Grizzly receivers: a decorated group that just wants to win

8/8/2019 7:40:00 PM | Football

By: Montana Sports Information

The shoulder pads were on Thursday afternoon at Dornblaser Field, and the excitement and intensity levels rose as the Montana football team completed its third practice of the fall. The offense ran plenty of live speed plays against the defense, and the team worked on tackling drills for the first time this fall.

The depth of the wide receiver position was on full display Thursday, as several different players made big plays throughout the day. The receiving corps looks to be one of the most talented and deep position groups for head coach Bobby Hauck.

"The more productivity we get out of that group, the better we will be," Hauck said. "Obviously we have other weapons in the backfield, so just do your part and embrace your role and hopefully that ends up being a big bonus for our team."

Sophomore Malik Flowers started the day off with a touchdown grab over the top of the defense, and junior Samori Toure followed that up with an impressive diving catch while going seven-on-seven.

When the team went to full 11v11, Toure again impressed with a nice touchdown grab. The outside guys made big plays, but Jerry Louie-McGee had catch-after-catch inside. All it takes is one gap for the electric senior to bust open a big play. Gabe Sulser also had some fantastic grabs on the day, scoring twice and continuing his stellar fall.

Sammy Akem WILL ✋ NOT ✋ BE ✋ STOPPED ✋#GoGriz #RTD #GrizCamp pic.twitter.com/Z0crdRIiO1
— Montana Griz Football (@MontanaGrizFB) August 9, 2019

Samuel Akem, a HERO Sports preseason All-American, had an impressive catch in traffic that he turned into a touchdown. The junior will be an outstanding target on the outside, and sophomore Mitch Roberts has put together a great fall so far as well. All told, Louie-McGee likes what he sees from his fellow receivers.

"Since I've been here I think this is the best we have been receiver-wise," Louie-McGee said. "You see ones and twos and either player can take it. Even the threes, the talent just doesn't stop. I'm pretty excited to see what everybody can do, and if we can get everything dialed up I think it's going to be something special."

The Grizzlies also have a variety of different receivers, from the speedy Louie-McGee standing at 5-foot-9 to the tall and athletic Akem on the outside. The versatility makes everybody on the field a threat at all times, according to Akem.

"It makes it so that nobody can ever relax," Akem said of the numerous different playmakers. "Once one of us has a good play, you can't relax because somebody else in another position could have a good play. It just makes you always be on your toes."

As for the versatility of the group, Hauck is only worried about one thing.

"I don't think having diverse players makes any difference. I think having guys that can make plays is what you're looking for," Hauck said. "I don't think that's exclusive to tall guys or short guys, guys are either good football players, or they aren't, and we have some good football players."

Akem and Louie-McGee have both garnered several preseason honors, and Malik Flowers joined the pair as all three earned preseason honors from Phil Steele Magazine on Thursday. The individual accolades are great, but there is only one thing on the mind of the Grizzlies.

"I just want to win, that's all I care about," Louie-McGee said. "I don't care about personal goals or stats, I just want to have a good season and end with beating the Cats, and that's all I care about."

"It's cool, but we try not to pay attention to all of that," Akem said of the preseason honors. "We're just about the wins and about the team, we're just trying to win one game at a time, one practice at a time and one day at a time. We can't focus on what everybody else is saying because at the end of the day if we lose one all we will have is us, and when we started this all we had was us, so we can't depend on what everybody else has to say."

Gallery: (8/8/2019) FB:: Fall Camp Practice 3

The receivers had a big day, but there was plenty to talk about on a Thursday that saw some of the younger quarterbacks get more experience and the defense force some more big plays. The running backs, taking hits with shoulder-pads on for the first time, also saw more action than they had the previous two days.

Freshman Nick Ostmo had the first touchdown of the fall by a running back, and Adam Eastwood, Marcus Knight, and Drew Turner saw plenty of carries as well. Junior quarterback Cam Humphrey made some good plays and freshman Garrett Graves connected on two straight deep touchdown passes during his run behind center.

The defensive highlight of the day came from freshman cornerback Trevin Gradney, who had an interception on the tip of his fingers that he returned for a touchdown. Senior corner Kadeem Hemphill also came up with a nice diving interception during seven-on-seven drills.

Montana returns to Dornblaser on Friday for the first practice of the season in full pads.