The safety was wearing the white, black and orange of Idaho State, and the Bengals were giving the Grizzly football team a good game inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
“It was definitely a different atmosphere than what I was used to playing in down at Holt Arena,” says Stoll, now a sophomore safety at UM. “You see teams come in here and play a lot better than they do against other teams. Then Montana usually outlasts them.
The coup de grace in that 23-10 win was a 14-yard interception return for a touchdown by UM safety Torrey Thomas, with 33 seconds left. Thomas is one of many seniors the Griz lost off last year's 11-1 team and Stoll, of Sandpoint, Idaho, is hoping to fill that spot.
At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, he has the makeup and talent to do it.
“When he approached us about transferring we wanted to see him play, and we had that game,” said Bobby Hauck, Montana's sixth-year head coach. “We had it in-house; we didn't have to go get it, and we had other film. He's a good player, and you know, that was a good get for Idaho State.
“We knew about him, but we took some other guys in that class (notably, safeties Brandon Fisher and Shann Schillinger). It's worked out well having him here.”
Passed over by UM, Stoll made an impact as a true freshman for the Bengals in 2006, starting seven games at strong safety. He finished with 43 tackles and a blocked kick. He had eight stops against the Griz.
But ISU finished 2-9 and fired longtime coach Larry Lewis after the season.
“The main reason I chose Pocatello is I really liked the staff. I thought they were taking things in the right direction,” Stoll said of heading to ISU. “It was tough at first - I'm sure it's tough for any freshman - but Pocatello is so different from where I came from. It's desert and so far away from home.
“I made some good friends and had fun, but then the season didn't turn out how I wanted it to, or anyone else wanted it to.”
Stoll went over his options and decided he'd take a shot at Montana, with its 3-hour drive from Sandpoint and its mountains and its winning tradition. It made sense, and not just because Griz safeties Van Cooper, Jr., and Thomas were closing out their careers.
“I would estimate that coming out of high school he was more familiar with us than he was with Idaho State,” Hauck said.
Stoll confirms this.
“My high school coach, Sean Dorris, played safety here,” said Stoll. “I didn't really know much about Idaho State before they recruited me.”
But he knew the Griz. He has even more knowledge after that ISU game - his first “visit” to UM - and after redshirting last season as a Division I FCS transfer. Now he wants to put the brain and brawn to use.
“I always wanted to come here out of high school,” Stoll said. “I kind of took a long road to get here, but it was definitely worth it.”
Hauck had looked at having another scrimmage Friday, but then decided it against it. The Griz will be in full pads Friday and also practice Thursday. They had Wednesday off.
“I don't think we're going to scrimmage much on Friday, if at all,” said Hauck. “I think we're just going to practice. We need to practice. We're not very good.
“We need to get better technically and in breaking down the different components of the game, we're just not very good.”
Brigham Young transfer Ryan Kessman was a no-show at Tuesday's drills.
“He's got to take care of business,” said Hauck, without being specific. “If you're going to be part of the team, you've got to take care of business. He's not doing that right now.”
Hauck stopped short of saying the running back was no longer on the team.
“We're going to have to wait and see.”
The Grizzlies' final scrimmage is set for 1 p.m. on April 12 at the Polson Athletic Complex. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for kids, and available in Missoula at Red's Bar, the Press Box, Stockman's and the GSA office.
There is a tailgate party set for 10 a.m. that Saturday and a post-scrimmage barbecue, both at Boettcher Park. The latter costs $10 per adult and $5 for ages 10 and under, and all proceeds go to the Grizzly Scholarship Association.
Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 523-5247 or by e-mail at fneighbor@missoulian.com.
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