Story by
Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell, Mont.
Valley QBs shine as Griz wrap up spring drills
- Story byDaily Inter Lake, Kalispell, Mont.
- Valley QBs shine as Griz wrap up spring drills
MISSOULA — For Gage Sliter and Cody Schweikert , it was a heck of a long wait.
For Fynn Ridgeway , it was a quick turnaround.
Sliter, the redshirt junior out of Glacier High, and Schweikert, the redshirt sophomore out of Columbia Falls, took most of the quarterback snaps Friday when the Montana Grizzlies held its annual spring game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
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Schweikert suited up for the Maroon, going 10 of 17 for 119 yards. Sliter threw passes for both the Maroon — he was 7 of 13 for 83 yards — and the Silver, and had the evening's lone touchdown pass, to Legend Lyons . His totals were 10 of 16 for 113 yards.
When he wasn't throwing, Sliter was often handing off the Ridgeway, the Whitefish product who began spring drills as a safety.
"I moved literally in the middle of last week," said the junior, who began his collegiate career at Minnesota State-Moorhead. "I'm always the guy that if the team needs something, I'll do that. When they asked me last week I said, 'Yeah, let's do it.' "
Ridgeway had six carries for 27 yards and caught two passes for 29 yards. On an evening when the 2,000-or-so fans didn't get to see Keali'i Ah Yat, Luke Flowers or Eli Gillman , the Flathead Valley kids made an impact.
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For the record, the Maroon won 20-7. Dylan Paine ran nine times for 34 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown. Hashim Jones had six carries for 38 yards; Red Lodge product Chase Cook, like Jones a redshirt freshman, had the day's longest run, covering 23 yards. He finished with 48.
And the QBs, including Drew Price, got their reps.
"They needed reps, because a lot of times those guys don't get reps," first-year Montana coach Bobby Kennedy said.
"For them to step into the action — they did some good things and missed some too. But you know what, that's part of growing. We just have to keep bringing them along."
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Sliter had a very nice career at Glacier but has been buried on the depth chart. Always good at throwing the deep ball, he put a nice pass on Lyons for a 12-yard TD.
"Legend ran a great route. Guys up front protected well," Sliter said. "Just how you draw it up."
The odds of either Sliter or Schweikert getting the same reps this coming fall are long; credit both for sticking with it.
"It's been fun," Sliter said. "A lot of growth over the last couple years. Just learning and getting a little bit better each day. I love this school, I love this team. I love all the guys in the locker room and I wouldn't want to do this with anybody else."
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Schweikert missed all last season after tearing an ACL.
"I sat out and watched a lot, did a lot of rehab and today was kind of my first shot at it," he said. "We had a couple guys go down and all of a sudden I'm battling for the No. 1 spot the second day of practice."
Ridgeway played quarterback in high school, then QB and running back at Moorhead. He was settling into a role on special teams and the secondary when he made what appears to be a seamless switch.
"He learned the offense incredibly fast and looked great today," Schweikert said.
Near the end of the 84-play scrimmage, Ridgeway provided a final highlight with a leaping grab of a 20-yard pass. He was more or less surrounded.
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"They brought (pressure) a little bit, and the quarterback had to step up a little bit," Ridgeway said. "I like when the ball's in my hands."
"I love Fynn," Kennedy said. "He's been a really good special teams player for us. He's been at running back a week, and you've seen him flash a couple times. I kind of think he can do some stuff like Michael Wortham did. And he's one of those guys where you ask him to do something and he's all in, all the time. Fires me up."
QUICK KICKS: Glacier's Bridger Smith caught a pair of passes. ... Redshirt freshman linebacker Sam Merriman had a 26-yard pick-6 for the Maroon. ... Whitefish's Ryder Barinowski, a Montana Tech transfer, booted an extra point after the Luons TD. ... Brock Beaner had eight stops for the Silver, and Carroll transfer Braeden Orlandi had four stops. For the Maroon, MSU transfer Kade Cutler had six tackles, as did Peyton Wing.
Scoring Plays
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M — D Paine 2 run (Jo Silver kick), 7:00-1Q
M — Silver 52 FG, 5:00-2Q
S — Legend Lyons 12 pass from Gage Sliter (Ryder Barinowski kick), 7:00-3Q
M — Sam Merriman 26 interception return (Silver kick), :00-3Q
M — Silver 48 FG, 6:40-4Q.
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Silver (21-76) — Chae Cook 6-48, Fynn Ridgeway 6-27, Monte Gillman 4-17, Gage Sliter 1-minus 7. Maroon (19-65) — Hashim Jones 6-38, Dylan Paine 9-33, Sliter 1-1, Cody Schweikert 2-minus 7.
PASSING: Silver — Drw Price 3-5-1 for 37 yards; Sliter 3-5-0 for 30 yards. Maroon — Schweikert 10-17-0 for 119 yards, Sliter 7-13-0 for 83 yards.
RECEIVING: Silver — Lyons 3-27, Ridgeway 2-29, Weston Adams 1-13, Reese Brooks 1-7. Maroon — Korbin Hendrix 4-81, Ian Finch 3-42, Brooks 2-20, Titus Rohrer 2-14.
