Sports Now -- Brawl of the Wild Preview + State Semi-Final Prep Football Action

With Cat-Griz week upon us Josh gives his Brawl of the Wild preview! Plus, some prep volleyball talk, and a look at the state semi-final football action featuring Bigfork, Mission and Polson.

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Transcript

Welcome back to another episode of Inter Lake Sports Now! It is a big one this week, everyone, as we gear up for the Brawl of the Wild. We're going to have a Brawl of the Wild preview and talk about the Cats and Grizzlies later. Of course, we are going to recap our prep playoff action as we near the state title game. Finally, we're almost there. It has been a crazy year of prep football, but that Cat-Griz game has me pumped up. We'll definitely dive into that later. And as always, we will highlight our prep players for the week brought to you by Hagadone Media Group Montana.

But first, today's episode is brought to you by Nomad, voted the Flathead's best manufacturer. Nomad is a longtime supporter of the local community and sports scene, celebrating 20 years of building great careers and mission-focused custom vehicles. Visit www.nomadgcs.com for more information.

Quick reminder, you can subscribe to the Daily Inter Lake e-edition to get all your local news right at your fingertips. Check out dailyinterlake.com for more information.

Alright, so we've got a couple of headlines this week. We always start with our now headlining segment. The Brawl of the Wild preview show and the prep football playoffs are kind of the big headlines. But we do have another big piece of news. I will admit this one is Brawl of the Wild-related. It was announced Sunday morning by ESPN that College GameDay, the number one premier college preview show, is coming to Bozeman for the Cat-Griz game, for the Brawl of the Wild. It's going to be epic and special. ESPN brings their group of bandits, I should say, their cast of characters. 

They bring the fun and they always bring a guest picker. It will be interesting to see who that'll be, maybe someone related to the state of Montana or the school. They always keep it interesting. But it's huge for the sport and it's huge for the state because Montana is a football state. When you think of football states around the country, people often say Alabama or Texas, but I'll put Montana right up there. People love their football. They're about to see a passionate fan base with a real rivalry game, one of the oldest rivalry games in the nation. It's going to be special. And more importantly, it's a great opportunity for the programs to put themselves on display on College GameDay, potentially getting a boost in recruiting and national exposure. There are a lot of moving parts here. It's breaking news, it's exciting. The big story is that Montana football is going to be on full display. 

The passion of those two fan bases, the passion of the state in general when it comes to football. And like I said, who knows, maybe each school gets a little boost from this, a little more hype, a little bit more recruiting. Because they're already pulling in some great talent at the FCS level. Highlighting your program and showcasing what you're all about on the big stage like that is just one more way to make a name for yourself. It's a great opportunity for both programs. I'm excited to see it. Definitely excited to see it.

Okay, one other quick headline worth mentioning. Congrats to Carroll College, who took home a piece of the Frontier Conference title. They beat the College of Idaho in a game where the College of Idaho had already clinched a piece of the title. Carroll needed to win for a share. And now, with that win and a tiebreaker, Carroll does have a chance at a playoff berth in the NAIA playoffs if they land in the top 20 in this week's coaches poll.

Will keep you updated next show on that, but congrats to Carroll College for pulling off the upset and beating College by itself. Fun stuff, exciting to see our Montana teams find success. Alright, let's move it into our prep Roundup. That was a really quick headline this week, but with the cat craze game with prep playoff football, we're gonna spend a little bit of time diving into all that. We might have a special phone call from Fritz Neighbor later to talk a little about Grays and Cats. Also, toward the end of the episode, we'll see how that works out.

Okay, let's get to our prep Roundup. Today, we'll start out with a little bit of volleyball, just a quick recap as the volleyball season is coming to an end or has come to an end, excuse me. So we had three Valley teams in the all-class State volleyball tournament with Polson, Thompson Falls, and Bigfork making it. Unfortunately, all three teams did bow out of the tournament on Friday at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.

