Griz get going in second half of Maroon-Silver scrimmage

HAMILTON — Aaron Fontes made the play of the Montana Grizzlies Spring Game Friday, and it wasn’t his catch of a 25-yard touchdown pass from Kris Brown.

Late in the one-hour, 18-minute Maroon-Silver scrimmage, Silver quarterback Daniel Britt hit Fontes for 50 yards and — no, wait, that wasn’t it either.

Three snaps after that, Britt tried to find Fontes again and Maroon corner Dylan Simmons cut in front for the end zone interception and what looked like a 100-yard pick-6.

Fontes continued across the sideline and gave chase behind the Silver bench. The sophomore then reappeared on the field and caught Simmons short of the end zone.

It was a clear penalty — Simmons was awarded a TD for the Maroon, which won 20-6 — but also a crowd-pleaser.

“That’s actually my roommate,” Drew Deck, Glacier product and a fellow receiver, said afterward. “That was pretty funny. That’s actually his personality, too. I didn’t even see him and all of a sudden he came flying behind me.

“He works hard, though. And he has some speed.”

Deck had enough speed to catch an 8-yard pass on a hitch route Friday, with San Diego State transfer Lucas Johnson making the throw for the Silver. Deck, a redshirt freshman, figured he got about 30 reps in a scrimmage that had barely any offensive action the first half but sped up late.

Many familiar faces — Patrick O’Connell, Robby Hauck, Marcus Knight, Mitch Roberts, Garrett Graves — saw no reps. The receiving crew has been bolstered by Nick Williams, but fellow newcomer Sawyer Racanelli, a Washington transfer, is on crutches with an apparent knee injury.

Bozeman product Ryan Simpson was around, and caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Johnson for the day’s first points. It came in the second half: there were four 15-minute quarters, though the clock ran continuously.

A sizable crowd sat through two of those periods with few plays to cheer about — though a resounding tackle by Hamilton product Carson Rostad at linebacker stood out.

After that, things heated up in breezy conditions. Fontes ended with three catches for 81 yards. Simpson had four for 24. Missoula Big Sky product Colter Janacaro had 13 carries for 40 yards at running back, including a 7-yard TD for the Maroon. He also caught three passes for 26.

As often happens in these games, the defense had a heyday. Corner Justin Ford tipped a Johnson pass that safety TraJon Cotton intercepted early on; corner Corbin Walker picked off a tipped Brown pass as well.

Junior linebacker Braxton Hill had a scrimmage-best seven stops for the Silver; Tyler Flink, another junior, forced a fumble from former Big Sky teammate Janacero and had six stops. Fairfield’s Ryder Meyer broke up two passes from his safety spot. Kellen Detrick, a redshirt freshman out of Havre, had a sack and shared in a tackle for loss.

Missoula Sentinel project TJ Rausch had a crunching hit among his Maroon-best six stops, and teammate Kale Edwards, a sophomore out of Coeur d’Alene, had four tackles for loss. On one series Edwards knocked down a pass, then made two straight sacks.

The quarterbacks combined to go 19-for-44 passing, for 155 yards. Not very shiny, but Grizzlies coach Bobby Hauck didn’t seem to mind.

"I'll tell you what the single biggest takeaway I've got from this spring would be I think we're going to have a good football team,” Hauck said. “I think we're going to be fun to watch. I think we've got great guys with great attitudes.”

Glacier product Henry Nuce was credited with one stop from his defensive end spot.

“Hank is doing real good,” Deck said. “He’s a beast.”

Deck was among 10 Griz (eight receivers) to catch a pass Friday.

“We kind of rotated around, and a couple guys are hurt so a lot of us got reps today,” Deck said. “Which was good.

“Spring was good. It was a lot of fun and it felt good to get out here and play one more time before we put them away for the summer. This fall I’m just hoping to get on the field and help the team out any way I can.”

Same with Fontes, within the rules.

“He might have been blocked out of bounds,” Hauck said. “I think by rule, you have to try to get back in right away. But he can run pretty fast.”

QUICK KICKS: Whitefish’s Carver Gilman handled punting duties (they were not live reps), missed a 44-yard field goal and made his only PAT attempt . … Combined the Griz were 5-for-20 on third-down conversions. … There were 82 offensive plays. … Billings West product Trevin Gradney, a special teams standout as a freshman, broke up two passes from his cornerback spot.