I was at the game. Nephew was playing. Daughter was cheering. First off, hats off to Butte High for Naranche stadium. Reminds of Washington Griz with the close proximity to the field. The turf was really tall. It would be perfect with sprinturf. Which reminds me. The new turf at Tech looks awesome. I think tech is on the rise if they can keep their coach. He may be in high demand soon.
Secondly a big hand to the shriners and Butte. It is no easy task to do what they did. The banquet friday night was nice. A little hot. AC in the civic center would be nice. I felt like I had played a game by the end of the evening. The parade was nice. The game was well played. I thought that the referees were a little lazy with their spotting the ball, but they did it equally to both sides. It was an all star game and they did a good job of keeping the game moving and letting the players play.
As for the game, you couldn't ask for more. Down to the end. Players made plays and the fans were in it the whole game. Grey did a good job making adjustments. His OC Schmidt did a heck of a job. As far as players. Hanser who is going to Wazzu is a physical specimin. Schey looked all the player that Hanser did. Hanser must be a heck of an athlete because they had him out in pass coverage a lot. Martello from Bozeman is a great high energy player. He should shine at Dillon. As far as Cat fans are concerned, they should be happy with this years recruits. Mahoney from CMR is athletic and if he fills out his frame his is going to be a fine big sky player. Jeffries from Glacier is a player. Great athlete. Lazy on his technique at times, but that can be coached. He was the best offensive or defensive line athlete out there. Probably has relied on his athletic ability because he is a freakish athlete. Brekke is just a football player. He is fast, but straight out speed is not the fastest. He can turn on a dime and give you the leg and take it back fast. He reminds me of Joe Douglass from mid 90s griz teams. In my opinion, the best football player out there was McQueery. I was sure he was going to be an all big sky safety, but he is a leader and threw the ball better than I expected. The cats would make a mistake to not try him at QB. I may be missing some players, but that is off the top of my head.
For the griz, they got a steal in Horner. To get him as a partial was a steal. East should have had him at QB. I think he was better than the other 2 they had. He is a hard matchup on the edge. Decent speed, but great height and so strong. Runs good routes. Schey is so good. He was everywhere. East had some great linebackers. Ludeman has good instincts. He could be a steal as a walk-on. The players that we got to walk on are pretty impressive. Nico Graham is a good athlete. Did almost everything. Kicked for the west as well. Janssen should be good as well. Cross has a great frame and could be very good. I think both schools got some real good players. There may have been one or two that the schools wiffed on. Athletically Saraceni could be big sky. He did not seem to mesh well with players. After the game, he was up against the sideline by himself and while all the other players were on the field talking, he was showered, dressed, and gone. May have had a taxi waiting or something. Mahoney's teammate Cappis from CMR looked pretty good most of the game. You could tell they played together a lot. He is going to Carroll.
Overall, a good time and the kids have memories to last a lifetime. Thank you shriners and thank you Butte.
...Rimrockville has "Wendy's" spray painted on the center of Daylis Stadium.
