Box Score MISSOULA, Mont.--North Dakota State turned a fake field goal into the game-winning touchdown as the Bison stunned NCAA Division I-AA power Montana 25-24 here Saturday afternoon in college football.

NDSU marched to the Grizzlies' 20-yard line and faced a fourth-and-seven situation with 2:13 left in the game and trailing 24-19. The Bison lined up for a field goal attempt but holder John Bonicelli flipped the ball to runningback Rod Malone and Malone fired a running pass to tight end Mike Wieser in the right corner of the end zone for the score.

Montana countered following the kickoff by moving 39 yards to the Bison 23-yard line with three seconds left and a fourth-and-one situation. After three time outs (two by the Bison), a Chris Snyder field goal sailed wide right and the Bison had their third straight win over the Grizzlies and first since 1970.

The Bison trailed 24-2 at halftime but totally dominated the second half. NDSU limited the Grizzlies to just 57 yards of offense in the final two quarters and Montana had just 18 yards before their final drive of the day.

NDSU's only scoring in the first half was a safety when defensive tackle Dwight Summerville tackled J.R. Waller in the end zone midway through the second quarter.

The Bison, limited to just 80 yards in the first half, scored on four of their final five drives of the game and racked up 263 yards in the final 30 minutes.

Freshman halfback Kyle Steffes scored from two yards out to cap an 82-yard, 13-play drive midway through the third quarter as the Bison cut the gap to 24-9. The Bison came right back when senior defensive end Jamel Thomas intercepted a pass and returned it 28 yards to the Montana 37.

NDSU cashed in on a 43-yard field goal by sophomore Cory Vartanian with 1:17 left in the period.

After punting on its next possession, the Bison got the ball back at its own 13 with 10:33 left and marched 87 yards in 10 plays. Junior wide receiver Allen Burrell took a reverse for the final 11 yards and the Bison had closed to 24-19 with 7:09 remaining.

Steffes led the Bison ground game with 103 yards on 21 carries while Malone added 63 yards on 13 attempts. Junior quarterback Tony Stauss completed 22 of 31 passes for 165 yards and completed 13 of 14 passes over one stretch.

NDSU improved to 2-0 on the season and will host California-Davis next Saturday night at the Fargodome. Montana, ranked third in the nation in Division I-AA, dropped to 1-1.