Nuce, Maroon make waves in Griz spring game

MISSOULA — Asked about defensive end Henry Nuce, Montana Grizzlies football coach Bobby Hauck started with the phrase, “He’s young.”

Which is true. Nuce, No. 96 out of Glacier High School, is 20 years old. Which is a little hard to believe.

“And a junior,” he notes.

Nuce had four stops Friday night, during the Grizzly Scholarship Association Spring Football Scrimmage held at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Hauck split his squad into Maroon and Silver, and Nuce suited up for a Maroon squad that won 31-3 thanks to two touchdown passes from Sam Vidlak and a touchdown rushing and passing from Kris Brown.

The Silver team, which employed Helena High’s Kaden Huot and Oregon transfer AJ Abbott (and a secret weapon — more on that later), managed just 132 yards of offense in what was a full-contact, final practice of spring drills.

The Grizzlies have a new defensive coordinator (Ronnie Bradford) but pretty much the same 3-3-5 defense.

Nuce puts a hand in the ground before often engaging one of the best O-linemen on the other team. He played sparingly as a true freshman in 2021, with 12 tackles; last fall he made 25 stops.

“He’s getting better and better,” Hauck said of the 245-pounder. “He’s still pretty young in his development. But he has good ability. It’s all about understanding the game right now, and I can see that happening for him.”

There was one turnover Friday, and it came from a linebacker. The Silver’s Geno Leonard came in and walloped Vidlak, the Griz recruit who came back to the fold after trying to find time at Oregon State, then Boise State. Leonard jarred the ball loose and then tracked down the fumble.

Up until then Vidlak was 11 of 15 for 152 yards, with scoring strikes of 29 yards to Ryan Simpson and 25 yards to Keelan White.

It was a performance so impressive that Hauck quickly declared him off-limits to the media. They settled for Aaron Fontes, who caught six passes for 79 yards, including a 30-yard TD strike from Brown.

Of Vidlak, Fontes said: “I love the way he throws. He gets the ball to me, gets the ball to all the other wide receivers and he’s consistent with the way he plays. Sam’s doing a nice job.”

Hauck was mostly pleased as well. He claimed to be watching the O-line play more than the quarterbacks (Brown was 8 of 12 for 79 yards), and felt things weren’t physical enough at the beginning.

“The quarterbacks were able to get tackled a little bit, I thought that was good for them,” he added. “I thought they needed it. It’s more about being aware of the rush. … we don’t do it very often but for these guys who haven’t played a ton, I think they needed it.”

Back to the offensive line: Xavier Harris ran 12 times for 92 yards, with a long gain of 22. Isaiah Childs (10 carries for 30 yards), Eli Gillman (13 for 28) and redshirt freshman Beau Dantic (9 for 27) found less room.

“I felt the tight ends, particularly (Erik) Barker, played well,” Hauck said. He then singled out junior Colin Dries, sophomore Journey Grimsrud (out of Huntley Project) and senior leader AJ Forbes as having good days on the interior.

Perhaps the biggest highlight came for the Silver: John Kohler, a 147-pound walk-on, played a series at quarterback near the end. The former backup QB at Seattle O’Dea — and last year, a student aide for the Griz — completed a rainbow 43-yard pass to Nick Williams that set up his team’s only score, a 40-yard field goal from Cameron Rasmussen.

The 95-play scrimmage ended on Fontes’ touchdown catch and Nico Ramos’ PAT kick.

Now comes summer workouts ahead of fall camp in early August. The Griz begin their 2023 season on Sept. 2 with a home game against Butler.

By then two or more defensive standouts off the 2022 Griz could be in the NFL. There’s some shoes to fill.

“There’s always pressure, but I mean there’s much more now than any other time,” said Nuce. He could help form a nice front alongside the likes of Kellen Detrick and UCLA transfer Hayden Harris. The Griz could have a banner season.

“I’d say so,” Nuce said. “It was a good spring.”

QUICK KICKS: Drew Deck, a sophomore receiver out of Glacier High who had offseason surgery on his shoulder, did not suit up. … Eureka’s Garrett Graves, a senior starter at safety, played sparingly. … Rasmussen and Noah Hughes split the punting duties and combined to average 35.7 yards on seven boots. … Harris had seven tackles, including 1.5 sacks. … Freshman D-tackle Jared Ramos had seven stops for the Silver defense.