The Grizzlies take on the Weber St. Wildcats on Saturday in the final regular season home game in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. For Montanas 13 seniors it is Senior Day and possibly their last home game unless home playoff games are secured. More on this years seniors later. Weber St. has only won 1 game on the season and is winless in Big Sky Conference play. They are at or near the bottom of most statistical categories for the conference. I had picked the Griz to win 50 - 24, but with high winds, cold and snow expected at game time Im revising that to 35 - 7 Griz. The game changing and saving combo of Jordan Johnson to Ellis Henderson may be slowed down by weather more than Webers defense, so lets hope the Griz running game led by Jordan Canada has a big day. A healthy Travon Van back on the field would be a nice boost for the running game, but we may not see him until the Griz-Cat game. The Griz defense played stellar last week in the second half, holding South Dakota to 3 points in that half. I expect theyll carry that over to this game, and I especially expect big games from the three senior linebackers. If the Griz win the turnover battle, run the ball effectively and limit Weber to third and long the Griz should move to 9 - 2 and secure a playoff berth. Id like to thank the seniors on this Grizzly team for all the hours of hard work and the dedication they showed to the University and the community. They truly have been a pleasure to watch. They withstood a lot of adversity in their careers here to say the least. They had 3 head coaches, 3 defensive coordinators and 4 offensive coordinators. They suffered through the first losing season in more than 25 years. Yet they came back in 2013 better and more determined to reestablish Montana as one of the best in the nation. They watched as one teammate was sent to prison and another go through an excruciating year in which he lived through a devastating accusation, a very public trial and his name and character attacked daily by some in the local media. During the last two years they watched as some fans turned their backs on them and some segments in the community slandered them by referring to them as thugs and labeling them as Rape Nation. They were deemed guilty as a group based on hearsay and rumor. Even a supposed respected and honored former MT U.S. Congressman took part in the piling on. All this and they remained united as a team and loyal to their teammates and the program. They also continued to contribute to their community with their time and work in numerous volunteer activities. I love Grizzly football and also the Missoula community, but I gotta say that some in this community and in the media let themselves be carried away by mob mentality and showed their true colors. To them I say you should be ashamed of yourselves. I would hope these individuals feel shame at carelessly tossing about accusations and rumors without knowing the facts or considering the harm they caused these young men and their families, but I doubt they do. It has been a sad display of humanity by these people who decided to spew hate and lies on a group of 18 to 22 year olds. So now Ill jump off my soap box and tell this group of seniors and the rest of their teammates I commend you for your perseverance, loyalty and community service. There is no doubt this group of seniors will go on to successful lives and become positive influences wherever they end up after Grizzly football. To Joran Tripp, Brock Coyle, J.P. Kanongata, Bo Tully, Alex Bienemann, Cam Warren, Danny Kistler JR., William Poehls, Marlon Miles, Anthony Chief Goodwin, Kjelby Oiland, Clay Pierson and Steven Rominger thank you for your dedication to excellence on and off the field! You will be missed! Safe travels to the Weber St Wildcats and their fans traveling to Missoula. As aways here is to an injury free game on both sides. #GoGriz!
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 01:32:17 +0000
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