March 2005

Bulldog Football Signs Six
Friday, March 18 2005
Three student-athletes from Montana and three from Idaho have signed Frontier Conference/NAIA letters of intent to play football for the University of Montana-Western according to head coach Tommy Lee.

Mike Denny is a 6'5, 260 lb offensive lineman from Billings. He was a member of the 2004 Class A State Runner-up team. He will graduate this spring from Billings Central High School.


Jordan Clary is a 6-1, 190 lb running back from Butte. He earned All-Conference and All-State honors and was selected to play in this summer's East-West Shrine All-Star game. Clary will graduate this spring from Butte High School.


Chris Sandy is a 6-2, 225 lb defensive end from Helena. He earned All-Conference and All-State honors and was selected to play in this summer's East-West Shrine All-Star game. Sandy will graduate this spring from Helena High School.


Matt Jost is a 6-1, 215 lb defensive end from Hailey, Idaho. He earned All-Conference honors and was selected to play in this summer's District 4, Idaho Shrine All-Star game. Jost will graduate this spring from Wood River High School.


J.Q. Kenyon is a 6-3, 190 lb running back/wide receiver from Boise, Idaho. He transfers to Western from Boise State. Kenyon is a 2003 graduate of Borah High School.


Bridger Ward is a 6-0, 205 lb running back from Murtaugh, Idaho. He earned All-Conference honors as a linebacker. Ward is the defending Idaho District 6 Steer Wrestling Champion. He also plays basketball and this year become the first Magic Valley player to score over 40 points in a game in two years. Ward will graduate this spring from Murtaugh High School.


“This is another fine group of student athletes,” said Lee. “They have the talent to be major contributors to the future success of our program. I am excited to see how they fit into our mix. With our losses to graduation, there should be some interesting battles for positions when Fall camp opens.”
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Bulldogs Open Spring Drills
Wednesday, March 16 2005
With a stiff breeze and a few snow flakes falling, the University of Montana-Western Bulldog football team opened Spring Drills.

Head Coach Tommy Lee and staff welcomed 95 players to the first day of Spring Football. The Bulldogs will practice fifteen times between now and the Black and Red scrimmage on April 16.

"I've been very pleased with the progress through winter conditioning and what we've gotten out of our winter workouts," said Lee. "They have worked hard in the off-season. Spring-time is evaluation time. This is the time we look at our young guys, the redshirt freshmen and transfers and see how they fit in,”

The Bulldogs finished the 2004 season with a 7-4 overall record and a first place in the Frontier Conference with a 6-2 record. Western returns 43 letterman including three starters on defense and six starters on offense.

“We have several areas of concern as we prepare for the 2005 season,” Lee noted. “On offense, we will be taking a serious look at the outside receiver. We need to find the starters and the depth. Caleb Drinkwalter has the experience at running back, but we need to find depth there. Defensively, we lost a lot through graduation, but we have a good group of talented youngsters to blend with our returning starters. We will use this time to see how they perform and where they fit in.”

The Bulldogs will practice on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of each week. The Saturday practice will be a scrimmage beginning at 10:00 a.m.

“We also use the Spring to experiment,” said Lee. “We can try different schemes on both offense and defense. Spring gives us time to experiment that we don't have in the Fall.”

Western opens their 2005 season on the road at Montana Tech on August 27.



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Bulldog Football Signs Eight
Tuesday, March 8 2005
Three student-athletes from Montana; three from Idaho, one from Washington and one from Louisiana, have signed Frontier Conference/NAIA letters of intent to play football for the University of Montana-Western, according to head coach Tommy Lee.

Derik Pluff is a 5'11”, 190 lb running back from Polson. He earned All-Conference honors as both a running back and a linebacker. Pluff also participated in basketball and track. In track, he was the Divisional long jump champion in both his sophomore and junior seasons. He will graduate this spring from Polson High School.

Andrew Ridgeway is a 6'1”, 195 lb linebacker from Stanford, Montana. Ridgeway, a 2004 graduate of Stanford High School, transfers to Western from Montana State-Bozeman. During his prep career, he earned All-Conference and All-State honors and was selected to play in the 2004 Treasure State Class C All-Star game.

Andy Roberts is a 5'10”, 160 lb defensive back from Billings West High School. Roberts earned All-Conference honors his junior season and All-Conference and All-State honors his senior season. He has nine career interceptions. Roberts will graduate this spring from Billings West.

Greg Hillary is a 6'2, 225 defensive lineman from Highland High School of Pocatello, Idaho. He transfers to Western from Treasure Valley Community College.

Jake Hayes is a 6'2”, 195 lb linebacker from Soda Springs, Idaho. Hayes earned All-Conference and All-State honors and was named the Idaho State Journal's Defensive Player of the Year. He was also the starting center of the Soda Springs basketball team that finished second at the 2A State Championship. Jared Henesh is a 6-3, 230 lb defensive end, also from Soda Springs. He earned 1st team of the Idaho State Journal All-Star team and earned All-Conference and All-State honors. Both players will graduate this spring from Soda Springs High School.

Jake Johanson is a 5'11”, 190 lb running back/linebacker from Eastmont High School of East Wenatchee, Washington. He earned All-Conference honorable mention honors and was selected to the All North Central Washington team. He graduates this spring from Eastmont.

Clay Morgan is 6'3”, 240 defensive lineman from Tallulah, Louisana. He will graduate this spring from Tallulah High School.

"This is a good group," said Lee. "They are talented athletes who had successful high school careers. They come from good programs and know what it takes to win."
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