Grizzlies scrimmage short, sweet

The Daily Inter Lake

All four quarterbacks have a perfect day passing

MISSOULA - Thirty-seven plays and 40 minutes.

That's how long the University of Montana football team's scrimmage on Friday lasted.

Four quarterbacks combined to go 9-for-9 for 115 yards and one touchdown and a lot of young players got a lot of play in at a high intensity level.

Senior All-American candidate Lex Hilliard from Kalispell, a two-time first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection, played one series but did not get a carry. Senior wide receivers Ryan Bagley and Craig Chambers, along with senior halfback Reggie Bradshaw and sophomore tight end Dan Beaudin, did not participate in the scrimmage.

Once again, Grizzly coach Bobby Hauck touted the physical brand of football his team played.

"We played physical on offense and defense," he said. "On defense, we continued to tackle well."

Junior quarterback Cole Bergquist completed 4-of-4 passes for 73 yards, including a nine-yard touchdown throw to junior wide receiver Matt Troxel. The longest completion of the day was a 43-yarder from Bergquist to sophomore receiver Marc Mariani of Havre.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Selle was 2-for-2 for 18 yards, while freshman Jeff Larson was 2-for-2 for 16 yards, and sophomore Clint Stapp completed his only pass attempt of the day, which was good for an eight-yard gain.

"I thought all of the quarterbacks performed well," Hauck said. "We will look at film and evaluate their performances. At this time we are not in any hurry to name a starter."

Larson was the scrimmage's leading rusher, gaining 21 yards on four carries. Junior halfback Greg Coleman and sophomore running back Brandon Utterback each rushed four times for 18 yards.

Troxel was the only player with more than one catch, grabbing two for 15 yards.

The scrimmages top two tacklers were junior linebacker Tom Martin with five stops, while sophomore safety Tim Anderson had four. Junior defensive end Karl Pitcher had two sacks.

The only other scoring in the scrimmage came on a 33-yard field goal by senior kicker Dan Carpenter.

The Grizzlies' annual spring game is next Saturday at 11 a.m. in Billings at Daylis Stadium.