Big plays highlight Griz scrimmage
8/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Big plays was the order of the day, as The University of Montana Grizzlies held their first scrimmage of 2008 fall camp Saturday morning at the Riverbowl practice field on the UM campus.
The offense ran approximately 60 plays, while there was another 30 or so plays run by the special teams.
Junior wide receiver Marc Mariani (Havre) had the first big scoring play of the day, as he followed a wall of blockers down the left sideline and broke loose for a 93-yard touchdown on a kickoff return.
Junior defensive end Jace Palmer (Missoula) tallied six points for the defense when be picked off an Andrew Selle (Billings) slant pass and sprinted 70 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.
The other big scoring play came on a 75-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by sophomore safety Erik Stoll (Sandpoint, Idaho).
The number one offense squared off against the starting defense in the first series, and senior quarterback Cole Bergquist (San Clemente, Calif.) orchestrated an eight-play, 65-yard scoring drive, culminated with a three-yard scoring run by sophomore running back Chase Reynolds (Drummond).
The final touchdown came on the last play of the scrimmage, a one-yard run by freshman quarterback Gerald Kemp (San Diego, Calif.).
"I thought our first drive on offense was impressive," said sixth-year head coach Bobby Hauck. "Our rushing game was okay and we did some good things in our passing game. Our intensity was very good, especially considering we've been practicing hard for a couple of weeks now.
"We had the first defense play against the first offense quite a bit today, and we have to do that because we feel like a lot of our second unit guys aren't quite up to the task (of facing the starters) because many of them are so young," Hauck said. "Today was a big day for our freshmen. It was their chance to show us if they are ready to contribute and play for us this season. Some of them really showed, and we will know a lot more about who did what after we watch the film."
The other scoring came when redshirt freshman kicker Brody McKnight (Vancouver, B.C.) and true freshman kicker Russell Schey (Billings) both connected on 23-yard field goals.
"Our special teams are probably about at 50 percent of where they need to be," Hauck said. "We are doing some good things on special teams, but we are lacking consistency."
Bergquist was 5-of-7-0 for 90 yards, while Selle was 4-of-7-1 for 47 yards. Kemp completed 5-of-6 throws for 53 yards, while sophomore quarterback Jeff Larson (Cut Bank) was 2-of-4 for 16 yards. The quarterbacks combined went 16-of-24-1 for 213 yards and no touchdowns.
Sophomore receiver Tony Kazmierczak (Thompson Falls) had scrimmage-highs of four catches for 47 yards, while senior wide-out Mike Ferriter (Helena) had two grabs for 46 yards. Other top receivers were Sam Gratton (Billings), who had three receptions for 33 yards and fellow true freshman Jabin Sambrano (Temecula, Calif.), who had two catches for 24 yards.
The leading rushers were Kemp, with four carries for 20 yards and a score; junior Thomas Brooks-Fletcher (Bellevue, Wash.) had four rushes for 17 yards; senior Andrew Schmidt (Bozeman) had four totes for 13 yards; and junior Brandon Utterback (Fort Benton) rushed six times for 13 yards. Reynolds had four carries for six yards. The rushing totals were 36 attempts for 58 yards.
The limited rushing yard total was due in part to three sacks in the scrimmage, two by Jace Palmer and another by redshirt freshman Ryan Featherston (Helena).
"Jace Palmer has had a good fall camp and is coming along, which is what we need because our defensive ends, as a group, need to equal the number of sacks (30 for minus 200 yards) that we had last year," Hauck said.
The Grizzlies' second and final fall scrimmage is next Friday afternoon, Aug. 29, and will be held once again at the Riverbowl practice site due to the installation of the new Sprinturf playing surface which is currently being installed in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Montana's season opener is two weeks away when the Grizzlies play No. 14 Cal Poly Sept. 6 in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly opens its season August 30 at San Diego State.
The offense ran approximately 60 plays, while there was another 30 or so plays run by the special teams.
Junior wide receiver Marc Mariani (Havre) had the first big scoring play of the day, as he followed a wall of blockers down the left sideline and broke loose for a 93-yard touchdown on a kickoff return.
Junior defensive end Jace Palmer (Missoula) tallied six points for the defense when be picked off an Andrew Selle (Billings) slant pass and sprinted 70 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.
The other big scoring play came on a 75-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by sophomore safety Erik Stoll (Sandpoint, Idaho).
The number one offense squared off against the starting defense in the first series, and senior quarterback Cole Bergquist (San Clemente, Calif.) orchestrated an eight-play, 65-yard scoring drive, culminated with a three-yard scoring run by sophomore running back Chase Reynolds (Drummond).
The final touchdown came on the last play of the scrimmage, a one-yard run by freshman quarterback Gerald Kemp (San Diego, Calif.).
"I thought our first drive on offense was impressive," said sixth-year head coach Bobby Hauck. "Our rushing game was okay and we did some good things in our passing game. Our intensity was very good, especially considering we've been practicing hard for a couple of weeks now.
"We had the first defense play against the first offense quite a bit today, and we have to do that because we feel like a lot of our second unit guys aren't quite up to the task (of facing the starters) because many of them are so young," Hauck said. "Today was a big day for our freshmen. It was their chance to show us if they are ready to contribute and play for us this season. Some of them really showed, and we will know a lot more about who did what after we watch the film."
The other scoring came when redshirt freshman kicker Brody McKnight (Vancouver, B.C.) and true freshman kicker Russell Schey (Billings) both connected on 23-yard field goals.
"Our special teams are probably about at 50 percent of where they need to be," Hauck said. "We are doing some good things on special teams, but we are lacking consistency."
Bergquist was 5-of-7-0 for 90 yards, while Selle was 4-of-7-1 for 47 yards. Kemp completed 5-of-6 throws for 53 yards, while sophomore quarterback Jeff Larson (Cut Bank) was 2-of-4 for 16 yards. The quarterbacks combined went 16-of-24-1 for 213 yards and no touchdowns.
Sophomore receiver Tony Kazmierczak (Thompson Falls) had scrimmage-highs of four catches for 47 yards, while senior wide-out Mike Ferriter (Helena) had two grabs for 46 yards. Other top receivers were Sam Gratton (Billings), who had three receptions for 33 yards and fellow true freshman Jabin Sambrano (Temecula, Calif.), who had two catches for 24 yards.
The leading rushers were Kemp, with four carries for 20 yards and a score; junior Thomas Brooks-Fletcher (Bellevue, Wash.) had four rushes for 17 yards; senior Andrew Schmidt (Bozeman) had four totes for 13 yards; and junior Brandon Utterback (Fort Benton) rushed six times for 13 yards. Reynolds had four carries for six yards. The rushing totals were 36 attempts for 58 yards.
The limited rushing yard total was due in part to three sacks in the scrimmage, two by Jace Palmer and another by redshirt freshman Ryan Featherston (Helena).
"Jace Palmer has had a good fall camp and is coming along, which is what we need because our defensive ends, as a group, need to equal the number of sacks (30 for minus 200 yards) that we had last year," Hauck said.
The Grizzlies' second and final fall scrimmage is next Friday afternoon, Aug. 29, and will be held once again at the Riverbowl practice site due to the installation of the new Sprinturf playing surface which is currently being installed in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Montana's season opener is two weeks away when the Grizzlies play No. 14 Cal Poly Sept. 6 in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly opens its season August 30 at San Diego State.
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