Griz scrimmage goes well

The Daily Inter Lake

Offense amasses 487 yards, 3 TDs

MISSOULA - The Grizzlies are in game form.

Well, at least their offense is.

In Friday's first spring scrimmage, the University of Montana football team's offense amassed 306 passing yards and 181 rushing yards - and the defense got six sacks - in an 84-play, controlled scrimmage in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Former Flathead High School running back and two-time All-Big Sky first team pick Lex Hilliard was held out of the scrimmage as a precautionary measure to help him recover from his Achilles injury.

Four quarterbacks combined to go 23-for-33 (69.7 percent) with no interceptions and the running backs ran the ball 51 times at a 3.6 yard per carry average.

Junior signal-caller Cole Bergquist went 7-for-10 for 117 yards. Redshirt freshman Andrew Selle, from Billings West, was 10 of 15 for 93 yards. Sophomore Clint Stapp was 4-for-5 for 82 yards and freshman Jeff Larson, of Havre, was 2-for-3 for 14 yards.

"Cole (Bergquist) looked solid and all of our quarterbacks had their moments when they got an opportunity to play," UM coach Bobby Hauck said.

Three receivers had three catches apiece: Redshirt freshman Tony Kazmierczak of Thompson Falls with 50 yards, sophomore Marc Mariani of Havre had 28 yards and redshirt freshman tight end Robert Overton got 17 yards. Senior wideout Eric Allen had two grabs for a scrimmage-high 85 yards.

Senior wide receivers Ryan Bagley and Craig Chambers did not participate in the scrimmage because of injuries.

The top running backs also did well.

Senior halfback Reggie Bradshaw had scrimmage bests of 12 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown. He was followed by junior Greg Coleman (eight rushes for 40 yards and a TD), and sophomore Thomas Brooks-Fletcher, who picked up 37 yards and a touchdown on just six carries.

"We've got a good core of running backs, not doubt about that, and they all showed that at one time or another today," Hauck said.

On defense, senior linebacker Muckie Foreman had a game-high six tackles. Junior linebacker Tyler Corwin, sophomore safety Brandon Fisher, redshirt freshman cornerback Jeremy Pate, sophomore safety Erik Stoll and senior corner Jimmy Wilson all had four tackles each.

Senior end Kroy Biermann, and finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award last season, constantly applied pressure on the quarterbacks, and had one sack and several hurries.

"We played a physical brand of football on offense and defense, and I liked the way we responded to different situations, especially for this time of year," Hauck said. "We were somewhat in game form."

The Griz will take a week off during UM's spring break and return to action on Monday, April 2, when they will have a team meeting and conduct team conditioning drills. Montana has practices scheduled on April 3, 5, 9, 10 and 12.

UM's final scrimmage in Missoula will be Friday, April 6, at approximately 3:45 p.m. in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The Grizzlies' annual spring game will be Saturday, April 14, at 11 a.m. in Billings on Wendy's Field at Daylis Stadium.