You know, you want to win it all, that's obviously always the goal. But hey, worth mentioning, Bigfork made their first State volleyball tournament since 2005, and Polson won their second straight divisional title. So hey, it's not always about taking home the championship. There's a lot you can find, the silver lining in the season. They played hard, they made the tournament, they had success, and those two teams had those notes right there to look forward to or to look back on. Exciting stuff. We're gonna keep rocking and rolling into the Prep football Roundup.

Also nearing an end here as football, as we now know who's going to be playing in our State title games. Let's dive right into the first one. I was at this game. Bigfork was upset by Missoula Loyola in the Class B semifinal. The Vikings lost 14-6 in this one. It was very much what you would expect of a playoff football game. A team like Bigfork, who likes to run the football, was gritty, it was tough. I've watched a lot of Prep football this year, and this was the first time that there were some hits that had me going, 'Oh, wow!'

I mean, these kids were going at it. They left it on the field, both teams. There's a great quote right here from Vikings head coach Jim Ben, who was proud of the way his team did play. He said, 'Played as hard as they could until the final whistle.' We won't get into the recap, but that's a great way to put it. The Bigfork did end up coming up short, but they never gave up. It came down to a melee on one of the final plays. Their quarterback Tristan Hurd was driving towards the end zone and lost the ball, Missoula recovers that, and that seals the ball game. Next thing you know, it's victory formation.

I'm kind of recapping this one on the fly. I was at this one. It was such a back-and-forth, old-school defensive battle. There weren't necessarily your typical highlights, but that kind of credit to both teams for sticking to their game plans, and playing smart football. I will say the Rams, they're a bit of a, I don't want to say a miracle story because hey, you get hot at the right time in football, you make a run. That's what it's all about.

I don't want to discredit and make them look like too big of underdogs, but they were not expected to win this game. Vikings came in undefeated, and Missoula barely made the playoffs. Next thing you know, they got hot at the right time. They found a way to get the running game going. Talon Reynolds was the focal point of that Rams offense. Carried about 32 times on a mix of direct snaps and conventional handoffs, and finished with 99 yards and a touchdown. Rams quarterback Aiden Brown finished 12 of 17 for 95 yards, and he did find Malik Little for a 17-yard scoring strike with 3:24 to go in the third. That was the game's first score.

That kind of tells you the vibe of the game. Reynolds followed that up with a three-yard rushing touchdown that made it 14-0. And that's when Bigfork kind of found their groove. They made things interesting. Joseph Farrier found pay dirt with 8:20 to play. And from there, the Vikings did shut out the Rams. But unfortunately, the Rams shut them out right back.

So here's one more quote from Jim Ben, head coach of Bigfork, or a couple of quotes, excuse me. 'Our kids played their butt off. Manny Baldy, Bryce Gilliard, and Jackson Nelson really had great games. Baldy finished with 10 tackles and a sack. Gilliard had eight tackles, while Nelson had three tackles and a 33-yard kick return on special teams.'

So overall, like I said, maybe not similar to the volleyball stuff, not the results you desire. You always want to go for it all. But at the end of the day, you're right there. You made the semifinal game. You went undefeated in the regular season. You had a great group of kids, according to Coach Jim Ben. Great being around them the last three years, he said. So they had a great team, they had a great run. Nothing but kudos to the Bigfork team, and major credit to Missoula Loyola for coming in as underdogs on the road, tough environment, poor weather, always slippery, cold, icy, everything you could kind of say home field advantage. They still managed to come out on top. So credit to Missoula Loyola. We'll keep an eye on how they fare in their Class B State title game.

So we'll keep it moving. Like I said, though, big credit to Bigfork for their season, a lot of respect for the way they play the game. I had so much fun the last two weeks going down there, watching some playoff football in the icy, snowy conditions, just running the football, and playing tough. As I said, kids were leaving it all on the line. So kudos to that team, that coaching staff, and that football program. Keep it moving.

