On Saturday, September 7, the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team not only bounced back from its 21-3 defeat at the hands of the Iowa State Cyclones but the 20th-ranked Hawks continued a nation-leading winning streak.
UND had won 37 consecutive home openers, a streak running since 1986. The fourth-ranked Montana Grizzles came rolling into Grand Forks with the intention of ending the Hawks’ streak, and for a while, it looked like the Grizzlies would be successful.
After the two sides traded punts, Montana scored the first points in the Alerus Center for the 2024 season with a 37-yard touchdown pass.
In the ensuing drive, UND settled into its run game, moving all the way to the Montana 30, but the Hawks were ultimately stopped on fourth down. Montana kept the momentum going with a 2-play scoring drive featuring a 63-yard touchdown run.
With their backs against the wall, the Hawks needed to prevent the game getting out of hand early, and they would do just that.
UND strung together a 5-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, which incorporated both the ground and air game. Isaiah Smith (Sr.) scored the first touchdown of the Fighting Hawks’ season with a powerful 30-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-7.
The Alerus Center was quickly silenced when the Grizzlies scored on a crafty reverse play at the end of the first to take a 21-7 lead.
No touchdowns would be had in the second quarter, but Montana was able to kick a 30-yard field goal as time expired to make its lead 24-7.
Being down 17 at half to a top-five team is not an envious position, but on Saturday, UND was up to the challenge.
UND, which elected to kickoff first, received the second half kick. The clearly rejuvinated Hawks put together a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive capped off by a Gaven Ziebarth (Jr.) touchdown run.
The Alerus Center crowd suddenly could feel the energy from the home team, and the script quickly flipped on the Grizzlies’ heads.
The UND defense, feeding off the electric environment, forced a three-and-out.
It took the Hawks just over two minutes to get back on the board thanks to Simon Romfo (Jr.), who scored his first touchdown as UND’s starting quarterback on a shifty 19-yard run to make it a 24-21 game.
UND had taken clear control of the game, and it was not considering surrendering it. The Hawks forced another three-and-out on the ensuing Grizzlies drive with a Josh Navratil (Gr.) sack on a crucial third down.
UND had the ball and a chance to take its first lead of the season.
The Hawks had to settle for a field goal to tie the game at 24 apiece, but they would not take their foot off the pedal. Montana went three-and out for the third consecutive time and were forced to punt with ten minutes remaining.
UND would finally take its first lead of the season with a methodical, slow-moving, nearly eight-minute drive capped by a C.J. Elrichs (So.) field goal with just over two minutes to play. The Hawks led 27-24.
The Grizzlies would not go without a fight, however. On 4th and 1, Montana picked up their first 1st down of the second half with a nerve-wracking 32-yard run from its quarterback. The Grizzlies, in a 4th and 17 on the UND 37, elected to try and tie the game instead of trying to convert.
Montana’s 54-yard attempt was no good, and the Hawks kept the longest home-opener winning streak in the country alive with a 27-24 victory.
Simon Romfo completed 11 of his 24 passes for 97-yards. Romfo made up for any passing woes with 57 -yards on the ground and a touchdown.
Gaven Ziebarth led the Hawks in rushing, turning 22 grueling carries into 80-yards and a touchdown.
Sawyer Seidl (Rs. Fr.) and Isaiah Smith combined for 99 rushing yards with Smith adding a touchdown.
Bo Belquist (5th) and Nate DeMontagnac (Jr.) racked up most of the receiving yards for UND, with Belquist catching four passes for 33-yards and DeMontagnac turning in 26-yards and two catches.
With the win, the 20th-ranked Hawks moved to 1-1 on the season. UND will play the Idaho State Bengals (1-1) at the Alerus Center next Saturday.
Garrett Webber is a Dakota Student Section Editor. He can be reached at [email protected].
