Barth commits to Bobcats

Austin Barth was sitting in a morning math class in mid-April when his football coach yanked him out of the classroom.

The Columbia Falls junior immediately thought he was in trouble, although he didn't know why.

Flustered and nervous, Barth walked down the hall and into Bill Coleman's office where he was handed the phone. He'll never forgot what happened next.

The Montana State Bobcats had a question for him.

Barth, a 6-foot-5 quarterback who helped lead the Wildcats to their first Northwestern A title since 1976 last season, has his college plans taken care of before his senior year even starts.

On Sunday, after thinking it over with the help of family and friends, Barth made the call to MSU head coach Rob Ash and verbally committed to play football in Bozeman in the fall of 2012 on a full-ride scholarship.

"It's pretty unreal. It's something a lot of kids think about when you're 10 years old. To actually have it come true, it's pretty awesome," Barth, who turns 18 later this month, said of playing football at the next level.

Last season, Barth passed for 1,077 yards and 15 touchdowns and had 10 interceptions. Against rival Whitefish, he threw for six TDs in a 51-0 victory. The Wildcats lost to eventual state-champ Miles City in the opening round of the Class A playoffs and finished with a 4-5 record. Barth was named all-state for linebacker and second-team all-conference for quarterback. He was also a starter on this year's 22-1 state champion boys basketball team.

"In my experience, and I've coached high school football for 25 years, he's in a category that I've never coached before," Coleman, the Wildcats head football coach, said. "His physical stature and his ability and then you take that and combine that with his tremendous character. He's a leader. He's tough as nails both physically and mentally. All of those intangibles come together and he's the whole package."

Barth has chosen one of the rising programs in the Football Championship Subdivision.

"It was an easy decision," he said.

Last season, the Bobcats returned to the playoffs for the first time in four years after beating the Montana Grizzlies in Missoula for the first time since 2002 and earning a share of the Big Sky Conference title. The team finished 9-3 behind the play of a stellar young quarterback who went on to earn Co-Offensive MVP in the Big Sky Conference.

Redshirt freshman DeNarius McGhee turned in an amazing season leading one of the best offenses in the league. McGhee finished with 2,940 yards passing and was also named the league's newcomer of the year.

By the time Barth joins the team in 2012, McGhee will be a junior with loads of experience, and Barth hopes to study from someone like that.

"He'll be a role model to me. He's a great QB already, I'll have somebody to look up to and follow," Barth said.

"He's picture perfect for that offense," Coleman said of Barth. "He's 6-6 and can throw the ball 70 yards.

Barth, an honor roll student and the youngest son of Doug and Susie, has family ties to Bozeman. His grandparents live there and his great-uncle Jim Sweeney, a successful coach in the Flathead Valley in the 1950s, once coached at MSU before moving on to Washington State, Fresno State and the Oakland Raiders as an assistant.

Barth plans to study engineering.