Butte products shine in Sonny Holland Classic
BOZEMAN — On a day named for a Bobcat legend from Butte, two players from there shone in Montana State’s annual Sonny Holland Classic spring scrimmage in Bobcat Stadium on Saturday.
Senior quarterback Tommy Mellott threw for 95 yards and a touchdown and Casey Kautzman converted three field goals leading the Blue team to a 23-14 win.
MSU head coach Brent Vigen was pleased with what he saw.
“It’s good to be done with the spring game and to have it unfold like you want to, back and forth with the opportunity to see a lot of guys in the game in situations to see how they respond,” he said. “There was enough back-and-forth that I think as a head coach you can walk away from today feeling good about the team continuing to move forward.”
The Blue and White teams combined to rush for 239 yards and throw for 182, scoring four touchdowns to punctuate Kautzman’s three field goals. Adam Jones scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground, a one-yarder and a 3-yard run, while carrying 14 times for 68 yards.
Hunter Provience caught two passes on the day, a 16-yard touchdown from Mellott and a nine-yard score from Chance Wilson.
Mellott moved the Blue offense effectively in its first two drives. On the scrimmage-opening possession, Mellott completed two passes for 19 yards and Jones rushed three times for 12 yards and caught a 12-yard pass to set up Katzman’s 40-yard field goal.
On the second Blue drive, Mellott completed two more passes for 25 yards and Elliott carried twice for a dozen yards. Kautzman nailed a 45-yard field goal.
The senior signal caller’s performance impressed Vigen. “Standing back there (behind the line of scrimmage), I think he did a pretty good job,” Vigen said. “There were a few times he missed a few things, but ultimately completed the ball pretty well. He made some one-side-of-the-field-to-the-other-side throws, and that was impressive.”
Playing for the first time in MSU’s legacy jersey No. 41, which honors Montana’s status as the 41st American state as well as the program’s 1941 team which was decimated by World War II casualties, senior defensive end Brody Grebe logged 3.5 tackles-for-loss and one sack.
The half-TFL was compiled with his brother Bryce. Defensive tackle Blake Schmidt logged a half-tackle-for-loss and a pass breakup, and blocked a kick.
Vigen said that Grebe’s presence and his battles against offensive linemen serve to raise the team’s level of play. “The battles between two guys like Marcus Wehr and Brody Grebe have over the course of time against one another just makes them better,” Vigen said. “I think those are two of the better players in our league, if not our (sub-)division.”
The scrimmage closed Montana State’s spring practice session.
SCORING PLAYS
Blue – Casey Kautzman 40 FG
Blue – Casey Kautzman 45 FG
Blue – Casey Kautzman 30 FG
White – Adam Jones 1 run (Myles Sansted)
Blue – Hunter Provience 16 from Tommy Mellott (Casey Kautzman)
Blue – Hunter Provience 9 from Chance Wilson (Myles Sansted)
White – Adam Jones 3 run (Myles Sansted)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Adam Jones 14-68-2, Elijah Elliott 8-33-0, Colson Coon 7-87-0, Chance Wilson 6-23-0, Jared White 4-11-0, Jordan Reed 3-13-0, Jacob Trimble 1-4-0, Scottre Humphrey 1-2-0, Tommy Mellott 1- -2-0. Totals 45-239-2.
PASSING: Tommy Mellott 9-13-0, 95, 1; Jordan Reed 8-17-0, 64, 0; Chance Wilson 1-2-0, 5, 1; Patrick Duchien 2-6-0, 18, 0. Totals 20-38-0, 182, 2.
RECEIVING: Aidan Garrigan 3-30-0, Max Murphy 3-21-0, Ty McCullouch 2-19-0, Taco Dowler 2-16-0, Hunter Provience 2-25-2, Elijah Elliott 2-16-0, Adam Jones 1-12-0, Jacob Trimble 1-7-0, Colson Coon 1-7-0, Marqui Johnson 1-16-0, Javonte King 1-4-0, Zachary Dodson-Green 1-9-0. Totals 20-182-2.
DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS: Brody Grebe – 1 sack, 2.5 other TFL; Blake Schmidt – 0.5 TFL, 1 blocked kick, 1 pass breakup; Bryce Grebe – 0.5 TFL; Blake Stillwell – 1 TFL; Hunter Sharbano 0.5 TFL, Andrew Powdrell – 2 pass breakups; Alec Eckert – 0.5 sack; Kenneth Eiden IV – 0.5 sack, Talon Marsh – 1 TFL; Cole Bullock – 1 sack; Takhari Carr – 1 PB.