(Great Falls, MT) Believe it or not, there actually was a football game played Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

Only a handful of fans braved the snow, ice, cold, and the slippery roads, but those who did witnessed a thriller. A four-overtime thriller.

Unfortunately for local fans, there would be disappointment. Eastern Idaho quarterback J.C. Mecham scored from a yard out in the fourth extra frame and the Lionz defense hunkered down to hold on to a 12-6 win over the Great Falls Gladiators.

The result gives both the Lionz and Gladiators identical 1-1 records in the Rocky Mountain Football League North Division. Helena, which beat Glacier in the Capital City 14-4, sits atop the division and will come to Memorial Stadium next Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest. The weather definitely was a factor Saturday night. At the end of a scoreless regulation, there were three inches of snow on the field.
Passing the football was not only fruitless, it was foolhardy. Gripping the football bordered on an exercise in futility.

It just wasn't very pretty.

"We couldn't run our offense at all," a frustrated Great Falls QB Brad Thurber said afterward. "Our offense is built on speed. We do run a lot, and we tried to throw the ball with little or no success."

After a scoreless first overtime, played under NCAA rules (clock is turned off, ball at 25, each team gets four plays to move 10 yards, etc.), the Lionz drew first blood when Braxton Mouser scored from a yard
away in the second OT, set up when he hit Cory Fleming with a 24-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. The Lionz attempted a run on the conversion try, but were stopped well short of the line of scrimmage.

Thurber ran on the Gladiators' first try in OT2, picking up 13 yards for a first down. Then, after losing yards on a pair of runs and watching a pass fell incomplete, Thurber threw a prayer into the left corner of the end zone on 4th and 16, where Donny Chippewa was the answer to the prayer. The PAT kick by Jason Riggs was blocked.

The Gladiators wasted a golden opportunity in the third extra session. They had the ball 1st-and-goal from the 1 yard line, and in four tries could not penetrate the goal line. The Lionz would fare no better,
losing nine yards and going three and out, with Mouser's 49-yard field goal try falling miserably short.

A Mecham 4-yard run and Fleming's 20-yard romp gave the Lionz a 1st-and-goal from the one, where Mecham would take the ball in from a yard out. Under NCAA rules, if the game goes beyond the second overtime, both teams have to go for the two-point conversion following a touchdown. The Lionz tried a run over left tackle, and fell well short.

On 2nd-and-11 from the 26, Thurber hit Mike Tudor with an 18-yard toss, giving the Gladiators a 1st-and-goal from the 9.

Again, it went to 4th-and-goal. Thurber floated a pass intended for TE Jermaine Sanders that fell incomplete, but Eastern Idaho was flagged for defensive holding. The ball was moved half the distance to the goal, but - under NCAA rules - a first down was not awarded on the penalty.

So, on 4th-and-goal from the 4, Thurber again sought the hands of his veteran tight end. Sanders would get his hands on the ball, but could not control it.

"Our defense kept us in it all the way," Thurber said. "We missed a
bunch of opportunities."

Madison Lionz vs. Great Falls Gladiators
4/19/2008
Game Summary
Teams		1st Qtr.	2nd Qtr.	3rd Qtr.	4th Qtr.	OT	Final
Madison Lionz		0	0	0	0	0/0/6/0/6	12
Great Falls Gladiators		0	0	0	0	0/0/6/0/0	6
Scoring Summary
First Quarter Summary
Second Quarter Summary
Third Quarter Summary
Fourth Quarter Summary
OVERTIME
OT #1 #39 Braxton Mouser (41 Yrd Field Goal) No Good.
OT #2 2 yrd run #39 Braxton Mouser (2 pnt No good)
OT #3 #39 Braxton Mouser (49 Yrd Field Goal) No Good.
OT #1 2 yrd run #18 J.C. Mecham (2 pnt No good)
Game Stats
			LIONZ		G.F.
First Downs			3		4
Rushes, Yds			33, 93		52-114
Passes (Att-Com-TD-Int)			6-1-0-1		2-7-1-1
Passing Yards			23		33
Sacked - Yards Lost			0-0		2 (-16)
Total Net Yards			116		131
Punts, Avgerage			3, 33.3		3,21
Penalties, Yards			5, 39		1,10
Fumbles, Lost			1,1		2,1
Passing Stats
Player		Att	Comp	%	Tot Yds	Int	TD
LIONZ
#39 Braxton Mouser		1	1	100%	23	0	0
#18 J. C. Mecham		5	0	0%	0	1	0
GLADIATORS
Thurber		7	2	29%	33	1	1
Rushing Stats
Player			Car	Yds	Avg.	Long	TD
LIONZ
#30 Kory Fleming			12	95	7.9	67	0
#18 J.C. Mecham			7	18	2.6	6	1
#36 Robert Dilgard			6	6	1.0	2	0
#21 Tyler Summers			4	-1	-0.3	2	0
#13 Brian Mclean			1	-1	-1.0	-1	0
#39 Braxton Mouser			3	-24	-8.0	2	1
GLADIATORS
Thurber			14	46	3.3	10
Grice			12	36	3.0	7
Tudor			13	19	1.5	5
Collins			8	10	1.3	5
Pease			3	2	0.7	3
Brady			2	1	0.5	1
Receiving Stats
Player			Rec.	Yds	Avg.	Long	TD
LIONZ
#30 Kory Fleming			1	23	23.0	23	0
GLADIATORS
Tudor			1	17	17.0	17
Chippewa			1	16	16.0	16	1
Individual Defensive
Player			Tackles	FR	INT	Sacks	TD
LIONZ
#85 Liji Waite			10.0	2		1 (-22)
#40 Tyson Bereson			7.0
#27 Chet Bergeson			7.0
#47 Dallas Herbst			7.0
#99 Dakota Elliot			7.0
#38 Cory Newton			6.0
#30 Kory Fleming			5.0
#55 Nathan Dexter			4.5
#87 Jay Hanley			3.5
#39 Braxton Mouser			1.5		1	1 (-5)
#83 Rhett Briggs			1.0
#18 J.C. Mecham			1.0
#36 Robert Dilgard			1.0
#28 Harvey Bragg			0.5
GLADIATORS
Rohde			13.0
Pease			12.0
Dicenzo			7.0	1
White			4.0
Payne			3.0
Bradley			3.0
Green			2.0		1
Collins			2.0
Matlock			2.0
Kearney			2.0
McGowan			1.0
Punt Return
Player		Ret	FC	Yds	Avg.	Long	TD
LIONZ
#30 Kory Fleming		1	0	35	35.0	35	0
#28 Harvey Bragg		1	0	0	0.0	0	0
GLADIATORS
None Reported
Kick Return
Player		Ret	FC	Yds	Avg.	Long	TD
LIONZ
#36 Robert Dilgard		1	0	18	18.0	18	0
GLADIATORS
Tudor		1		7	7.0	7
Field Goals
Player			1-19	20-39	30-39	40-49	50+
LIONZ
#39 Braxton Mouser						0-2
GLADIATORS
None Reported
Punting
Player	No.	Avg.	Net	TB	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
LIONZ
#27 Chet Bergeson	2	40.0	80	0	1	40	0
#39 Braxton Mouser	1	20.0	20	0	0	20	0
GLADIATORS
Riggs	3	21.0	15	0	0	27	0