The southeast corner of the Kibbie Dome, normally dedicated to visiting fans during Idaho Vandal football games, was just a tumble weed away from looking like a ghost town during the 2018 season.
That is, until hordes of Montana Grizzly fans moved in, packing sections 9 and 10 to witness their team route the Vandals 46-27 in a Senior Day shutdown and receive the Little Brown Stein, a trophy given to the winner of the Idaho-Montana rivalry.
The Maroon and Silver faithful provided the only din in the Dome late in the fourth quarter, with cheers of “Jerry” for Grizzly return specialist and Coeur d’Alene native Jerry Louie-McGee drowning out any noise produced by the Idaho Dads’ Weekend crowd.
The Vandals’ home game winning streak came to an abrupt end, despite similar stat lines by both teams. Just 37 yards separated the two offenses, with most of the Vandals’ production coming in the second half, as Idaho’s seniors struggled to the very end of Saturday’s long game.
“There’s some seniors that have done a lot for this program,” said Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino. “You’ve got to remember everything they’ve done.”
Junior quarterback Mason Petrino once again filled in as the lone signal caller Saturday, completing 27 of his 45 passes and 310 yards. Petrino also made use of his signature play style, scoring Idaho’s first touchdown on the day with a 1-yard scramble late in the third quarter. He later found Cutrell Haywood and David Ungerer late in the game for a pair of passing touchdowns.
Senior running back Isaiah Saunders lamented the lack of productivity by the offense in the first half, with just a pair of field goals to the Vandals’ name at halftime. Saunders finished the game with 124 yards on 20 carries.
“I could care less about my stats. I could have run for 30 yards, and if we would’ve won, I would have been more happy about that,” he said. “I love (redshirt freshman kicker Cade Coffey), but I would love to keep him from kicking field goals as much as possible.”
The award for best quarterback went to Montana’s Dalton Sneed. The Grizzly junior looked the part of experienced signal caller, completing 12 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. When not excelling in the short game, Sneed efficiently aired it out for big Grizzly gains, hitting receivers Akem Samuel and Gabe Sulser for a 52-yard and 59-yard gain respectively.
Senior linebacker Ed Hall said while the outcome did not favor his team and his fellow seniors, the chance to play in the Kibbie Dome one last time was an opportunity he would not soon forget.
“There’s a lot of great guys in this room, and I’m looking forward to how we all go towards our own paths and the kind of futures we have,” Hall said. “I’m going to miss this team, miss these coaches. I’m going to miss this life, even the hard stuff. I’m just going to miss everything about this game and about this school.”
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnill