Flathead’s QB spot up for grabs

There is some competition at certain positions for the Flathead Braves, so tonight’s Black and Orange scrimmage could tell new coach Caleb Aland a lot more about his football team.

For starters Aland has two quarterbacks in a tight battle: seniors Jackson Walker and Nate Skonord will split the duties starting at 7 p.m. at Legends Stadium.

“Jackson’s probably a little more athletic,” Aland said. “And Nate probably has the better arm. Which one can run the offense better is the deciding factor; who takes care of the ball better.”

Aland is the fourth Flathead coach in four seasons, taking over after one year as quarterbacks coach under Alex Cummings. Cummings left after one 0-9 season for the activities director job at Kalispell Middle School.

Aland, who spent seven seasons on the staff at Troy (Ala.) University, put the Braves through intense summer workouts, and ended up with fewer players than when it started.

“We did a lot of cleaning out, and kind of set the bar high in terms of our expectations, where we wanted players to be,” he said. “We focused on workouts and timeliness. There were some guys that decided football was not for them.”

Now Aland is liking what he’s seen at two-a-days.

“Like I told my guys this morning, the amount of reps we’ve put in this fall camp compared to last is amazing,” he said. “I wanted us to be the most in-shape and prepared team. We had a very hard summer and they handled it well, and now it’s on to the mental side, the Xs and Os.”

More competition is at left tackle, where Luke Leech figured to play but will miss his second straight season with injury. Aland has penciled in Caiyou Witts, Austin Schabel, Gavin Henderson and Logan Olson across the rest of the offensive front.

“There are some gritty players who get where they need to be, and do the right thing,” Aland said, noting that none of them are seniors.

The Braves aren’t deep, but have familiar names at running back (Joe Jones) and receiver (Brody Thornsberry).

Robert Walker, Gabe Sims, Jaden Williams, Braden Capser and Stephen Riley fill out a capable receiving/tight end corps.

The linebacker position is well-stocked, with Matthew Melby penciled in at the middle spot played so capably by Chase Youso the last couple seasons.

TJ Hayek, Easton Capser, and two-way player Gabe Lake are all figured to make tackles.

Lake and Trevor Burke are the main backups to Jones, who had 79 carries as a sophomore in 2021. Friday will offer a look at a bigger, faster version of Jones, among other players.

“I’m looking forward to watching the scrimmage tomorrow and seeing where we’re at,” Aland said.