Alright, let's go to Polson. Like I said last time, a little bit more down the road. We'll head down to Polson. This game was in Lewistown, and the Polson Pirates' season did come to an end, falling 49-32 to Lewistown. The Eagles' defense and offense just did enough. Let's get into the recap from The Daily Inter Lake. As always, you can check these Prep football recaps in the Sunday edition of The Daily Inter Lake or on thedailyinterlake.com.

Okay, here's the recap from Lewistown. The Polson Pirates piled up the yards, and the Lewistown Eagles piled up the points.

The host Eagles did have plenty of yards, especially on the ground, in their 49-32 Class A semifinal win over Polson on Saturday. Lewistown rushed for 360 yards, with quarterback Gage Norcalin running for three scores. His last two touchdowns offset touchdowns by the comeback-minded Pirates, who got 399 yards and four touchdowns passing from Jarrett Wilson. The Pirates outgained the Eagles with 562 yards to 477. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, partly because the Pirates lost two fumbles and partly because Lewistown (11-0) wouldn't be stopped.

The Eagles will host Billings Central, which knocked off defending champion Hamilton 42-6 on Saturday, for the title. With the score tied at 7, the Pirates appeared to get a break when Lewistown turned the ball over on a bad field goal snap. But then the Eagles got the ball back on a fumble, and Brady Janice's six-yard touchdown run gave them the lead for good early in the second quarter.

Polson, forced to play from behind, did rally and made a comeback effort. They cut into the lead and made it 35-26 at one point. But then the Eagles responded again. Wilson, who ran for 109 yards on 24 carries, scored from three yards out in the fourth quarter. But again, the guy we mentioned earlier, Gage Norcalin, did it again. He found a hole and got a 32-yard touchdown with four minutes left, and that kind of was the dagger.

That being said, huge performance from Wilson. He ended up having, like I said, 399 yards, and four touchdowns. He added 109 yards on the ground on 24 carries and found the end zone on the ground. He hit Tyler Wenderoff quite a bit on the day, who had 12 catches for 153 yards for the Pirates. Owen Mcelway caught a touchdown pass, as did Tommy Sherry. Trent Wilson ran twice for 37 yards and caught six passes for 71 yards.

So Polson ended up 9-1 on the season. It was their second straight semifinal loss. The Pirates' only title game appearance was in 1969. Jared Wilson ended his senior year with 2,616 passing yards and 35 touchdowns, and only three interceptions. He ran for 886 more yards and 17 scores in his three years at quarterback. He passed for 8,812 yards and 115 touchdowns. He also ran for 1,859 yards and 27 scores.

Lewistown's only other title appearance came in 2001 when the Eagles beat Whitefish 12-9 for the state title. The Eagles beat conference foe Billings Central 17-7 on October 14th. So, the Polson season comes to an end. We talked a lot about this Polson offense. Fun team to cover, unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to go to any of their games, but I've been watching the footage and keeping up with it the best I can. Jared Wilson is just a playmaker. He put the team on his back again. Not to say it wasn't a full team effort, they had a lot of contributions on offense, a great well-rounded offense. But he did it again. It was just one of those things. Lewistown had a great team, they stayed poised, they held on, and they did their thing. So, they're state title-bound.

But hey, credit to Polson.

Just like I said with Bigfork, it was great covering this year, and a lot of credit to those kids for their run to the semifinals. There's no taking that lightly. That's very impressive, and they deserve to be proud of that accomplishment, no doubt about it.

One last game we're going to recap just briefly is the state C eight-man semifinal game featuring the Mission Bulldogs, who held off Fairview 54-48. It's looking like next weekend I might be down in Mission covering that game, getting a little footage for the podcast, and checking it out.

Eight-man football is like a lightning bolt track meet, a lot of scoring, and this one ended with a final score of 54-48. At one point, Mission was up 40-8 in the second quarter, and the final score is 54-48. That just sums up the fast-paced, action-packed type of football. It's going to be a lot of fun, and I'm excited to head down there.

Credit to Mission for their win. This is their first-ever trip to the state title game, so they have a lot to be proud of. That's huge for them, and we might have a little bit more mention of Mission players later in the show.

