Pack trio signs with Cats
BOZEMAN — Glacier linebacker Josh Hill signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at Montana State this fall, heading a class that features two other Wolfpack players as preferred walk-ons among a group heavy with transfers.
Hill, who is listed at 6-foot, 200 pounds, led Glacier with 108 tackles, five sacks, a pair of forced fumbles and three interceptions this season and was named the Class AA defensive most valuable player last season in helping the Wolfpack to its first state championship.
“It felt right,” Hill said. “I really enjoy the coaching staff at MSU.”
He’s joined by Glacier teammates Brady McChesney and Logan Jones, who will join the Bobcats as preferred walk-ons. It is the fifth-straight year at least one Glacier player has joined MSU.
“I like that we’re adding 10 players from Montana, counting walk-ons,” MSU coach Rob Ash said in a statement released by the university. “It’s a priority for us to reload with Montanans every year. About two-thirds of this class is on the defensive side, but that’s where we lost the most players. We got some really key spots filled in on offense, so that’s good.”
McChesney set school records for career passing yards and touchdowns and completion percentage, also nearing the state record for total offense. This season, he completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,821 yards with 39 touchdowns and just five interceptions.
Jones holds the school records for career touchdowns and all-purpose yards and return yards and touchdowns on punts and kickoffs. He averaged nearly 40 yards a return on kickoffs this season, scoring one touchdown. Jones was even deadlier on punt returns, averaging 27 yards and returning four of his 16 attempts for touchdowns, forcing many of the Wolfpack’s opponents to kick out of bounds for fear of giving up more points.
The 2015 class’ most noticeable element is the transfers, an unusual signing day occurrence at MSU in recent years. With seven departing starters on defense, Ash said the reinforcements are welcome. “Defensively we took six transfers – two linemen, two linebackers, two DBs – so I like that balance,” Ash said. “These are guys that can contend (for starting jobs) and play early. The other thing that I’m excited about is we lost five linebackers but we picked up six, so we filled our roster up there. Two of them are transfers, so they’re not all in the same class.”
Montana State
2015 Recruiting Class
Woody Brandom, TE, 6-4, 225, Santiago HS, Corona, California
Mitch Brott, OL, 6-6, 270, West HS, Billings
Walker Cozzie, LB, 6-1, 220, Capital HS, Helena
Robert Evans, TE, 6-5, 247, Silverado HS, Victorville, California
Riley Griffiths, DL, 6-3, 260, Skyline HS, Issaquah, Washington
Chris Harris, CB, 6-2, 190, Elsinore (Calif.) HS
Josh Hill, LB, 6-0, 200, Glacier HS, Kalispell
Sidney Holmes III, DB, 5-11, 190, Beaumont Central HS, Silsbee, Texas
Jordan Hoy, QB, 6-1, 187, Rockwall-Heath HS, Rockwall, Texas
Brayden Konkol, S, 6-1, 205, Belgrade HS
Shiloh Laboy, DE, 604, 250, College of Redwoods/Scottsdale CC
Jake McFetridge, OT, 6-6, 295, Huntington Beach (Calif.) HS
Joe Naotala, DT, 6-2, 275, Palomar JC/Army-Navy Academy
B.J. Ojo, LB, 6-2, 225, Manvel (Texas) HS
Kash Perry, OL, 6-6, 310, Denton-Stanford-Geyser HS, Utica
Sam Plucker, LB, 6-2, 230, Kimberly HS, Appleton, Wisconsin
Chris Robinson, DL, 6-2, 250, LaSalle HS, Pasadena, California
Byron Rollins, DE, 6-3, 230, Sentinel HS, Missoula
Keon Stephens, WR, 6-1, 190, Etiwanda HS, Rancho Cucamunga, California
Zach Stern, LB, 6-2, 200, Santa Monica CC/Taft
Tre’von Strong, DB, 6-1, 190, Skyview HS, Billings
Cameron Sutton, WR, 6-5, 190, Norco (Calif.) HS