COLUMN: All the signs tell us it is football season
Maybe it is football season.
It felt like it Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where the bright sunshine made it feel like a mid-September home game, minus 20,000 or so fans.
The final was 48-7 Saturday, the Montana Grizzlies making short work of an undermanned Portland State team. Montana coach Bobby Hauck was in midseason form, having enjoyed the Grizzlies’ first two games in 485 days.
The drought was broken with a 59-3 win over a Division II Central Washington squad that was even more overmatched: No starting quarterback (shoulder surgery) and no all-world running back (transfer portal).
“I think that team we beat a week ago is well-coached, well-drilled, fundamentally sound,” Hauck said Saturday. “And we got after them. I feel the same way about Portland State, and it was just a good performance by our team.”
Lost in all this was Montana’s manpower shortage. Skylinesportsmt.com reported last week that running back Marcus Knight suffered a torn ACL during spring practice. That means the man who scored 25 touchdowns for the 2019 Griz is unlikely to tote the pill until 2022.
Fast forward to Sunday when, in fairly short order, the Grizzlies lost a) quarterback Cam Humphrey to a head injury, b) starting center AJ Forbes to a leg injury and c) nifty running back Xavier Harris after he took a helmet to his hip.
Which begged the question: Playing spring games is nice, but wouldn’t you like to get out of them without many wounded?
“I don’t know,” Hauck said in response. “A guy can sprain his ankle any time, and the next guy’s got to be ready to go. Next man up.
“I think that attitude on our team is prevalent. And if you’re in the game, we expect you to make plays. I think our guys did a good job of that. I think we usually do.”
This “Next man up” mantra is nothing new for Hauck, and he’s having to be especially adept and finding those next men these days. The transfer portal is a nutty place.
Example: Saturday could very well be receiver Bryson Deming’s last game. He and his defensive end playing twin Braydon both entered the portal this week.
It’s not about greener pastures, really: The Billings West products have already earned their undergraduate degrees and med school awaits.
It doesn’t preclude them from playing somewhere next year, but it likely won’t be UM.
So pour out a parking lot banquet beer for Bryson, who had four catches and 30 yards against Portland State. As if on cue Ethan Barney, an offensive lineman from Sumner, Wash., and Billings Senior’s Malikye Simpson, a speedy defensive back, announced their Griz commitments via Twitter on Tuesday.
They’ll join a team that is walking tall and, apparently, deep.
“It was great to get these two games in and knock the rust off,” linebacker Jace Lewis said Saturday. “And head into this fall with our heads held high and some stuff to correct.”
“Voluntary” workouts begin in June, and fall camp in early August. Nothing changed there.
“It’s a little more fun when you have a good taste in your mouth,” Hauck allowed. “But the work is going to get done and the weights are going to get lifted.
“But it’s a little more enjoyable when you get those wins.”
Sports reporter Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com.