So let's keep this show moving along. It's been fast-paced as usual lately, trying to get to that Brawl of the Wild preview. That's going to be fun. It's such an electric time to be a Montana sports fan right now, with so much action going on.

Before we keep it moving, let's hear a quick word from our friends at Nomad. At Nomad, the key to our success has always been the amazing talent and experience of our team. Based in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, our Kalispell, Montana headquarters is home to some of the most skilled engineers, integrators, software developers, welders, electricians, carpenters, mechanics, and professional staff in the market. Our team is dedicated to working collaboratively with our valued clients to ensure success in every mission. Join our team. Check out our careers page at nomadgcs.com/careers to view current job openings and submit an application. That's nomadgcs.com/careers. Make sure to go check that one out.

So that was our prep roundup. Shout out to Nomad, as always, for their support. We're going to keep it moving like I said, a fast-paced show. Fall sports winding down. We are going to have a fall recap show, I'm thinking, coming up maybe post-Thanksgiving. And then we'll get into our winter sports preview. It's just going to keep rocking and rolling.

Alright, prep player of the week time. As I said, fall sports are winding down, so we're going to do something a little bit different for our first prep player of the week. And then we'll do a little more conventional to round out the segment.

They recently released the All-State and All-Conference soccer teams. So we're going to run through that recap and highlight our local Class A soccer athletes who were named to those teams.

The Whitefish Lady Bulldogs had five players named Northwest All-State. In the state champion Columbia, Falls Wildcats had six on the list released Thursday. Isabella Cook, Brooke Roberts, Olivia Genovese, Maya Lacey, and Nora Schmidt were All-State and All-Conference from Whitefish. Second Team All-Conference for Whitefish is Madeline Moldenhauer, Delaney Smith, and Maeve Englefinger.

For the Columbia Falls girls, Hope McAfee and Josie Harris were All-State. Sydney Mann was All-Conference, and Zoe Byrd, Taylor Rogers, and Mia Johns were second-team selections. Also selected for All-State honors were Danica Buckland and Braden Gunlock of Bigfork. Payton Gunlock made All-Conference for Bigfork.

Polson's Tia Mercer was selected All-Conference second team, as was Scout Nadeau. Piper Bazel of Bigfork and Bryce Dunham, Nico Lane, Kygo Lawn, Andrew Minor, Walton Nichols, and Finley Sunberg of Columbia Falls were All-State selections. Dale Blicken and Adam Schrader earned All-Conference honors. Quite the showing for Columbia Falls!

Columbia Falls' Ethan Austin, Josiah Killman, and River Wolford were named second-team All-Conference, as were Libby's David Bailey and Caleb Rye Dazell of Bigfork. I'm sorry, that name got me. Caleb Rye Dazell of Bigfork. I apologize, I do apologize for that. What happens to the best of us? My last name's Dugan, went to a place for about six months, and they were calling me Duggan, so I've been there.

I did forget to mention here, Bigfork's Landon Biermann was selected for All-State, as were Colin Lyman and Ryder Elliott of Whitefish. So big, big, big congratulations to our Class A soccer players on their achievements. Check out the full list on the dailyinterlake.com or grab the Friday, November 11th version of The Daily Inter Lake. And my apologies again for the name I botched there. As I said, I told the story of the Dugan-Duggan thing. Went on for a long time. I know how it is about the name mispronounced. Anyways, I apologize, but hey, let's keep it moving.

Prep Players of the Week. Epic achievements for those soccer players and major kudos. You know, when you're on top of your class in the state, the conference, anything like that, you really earned it, that's for sure. So now to the football field.

