Santiago's late TD lifts North Dakota past Montana St. 44-38

Oct 31, 2015, 06:15 pm

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- John Santiago gained 230 yards rushing on Saturday, and his burst from the 4-yard line lifted North Dakota to a 44-38 win over Montana State.

In a game that was tied four times, North Dakota(5-4, 3-3 Big Sky) kept finding ways to score. Santiago rushed for three touchdowns, Brady Oliveira one and Keaton Studsrud completed 6 of 9 passes for 121 yards with two more scores. The defense picked off Montana State twice and forced two fumbles.

Dakota Prukop completed 29 of 40 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Montana State (4-4, 2-3), the second a 1-yard toss to Beau Sandland that tied the game at 38-38 early in the final quarter. Prukop also ran for a 3-yard score that tied the game at 31-31.

Santiago carried on three of four plays on the game-winning drive, which also saw the Bobcats flagged for two major penalties resulting in North Dakota first downs.