There was Ken Wood hitting a 30-yard field goal, and Andrew Selle going up top for a
38-yard touchdown pass to Marc Mariani. And there was the weather.
“I woke up today and it's a blizzard outside,” said Selle, a sophomore from Billings West. “But that's spring in Montana. You can't really expect much else. You play football in the cold in November.”
Selle and Mariani hooked up on the lone touchdown of the 47-play, situational scrimmage. The team kept a small, hardy group of fans waiting until 4:30 p.m. before entering the live-rep portion of practice, and the Griz didn't go full-contact until 4:40.
After that Selle was 9-for-13 passing for 132 yards. Freshman Jeff Larson was 11-for-16 for 66 yards and junior Clint Stapp went 4-for-4 for 26.
“It's a real big learning experience, I think, to get in there and get reps with the ones,” said Selle, who played with the first team in place of senior Cole Bergquist, who's nursing a sore knee. “I feel like it's been a pretty good spring, trying to go out and get better every day.”
On the touchdown, Selle deftly stepped up in the pocket to avoid defensive end Austin Mullins and fired a pass up the right hash. Mariani jumped and kept the ball away from cornerback Jamaine Olson.
“We were taking a shot deep, kind of,” said Mariani, a junior from Havre. “We're reading the safety and if he's high we've got something underneath. He took the curl route (underneath) so the middle was open and Selle threw it up there.
“I heard he got pressured, but he threw it up there and I did what I could.”
Not counting quarterback scrambles, the Grizzlies had just eight running plays. They completed 24 of 33 passes for 224 yards. Generally the defense outplays the offense in these things, but aside from corner Joe Smith knocking away two passes by Larson, on the same route, the passing game was crisp.
“We scout ourselves a little bit during spring drills, and we see so much of ourselves,” sixth-year head coach Bobby Hauck said. “We don't necessarily game-plan each other, but that's something we covered in meetings today with the secondary.
“It was nice to see that go from the meeting room to the playing field, and see Joe make some plays.”
The running attack was highlighted by Drummond product Chase Reynolds, who had three carries for 19 yards, including a fourth-and-1 run where he ran over a defender at the end of a 7-yard gain.
“I think after playing wide receiver with Chase, playing running back is a good spot for him,” said Mariani, who had three catches for 66 yards. “Man, he runs the ball hard. He's been running guys over like that.”
Selle was another highlight.
“He probably had his best practice of the spring, when we got into live drills,” Hauck said. “That's a good thing.”
Then he tempered his enthusiasm, knowing the Griz are replacing 24 seniors (and 27 players total that were here for spring ball in '07).
“We're not a very good football team right now. That's the bad news,” Hauck said. “The good news is we don't have to play until September, and we have a chance to be a good team when fall rolls around.”
QUICK KICKS: The Griz are off for spring break and reconvene for a conditioning meeting on March 31. They'll resume pads practices on April 2. Š The final spring scrimmage is April 12 in Polson, at 1 p.m. Š Smith intercepted a pass in 7-on-7 drills. Š Sophomore Houston Stockton broke up a pass in the scrimmage. Š Along with Mullins, linebacker Tom Martin and defensive end Karl Pitcher had quarterback hurries Friday. Š DE Tyler Hobbs and LB Andy Gonzalez each had four tackles. Š LBs Thomas Bauer, Noah McWilliams and Severin Campbell, CB Nick Haynes and SS Erik Stoll each had three stops.
STATISTICS
RUSHING: Chase Reynolds 319, Clint Stapp 1-4, Brandon Utterback 2-3, Jeff Larson 1-2, Ryan Kessman 4-minus 2, Brady Brunelle 2-minus 1, Andrew Selle 1-minus 2.
PASSING: Selle 9-13-0 for 132 yards, Larson 11-16-0 for 66 yards, Clint Stapp 4-4-0 for 26 yards.
RECEIVING: Tony Kazmierczak 5-31, Tyler Palmer 4-33, Marc Mariani 3-66, Andrew Schmidt 3-22, Matt Troxel 3-8, Steven Pfahler 2-25, Bryan Riggs 2-13, Brunelle 1-11, Rob Schulte 1-5.
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