with Colton Hinton for a 70-yard gain on third-and-6, setting up Dominic…
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