Johnson leads Montana over Northern Colorado 38-13

MISSOULA, Mont. -- Jordan Johnson threw for three touchdowns and ran for another Saturday as Montana cruised past Northern Colorado, 38-13. Johnson connected on first half touchdown passes of 9 yards to Jamaal Jones and 41 yards to Ryan Burke . Johnson completed his third touchdown pass when he hit Mike Ralston with a 21-yard scoring strike with 2:14 to play in the third quarter. He finished the day completing 11-of-19 passes for 181 yards in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams. Travon Van scored on a 71-yard scamper and Johnson ran the ball in from 9 yards out with 39 seconds to play in the first half to lead Montana (3-2) to a 28-7 halftime lead. The lone highlight of the game for Northern Colorado (1-3) came with 3:07 to play in the first quarter when quarterback Jonathan Newsom scored on a 74-yard touchdown run.