Despite the loss, we're rolling with them again. Polson quarterback Jared Wilson had his name called last week. I think it's like the fourth time we call his name, but he racked up 399 passes while throwing four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Added 109 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Wilson played a part in all five of Polson's touchdowns on the day of the loss. His football IQ is off the chart every time you look. It feels like he has a knack for making the play when his team needs it. Ultimately, Polson did come up short of their state title goals, but as I mentioned in the recap earlier, Polson ended his senior season with 2,616 yards passing, 35 touchdowns, and only three interceptions. He ran for 886 yards, and 17 touchdowns on the ground. So the kid put up monster numbers in his career. Prep-wise, he had 8,812 yards, 115 touchdowns, and he ran for 1,859 yards and added 27 scores on the ground. So the numbers speak for themselves. He was a driving force for that Polson Pirates team who made the semifinals. He deserves a lot of credit, so we had to shout him out. Very excited to see where his football journey takes him next because the kid is a heck of a football player.

All right, last up, we mentioned their recap briefly. We didn't fully dive into it, but here we go. Mission football duo, quarterback Kelly McClure and playmaker Bryce Humphrey earned the nod after helping lead their team to the Class C eight-man State title game for the first time in school history. Humphrey had four total touchdowns on the day, while McClure threw for two scores and ran for two more, including an 18-yard scoring strike from McClure to Humphrey. So, those were your Prep Players of the Week presented by Hagadone Media Group Montana. Major props to all our soccer players. We called their names and Jared Wilson had a great football season. And hey, shout out to that Mission duo. They've got a chance to finish the job in the State title game this week. So, we'll see what happens. We'll keep you updated. Again, those were your Prep Players of the Week presented by Hagadone Media Group Montana. The team in Montana is here to help you grow. Our skilled team will assess your marketing goals and craft ROI-focused campaigns to meet your business needs. Our integrated marketing solutions will help your people find you wherever they are looking, whether it's on Google, YouTube, apps, or in the local newspaper. Contact Anton at 406-758-4410 for more information. That's 406-758-4410 for more information.

All right, we've been jamming through this one, but it's the time we've all been waiting for. It's time for the Brawl of the Wild preview quiz. The Cats, the two Montana teams, the Montana Super Bowl, whatever you want to call it, let's just jump into it. I'm going to start it out here. So, I will say this: both teams won this past week. Montana blew out Eastern Washington, and the Bobcats blew out Cal Poly. Both teams just had statement victories before their rivalry game. It was obvious they weren't there to play around. They knew what was important. They were like, "Let's get out of here healthy. Let's get to this Brawl of the Wild next week." And for the Grizzlies, you've got to win that game if you want to make the playoffs and seal the deal. So, we're going to do a couple of fun facts here real quick, and then I'm going to give my keys to the game for each team. And then, hopefully, we're going to have a little confidence with Fritz and a little bit to wrap up the show. So, here we go. A couple of fun facts, just some background on the rivalry. The rivalry began in 1897 as the 31st oldest rivalry in all Division I football history, the fourth oldest at the FCS level. The University of Montana leads the all-time series with 73 wins to Montana State's 41. That being said, in the last 10 years, it's been pretty evenly split with the Bobcats winning five times and the Grizzlies winning five times since 2011. And the Grizzlies' one of those wins were vacated, so that all-time record, we can kind of leave that to the side. Right now, it seems like a different era in Bobcat's football. They're very competitive right now. Coach Hauck is 6-5 all-time versus the Bobcats since returning to the Griz in 2018. He's just 1-3, so I think he's going to be very hungry for this one.

Don Reed, who coached the Griz from 1986 to 1995, has the most all-time wins of any coach in the history of the series, going 10-0 in his time as the head coach of the Griz in the Brawl of the Wild. That's impressive right there.

As for the Bobcats, Sunny Holland, who coached the Bobcats from 1971 to 1977, is the winningest Montana State coach in the series history, going 6-1 in the rivalry. Coach Jeff Choate, who was the coach from 2016 to 2019 and predecessor of current coach Brett Vegan, was 4-0 in his time as the Bobcats coach. Vegan is all in one and is eager to even the score with the Griz and not fall too far behind in the matchup.

