MISSOULA, Mont. – After taking a 17-16 halftime lead in front of a hostile crowd of 24,033 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the University of North Alabama's offense couldn't replicate its first half success as the Lions dropped a 61-17 decision at No. 23 ranked Montana.
 
The Lions had 335 total yards in the first half, including 280 passing yards from Christian Lopez that included TD strikes of 75 and 64 yards.
 
But in the third quarter, the Lions threw interceptions on their first two possessions of the second half, punted from their end zone on the third and went three-and-out on the next two as the Grizzlies scored 24 unanswered points in the period.
 
UNA would be outscored 45-0 over the final two periods and managed just 66 yards of total offense in the second half.
 
The 61 points by Montana were the most allowed by a UNA defense in school history. The previous mark was 60 by Jacksonville State in 1971.
 
North Alabama, now 1-1 overall, returns home to host Alabama A&M on Sept. 14 at Braly Stadium.  Montana improved to 2-0 with the win.
 
It was the second largest crowd to watch a North Alabama football game, falling short of the 24,837 that watched the Lions play Abilene Christian in Cowboys Stadium in 2011.
 
North Alabama's offense came out with a strong opening drive, moving the 72 yards to the Montana five-yard line before a Lopez pass was deflected in the end zone and intercepted by Robby Hauck. The UNA defense responded, forcing a three-and-out on the Griz first possession.
 
Following a 36-yard return of a UNA punt and a 15-yard penalty, Montana managed to cover the final 49 yards for a touchdown in seven plays. The drive was aided by an additional pass interference call on the Lions. Marcus Knight scored the touchdown on a two-yard run at 6:03 of the first quarter. Brandon Purdy added the PAT to make it 7-0.
 
North Alabama answered with a touchdown of its own just three plays later as Cortez Hall took a pass over the middle from Lopez and raced 75 yards to the end zone. It was the second straight game that Lopez and Hall had connected on a 75-yard TD pass. Joe Gurley added the PAST to tie the game at 7-7 with 5:00 left in the period.
 
A 20-yard run by the UM punter on fourth down and another pass interference penalty on UNA set up Montana's next score. The Grizzlies were stopped at the UNA 19 and Purdy came on to kick a 36-yard field goal. The kick at 1:06 of the quarter gave Montana a 10-7 lead.
 
A nine play, 65-yard drive extended Montana's lade to 16-7 as Dalton Sneed snuck into the end zone from a yard out. A try-for-two failed but the Grizzlies led by nine with 11:25 left in the second quarter.
 
A 35-yard pass to Andre Little set UNA up at the Montana two but the Lions could not push it in and settled for a 21-yard Gurley field goal to close the gap to 16-10 with 6:41 remaining in the half.
 
Montana had a field goal opportunity from the UNA 15 but chose to fake it and the Lions stopped the play and took over at the 12. Three plays later, Lopez hit Jakobi Byrd with a 64-yard touchdown strike and Gurley's PAT gave UNA its first lead at 17-16 with 1:42 left in the half.
 
Montana drove to the UNA 15-yard line again in the closing seconds but Sneed fumbled and the Lions' Wallace Cowins, Jr., recovered to stop the threat.
 
The Grizzlies offense came out with two quick scores in the second half to regain the lead. Knight scored on a one-yard run to cap a 75-yard drive and Purdy's PAT made it 23-17.
 
After three quick first downs by the Lions, Lopez was picked off in Montana territory and the Griz were able to add a 47-yard Purdy field goal to extend the lead to 26-17 at 8:26 of the third quarter.
 
A 24-yard touchdown run by Knight with 4:02 left in the third quarter made it 33-17 and a 74-yard punt return for touchdown by Jerry Louie-McGee with 2:51 left made it 40-17.
 
The Grizzlies scored again to open the fourth quarter as Sneed hit Matt Rensvold with a nine-yard touchdown pass at 14:16 of the fourth quarter for a 47-17 advantage.
 
Cam Humphrey hit Nick Osmo with a 12-yard touchdown pass with 7:45 left in the game to make it 54-17.  T
 
A three-yard TD run by Drew Turner with 51 seconds left made the final count 61-17.