Griz Standouts Honored at Annual Team Awards Banquet

Montana head coach Bobby Hauck and his staff honored some of the Grizzlies' top performers of the year on Sunday at the annual team awards banquet at the DoubleTree Hotel in Missoula.

Three positional awards were presented along with three awards for "most inspirational player," "hardest hitter," and the "player who best exemplifies Griz football." Also presented were the Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year Award and the Scout Team Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year Awards. The Steve Carlson Team MVP Award went to Alex Gubner at the conclusion of the season, while Braxton Hill was named Defensive MVP and Keelan White was Offensive MVP.

In total, 11 players were honored for their 2023 performances in maroon and silver. Voting for all awards was conducted by the players, with the coaching staff selecting the scout team players of the year.

In the positional awards, freshman running back Eli Gillman was presented the Terry Dillon Award for outstanding back or receiver after leading the team in rushing yards with 857 to date, which puts him in contention for the national freshman of the year award as well.

Senior center and team captain AJ Forbes made this 38^th career start against Montana State on Saturday and was presented the Paul Weskamp Award for the team's outstanding offensive lineman.

For a second-straight year the Sims-Miller Award for outstanding defensive lineman went tackle Alex Gubner, whose numbers don't always show on the stat sheet but have been pivotal to Montana's stifling defensive performance this season.

The Tony Barbour Award for the player "who best exemplifies outstanding practice habits and makes an unselfish contribution to the betterment of the Grizzly Football Team" also went to a pair of defensive standouts, with linebackers Levi Janacaro of Missoula and Braxton Hill of Anaconda sharing the honor.

This year's Pat Norwood Award winner for most inspirational player went to receiver Sawyer Racanelli, a man who battled back from two knee injuries to make his return to action this season.

Named after a Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer and former NFL Defensive MVP Doug Betters, Missoula native Tyler Flink earned the Golden Helmet award for the team's hardest hitter a season after he earned the Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year award in 2022.

This season, the Hauck Family Special Teams award went to another Montanan in Garrett Graves, who featured on almost all of UM's specialist units, returning five kickoffs for 69 yards and putting in multiple big hits on coverage teams.

The future of Grizzly football was also honored by the coaches. Lineman Dylan Smith of Whitehall and linebacker Clay Oven of Billings were co-recipients of the defensive scout team player of the year, while lineman Michael Ray was named offensive scout team player of the year.

2023 Grizzly Football Awards

Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year
• Dylan Smith
• Clay Oven

Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year
• Michael Ray

Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year Award
• Garrett Graves

Terry Dillon Award
Honoring the outstanding back or receiver – was established in 1964 following the accidental death of former Grizzly Terry Dillon.
• Eli Gillman

Tony Barbour Award
Given in memory of a loyal Grizzly Fan. It is presented annually to a UM player "who best exemplifies outstanding practice habits and makes an unselfish contribution to the betterment of the Grizzly Football Team."
• Levi Janacaro
• Braxton Hill

Paul Weskamp Award
Established in memory of Paul Weskamp, a tackle on Ed Chinske's 1954 Grizzly Team. The award honors UM's outstanding offensive lineman and was established by citizens of Ronan.
• AJ Forbes

Sims-Miller Award
The Sims-Miller Award is given in memory of two great Grizzly defensive linemen the world lost too soon in vehicle accidents. Jesse Sims, from Stevensville, lettered for UM from 2016-19 and carried on Montana's legacy #37 jersey tradition. Larry Miller was a two-time All-American on UM's 1969 and 1970 Big Sky Champion teams, and was also a conference champion wrestler. The award honors the team's outstanding defensive lineman.
• Alex Gubner

Doug Betters Golden Helmet Award
Honors the best tackler and hardest hitter on the team. It was set up on a nation-wide basis by Coca-Cola in 1967.
• Tyler Flink

Pat Norwood Award
Pat Norwood was a four-year starter at offensive tackle for the Grizzlies (1979-82) from Billings who died of cancer in 1983. This award is given to the most inspirational player, who oftentimes had to overcome an injury.
• Sawyer Racanelli

Steve Carlson Most Valuable Player
• Alex Gubner

Offensive MVP (as voted by coaches)
• Keelan White

Defensive MVP (as voted by coaches)
• Braxton Hill

University of Montana Athletics

Griz Standouts Honored at Annual Team Awards Banquet

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Flink

AJ Forbes

Eli Gillman

Garrett Graves

Alex Gubner

Braxton Hill

Levi Janacaro

Clay Oven

Sawyer Racanelli

Michael Ray

Dylan Smith

Keelan White

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