Off Target

MISSOULA, Mont. —  If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.

For Cal State Northridge, the breakdown Saturday in a 21-13 loss at Montana was the early misfiring by Aaron Flowers, a normally reliable quarterback who endured perhaps his most forgettable quarter of football at any level.

Flowers, a senior who owns several Northridge passing records, had three passes intercepted in the first quarter by linebacker Greg Fitzgerald, with two leading to Montana touchdowns that sent the 16,775 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium into a frenzy.

The Matadors (4-5, 2-3 in the Big Sky Conference) most likely dropped out of the picture for an invitation to the Division I-AA playoffs. Montana (5-3, 3-2), the two-time defending Big Sky champion, remains in the chase.

Northridge, after playing poorly on defense and special teams the previous few games, improved markedly in those areas but sputtered in the last place anyone expected.

On the first play from scrimmage, at the Northridge 20, Flowers looked for receiver Drew Hill but his pass was intercepted by Fitzgerald, a senior who entered the game with one interception this season and two in his career.

The Grizzlies took three plays to score on a four-yard pass from Brian Ah Yat to Josh Paffhausen for a 7-0 lead 26 seconds into the game.

Fitzgerald struck again moments later, grabbing another pass from Flowers on second and five from the Montana 46. Seven plays later, the Grizzlies were ahead, 14-0, on a two-yard pass from Ah Yat to Justin Olsen.

“The first pick. . .I hit him on the chest with the ball,” Flowers said. “The second one was tipped and the third one was my fault. . .That set the tone.”

Flowers had never thrown three interceptions in a game in his two seasons with the Matadors but had thrown two in each of the previous three games. He finished Saturday with 18 completions in 33 attempts for 214 yards, a touchdown and a sprained left ankle suffered in the fourth quarter.

But he came away with determination.

“I’m going to play my [butt] off for three more weeks,” he said.

After its first touchdown, Montana attempted an unsuccessful on-side kick and later completed a pass by a receiver off of a reverse. Northridge Coach Jim Fenwick called the on-side kick a good move.

“Maybe [Montana does it] to catch people off guard and get them flustered a little bit,” Fenwick said.

Northridge squandered some good opportunities to get into the end zone.

After falling behind, 14-0, the Matadors drove 78 yards to the Montana two but settled for a 19-yard field goal by Manny Marquez with 5:06 to play in the first quarter.

They narrowed the deficit to 14-6 on Marquez’s 26-yard field goal with 7:45 remaining in the half after having first and goal at the Montana.

Montana dealt Northridge another blow with 41 seconds left in the half on Ah Yat’s 15-yard scoring pass to Paffhausen for a 21-6 advantage.

“We were matching them drive for drive, but when we analyze why we didn’t get it in the end zone, it’s hard to say,” Fenwick said.

The Matadors finally scored a touchdown with 13:12 to play when Flowers connected with Jerome Henry for a 35-yard pass play for the final score.

Ah Yat was 34 of 49 for 275 yards and three touchdowns.