The Montana Grizzlies came away with a remarkable double-overtime home win over the North Dakota State Bison in the FCS national semifinals Saturday. And part of what stood out there was the trick play the Grizzlies ran for what wound up as the crucial two-point conversion, which led to quite an announcer reaction.
Montana scored first in double overtime, then took an unconventional convert approach. They dialed up a throw from receiver Junior Bergen on a pitch, with Bergen staying upright despite a defensive facemask, then making a throw that went off a defender’s hands and into the arms of receiver Keelan White. And that prompted quite the “OHHHHHHHH!!!” yell from ESPN2 play-by-play voice Lowell Galindo:
"Facemask! Flag is out! OHHHHHHHHH!!!" What a two-point conversion call in double-OT of the FCS semifinal (North Dakota State-Montana) from Lowell Galindo. pic.twitter.com/F7Bmm5tOQR
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 17, 2023
That’s certainly a play worth that kind of call. And it saw Bergen improve to 4/4 on the year as a passer. And it was also notable as the second time in back-to-back weeks that White made what proved to be the game-winning play for the Grizzlies in overtime, as he also caught the game-winning overtime pass in the quarterfinals against the Furman Paladins last week:
Clifton McDowell with the clutch game-winning TD pass to Keelan White 🔥 Montana defeats Furman 35-28 in an overtime thriller #FCSPlayoffspic.twitter.com/ogMqNj3TVt
— FCS Football Central (@The__Bluebloods) December 9, 2023
But this one only stood up because of an notable defensive play from Montana on the subsequent series. North Dakota State got a touchdown of their own, but their two-point conversion attempt was intercepted by Corbin Walker. That sent them back to the FCS championship game (in Frisco, TX this year) for the first time since 2009, when they were also coached by current coach Bobby Hauck (who coached them from 2003-09 and has coached them again from 2018-present). And that also led to a notable call from Galindo: “That’s it! Montana! Out of the wild, to Frisco, the Griz will play for it all!”
Galindo had a notable follow-up call on Montana's game-sealing interception as well. "That's it! Montana! Out of the wild, to Frisco, the Griz will play for it all!" pic.twitter.com/EvJ8e5CoSQ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 17, 2023
These plays would have gotten plenty of attention on their own. But Galindo came up with great play-by-play calls of them that elevated these moments further. And the scream on the two-point conversion shows that he may have a future as a heavy metal lead singer if he ever gets tired of broadcasting.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter]
