Montana pulls away from NAU late in Big Sky opener

MISSOULA, Mont. -- Chad Chalich found Chase Naccarato with a 3-yard touchdown pass with 4:05 remaining and Montana held off Northern Arizona, 23-14 in the Big Sky Conference opener for both schools Saturday.

Chalich was 29 of 45 for 276 yards passing to lead the Grizzlies (2-2, 1-0). Jamaal Jones caught seven passes for 113 yards and Ellis Henderson grabbed six for 95 yards. John Nguyen had seven carries for 71 yards, and ran 22 yards for a touchdown barely a minute into the game.

"I'm disappointed in the way we played," NAU coach Jerome Souers said. "They disrupted a lot of things we wanted to do on offense and it's just a tough outcome for us. I thought we did better in the second half, but at the end of the day we didn't have enough production."

The Grizzlies took a 16-0 lead at halftime on the strength of three Daniel Sullivan field goals -- two from 27 yards and another from 25.

Northern Arizona (2-2, 0-1) rallied behind a pair of Case Cookus-to-Emmanuel Butler touchdown passes -- a 57-yard strike followed by a 34-yard connection less than a minute later.

Cookus finished 13 for 22 for 187 yards and two scores.