Let's dive into my keys to victory. I'll start with the Griz and then we'll jump into the Bobcats. Here are my keys to victory for the Griz:

Get an early lead: I think this is absolutely crucial for the Grizzlies to win this football game. The Bobcats' rushing attack this season has been putting up monster numbers all season long, and it's multiple guys contributing. The idea of shutting down that running game is far-fetched. They have too many weapons, they utilize them in a creative way, and they get them out in space to make plays. The Grizzlies, in my opinion, have not looked like a team that plays well from behind. Getting that early lead, whether it's 7-0 or 3-0, is essential. Hold on tight and start playing some defense. Obviously, that won't be enough to hold down the Bobcats, but it allows the Grizzlies to execute the next key to victory.

Stick to the run game: When the Grizzlies run the football, they're a different team. In the last two weeks, they have dominated on the ground, consistently running the ball with great success. They need to fully commit to the run and utilize their running backs effectively. Osmo Nick Osmo has stepped up as a tone-setter for the Grizzlies with back-to-back huge performances. He had four touchdowns last week and over 200 yards rushing before that. However, falling behind by 10 points early makes it difficult to feed the running backs as they'd like. So, it's crucial for them to get that early lead because the last time the Grizzlies' defense was chasing around Tommy Milan and Sean Chambers, and the more time the Grizzlies' offense is on the field, controlling the clock and playing their game, the better.

Contain Tommy Malott and Sean Chambers: This might be the most important key for the Grizzlies. The Bobcats' offense flows through the ground attack. If the Griz can come up with creative ways to keep Malott and Chambers off balance and make them play from the pocket, it changes the game. They need to keep those guys from beating them in the open field. That's when they're at their best. Mila and Chambers are two of the most dangerous players in the country. If you're the Grizzlies, who love to bring pressure, you need to find a balance. We've seen this season that the Grizzlies have a great pass rush, but when you look at a team like Idaho earlier this year, who beat the Grizzlies, they got rid of the ball quickly and made it hard for that pass rush to be effective. So, it's important to find the right approach. Maybe trade off a bit of blitzing to keep those guys under control.

Alright, so we discussed Grizlies' key to victory as far as keeping Tommy Milot and Sean Chambers maintained, keeping those guys in the pocket, making that decision. Do we maybe sacrifice a little bit on the pass rush? Force those guys to beat us with their arms by maybe throwing an extra defender into a QB spy kind of role, put him into more of a QB-contained kind of role where you're protecting the edge a little more with your defensive ends rather than going for the sack? Those kinds of little things. So that's what, in my opinion, it's gonna be a major key for the Griz, keeping them moving. Some keys to the game, how the Griz can win.

Now, let's get to the Bobcats' keys to the game. As far as that conversation with Fritz, due to time constraints, it's looking like I'm gonna post that as a separate little entity. You'll be able to catch that still on our social media platforms, Spotify, iTunes, Apple, wherever you listen to your podcast, YouTube. But it'll be there. So we'll post that separately, we'll get a little bit more into the Brawl of the Wild, the Griz, and the Cats, and get more in-depth in all of it.

Now, as far as my keys of the game, we'll keep those rolling. Next up for the Griz, keep Lucas Johnson on the field and prevent him from taking extra hits. Look, Daniel Britt looked good in the second half versus Eastern Washington and garbage time duty. That kid looks like he could be the future of the program. But Johnson gives that team the veteran leadership, 7th-year senior dynamic playmaking ability. He was on crutches at halftime last week. That's not what you want to see if you're a Grizzlies fan. I think priority number one is keeping him on the field, protecting him. And the big thing I'm getting at is the offense. Similar to just what we talked about their defense, where do you draw that line as far as risk management and game versus hitting the home run?

Let's keep Johnson safe, let's protect our guy versus running him out there like a madman. And the reason I kind of compared it to the defense is you have to make the decision: Do you run the QB spy or not? So just big decisions on the line. But I think keeping Johnson away from that extra damage is crucial because you want that guy in the game.

And if the Griz can pull off a win or at least make enough of a statement to keep it close, make that playoff run, and make the playoffs, you really want Lucas Johnson on the field. So it's up to the coaching staff to do their best to factor that into the playcalling. Of course, it's tough because here's my final key, and this is crucial: the last key for the Griz is to play like it's your last day, leave it all on the line.

