April 2005

Red and White Scrimmage Set For Saturday, April 16
Friday, April 15 2005
The University of Montana-Western football team puts the wraps on spring drills with the annual Red and White Scrimmage, Saturday, April 16, 2005. Kickoff is 11:00 a.m. from Vigilante Field.

The Bulldogs held a team draft on Wednesday night for the two teams. The game will be played with four twelve minute quarters. Very few of the returning starters will see action as the focus will be on the young players in game-like situations.

There was a little more at stake this Spring then any other with Tommy Lee at the helm. Last season, the Bulldogs lost 18 players to graduation, and many of those seniors were starters.

Lee used this spring as time of evaluation, giving his younger players as much playing time as possible to see who would step up and fill the holes left by graduation.

“I thought spring practice went very well,“ said Lee. “After the Red and White game we will sit down as a staff and evaluate individuals as well as positions and where we see people fitting, We have some ideas on who we see filling the holes left by graduation. The young kids worked hard this spring. We have some talented young players, but they lack game experience. I feel very positive on the guys we have that can replace the players who graduated. We will know a lot more after the scrimmage.”

Several of the players looked very sharp and caught the eye of the coaches. Dillon freshman Chad Schria took a step closer to locking up the middle linebacker position, but got stiff competition from junior Ryan Tuttle of Missoula. Sophomore Cooper Murakoa of Libby looks to inherit one of the vacated cornerback positions while Nanakuli, Hawaii freshman There are two names penciled in at top of the depth chart at one of the safety positions. Albert Distajo and sophomore Derek Stanley of Mullan, Idaho still have the coach's wondering who will start come the fall.. Both had excellent Springs. Lee was hoping for more reps from Stanley, but he was hobbled by injury. The defensive tackle remains solid. There is quite a battle going on at defensive end. The talent is there, the experience isn't.

The battle at quarterback was for back-up to returning starter sophomore Travis Blome of Billings. Transfer Justin Hartman of Great Falls and freshman Keal'li Perbera.

“It is still a toss-up,” said Lee. “We were looking for consistency from one of them. They both had good springs, but not consistent. One would stand out one day, and then the next day the other would have a great day of practice. It has been a peaks and valley's type of performance.”

Part-time starter Lance Frick, a sophomore from Great Falls, had a great spring on the offensive line. Also catching the coach's eyes were freshmen MaKana Mardonada of Kapa'a, Hawaii and Lanikai Kanehele of Hawaii.

“My biggest concern about the offensive line is depth,” said Lee. “I feel a little better after Spring, but it is still an area of concern.”

The strength of the Bulldog receiving corps is on the outside with that position going five deep on the depth chart. The mystery remains on the outside with several players battling for the two starting positions.

“There is a good group there,” added Lee. “They have all worked hard and we will be evaluating that position right through two-a-days in the fall.”

The Bulldogs open their 2005 season on August 27 at Montana Tech.





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Great Falls Senior Recipient of Scholar Athlete Award
Monday, April 11 2005

Ben Snipes, a senior offensive lineman from Great Falls, was one of twelve recipients of the Scholar Athlete Award sponsored by the Montana Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. Snipes is a three time All-Conference selection and two-time All-American selection. He maintains a 3.68 GPA.

Nominations by coaches come from Montana's five high school classifications, five Frontier Conference schools and the states two universities. Academic ability and football prowess are given the highest priority in selecting the winners while community involvement and school leadership activities merit considerable weight.


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Bulldogs Set for Second Scrimmage of Spring Season
Friday, April 8 2005
University of Montana-Western football coach Tommy Lee knew he and his staff had their work cut out for them entering the Spring season. With eighteen seniors graduating, there were a lot of holes to fill on the Bulldog football team.

The good news was there were a lot of young and talented players competing for the open positions. And, there was a good nucleous of returning players. So, the pieces to the puzzle were there. But step one to determine how the puzzle would fit together would happen this Spring.

Lee and staff got their first good look at the team in a 104 play scrimmage last Saturday.

“Every Spring, our goal is to take a look at all the players, in particular the young players,” said Lee. “We have 90 kids out for Spring ball and we need to see all of them. In the scrimmage, we got a chance to see everyone and saw some bright spots. I thought our quarterbacks played well. With our offensive line, we are looking at a lot of young guys and I thought they did a really nice job picking up where they left on in the fall. On the defensive side, I thought our linebacker crew as outstanding, in particular on the inside. Our corners and safeties did a nice job. There were no surprises at defensive tackle, that is a solid position just like I thought it would be. All and all, it was a good two hour scrimmage and we got to see a lot of positive things. But, we have a lot of work to do before our season opener against Montana Tech. Another positive was we came out of the scrimmage without any major injuries.”

The Bulldogs held a couple of small scrimmage in the midst of their two practices this past week. Another large scrimmage is set for Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m.

“I feel good about where we are right now,” added Lee. “If we continute to improve in the areas where we are a little rough right now, we should be a good football team in the Fall.”
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