And that doesn't mean go out there and have coaching staffs throw guys in the fire, game guys like Johnson hurt. What I mean by that is sometimes coaches like to have a poker face. They like to have that 'I'm not really going to show what's up my sleeve, I gotta hide a couple of cards, I gotta keep my magic tricks hidden until the very end, keep that rabbit in the hat,' you know, on the rabbit in the hat, to the very last play. Not this time for the Griz. You need to go out there, you need a statement victory to make the playoffs. You need a great performance. A loss leaves way too many question marks.

So you can't play that game safe, you can't play timid, you can't play in the sense of, 'Let's kind of save a couple plays in the back pocket in case we match up, you know, with a similar front in the playoffs, and we don't want to show our hand too much.' Because at the end of the day, we know coaches like doing that. With no offensive coordinators, they want to save those little special home runs they have hidden.

So, in my opinion, the Griz, from the opening snap when they get the football, play your game. Run the football. Play like it's your last and don't leave anything in the tank. Leave it all out there and don't be afraid to call everything you've got in the arsenal as far as that coaching staff. Because I know it's nice to have a couple of weapons for the playoffs in the back pocket, but if you don't make the playoffs, those weapons don't really help at all.

Now let's move into the Bobcats. I think the Griz have gotten the ship back on the right track, I guess you could say. So they're steering in the right direction. We'll learn a lot about both these teams this Saturday. So let's move to the Bobcats. How can the Cats win? What are their keys to victory?

Alright, number one: stay patient. The Bobcats' offense has the capability to hit home run after home run, go for the big play, go for the quick strike offense. Tommy Malott makes plays with his legs, gets outside the pocket, and finds a receiver deep. Marquis Johnson last time scored, I believe, four touchdowns on the ground, but every one of them was an explosive, home run kind of play.

What happens if the Griz bottle that up in the first quarter? Did the Bobcats get a little bit out of their rhythm? Do they stop running the football? Do they abandon the run and become a one-dimensional offense? Because that's when the Grizzlies can start picking their spots. That's when they can maybe get to the quarterback, utilize that pass rush, and create a turnover.

So in my opinion, if you're the Bobcats, the first-quarter score should mean nothing. Play very patient, play your football game, and under the belief that if we keep running our offense, running the football, eventually we're going to crack that big one and score a touchdown.

Because that's the only thing I worry about with the Bobcats. They haven't really been tested quite like the Griz have. In this sense, the Griz had some tough losses. The Bobcats lost to Oregon State, a great team. They were just ranked in the FBS rankings, so it's a tough loss. But I don't know if they had that loss where maybe they really felt that adversity.

So, I think that if you fall behind early, you've got to stay focused, you've got to stay locked in. That'll be crucial. Number two, utilize the short passing game like I just mentioned. The Bobcats have these home run hitters, Tommy Milot and Sean Chambers. Those guys can find a way to score almost any time with their legs, given the right situation. The Griz's defense loves teeing off on opposing quarterbacks. They would love to get as many hits on the Bobcats' quarterback duo as they can. So, in my opinion, get rid of the ball quickly, and utilize the short passing game. Get the ball into the hands of the playmakers and put the pressure on the Grizzlies' defenders to make tackles in the open field, rather than them just locking in on Tommy Milot for four quarters and Sean Chambers.

So that's my opinion: get rid of the ball quickly, utilize the short passing game, get the ball in the hands of the playmakers, and make the Grizzlies make the plays. Because if you just sit there and you look for the home run every time and all that, eventually they're going to start teeing off. And that's how you put your quarterback into a bad position, similar to what I said the Griz did with Johnson. You've got to protect your guy if you're the Bobcats. Utilize that short-passing game.

Next up, and this might be the most important: don't let the moment get to you if you're the Bobcats. I know that's cliche, I get it. But look, Bobcats Nation is flying high right now. They just got awarded College GameDay, rightfully so. That is awesome, and the whole entire Bobcats fan base, team, program, and everybody has the right to be super pumped to have College GameDay on their home turf.

Now, that being said, it's an extra level of distraction to already the most distracting, hyped-up, media frenzy game of the year for the team. So how does having College GameDay on campus, how does ESPN on your campus hosting a national television show the morning of your game affect the way you look at things, affect the way you play?

Because the Bobcats are coming into this as the favorites. They have an FCS-long winning streak of 17 games at home, and their only loss this season, as I said, was to Oregon State. They're expected to win this game. How do they deal with the pressure? Coach Vegan has never beaten the Griz, and now ESPN and College GameDay are in town.

I know coaches and athletes and all of us like to act like we're made of steel and we don't have emotions, but when we're playing sports, I've been there, I get it. At the same time, emotions are going to be running high Saturday. You can't hide from it, you can't deny it. And I think it is going to be an epic day of football.

But I think the big thing, the last key for the Bobcats as I said, is just to stay locked in, avoid all the other stuff, focus on the football field, win every down, win each play as they say. And that needs to be your focus. It's not, 'Oh, ESPN's here, this is going on.' They've got to deal with it for the whole week. The Griz are traveling to Bozeman, they're hosting, they're going to be setting it up, they're going to know where the stage is and where all the TV cameras are going to be. So it's going to be a little different for the Bobcats. I think if they can stay locked in, they're going to make this a heck of a game.

These teams are evenly matched. I think the Bobcats like I said earlier this year, have a little edge offensively when healthy. When healthy, the Griz, I think, have a little edge defensively. That being said, both teams have been banged up a little bit. Both teams are coming off huge wins. Both teams have momentum rolling, and both teams are about to leave it all on the line in the Brawl of the Wild this Saturday. It's gonna be epic. I can't wait.

That'll do it for today's show. I can't wait to see how this shakes out. I'm going to be covering the Mission Eight-Man Football State Title on Saturday, it looks like. So I think I'm going to do a little social media blackout on Saturday. I'll watch College GameDay in the morning and then just kind of disappear. I don't want to know how that game goes. I'm sure somebody will spoil it for me. But hey, what a time to be a Montana football fan. State title prep games, the big one, Cat-Griz on College GameDay, ESPN in town. It's gonna be a party. It's gonna be crazy. It's gonna be chaos. Gonna be epic.

Alright, I love it. Fun stuff. Great to see the state of Montana represented because their love for football is no joke. So much passion in this state for the game. Alright, so like I said, I'm going to post that conversation with Fritz separately. We'll dive into the Brawl of the Wild and the Grizly-Cat stuff a little more, give us a chance to go more in-depth before we wrap this thing up.

I want to give a special thanks to Hagadone Media Group Montana for their support and remind everyone listening that this episode was brought to you by Nomad, voted the Flathead's best manufacturer. Nomad is a longtime supporter of the local community and sports teams, bringing 20 years of building great careers in mission-focused custom vehicles. Nomad is a Montana-based company making a global impact. Nomad has worked with NASA and various branches of the United States military, so you know Nomad is a name you can trust with your manufacturing needs. For more information, visit www.nomadgcs.com.

That'll do it for today. Shout out to Flathead's best manufacturer, Nomad. Shout out to Hagadone Media Group. Big thanks to both of them, Hagadone Media Montana, I should say. Big thanks to both of them. I'm so pumped up right now, so ready for this Brawl in the Wild, College GameDay, all the action. So next week, we'll recap the state title games for football.

We'll recap the Brawl of the Wild and see where the Griz and the Bobcats are sitting with the FCS playoffs. Did the Griz get in or did the Bobcats get the buy? How does it all shake out? We're going to see next week. The Bobcats are locked to get in, so this is huge for the Griz. We're going to see what happens. I can't wait to see. We'll get into that next week. Thank you, as always, all y'all. I'm Josh Dugan, and that'll do it for Inter Lake Sports Now. What a time to be a Montana sports fan. Have a great day and enjoy your week. [Music]