Montana State hosted its annual Sonny Holland Spring Classic at Bobcat Stadium on April 23, 2022.
The action lasted exactly two hours with the Gray team, led by upstart freshman quarterback Jordan Reed, rallying from a 17-point deficit to win going away, 24-17.
The Blue team, led by returning starting sophomore quarterback Tommy Mellott and the Bobcats’ top offensive line unit, jumped ahead thanks to a strong day from junior Lane Sumner, who scored the game’s first touchdown one play after ripping off a 47-yard gain to set it up.
Freshman quarterback Sean Austin led a touchdown drive capped by a touchdown plunge from redshirt freshman Garrett Coon. Blake Glessner hit a 44-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the first half to give the Blue team a sizeable lead.
But the Gray team, led by MSU’s first-team defensive front, rallied in the second half. Junior Ben Seymour shared both of his two sacks with sophomore Brody Grebe, the second coming on a touch sack of Mellott in the end-zone to get the Gray team on the board.
Wyoming transfer quarterback Sean Chambers threw three interceptions — two to Air Force transfer freshman cornerback Dru Polidore and one to freshman corner Jackson Harmon — but bounced back to lead the first touchdown drive for the Gray team. The march included a rush and a pair of catches from junior tight end Derryk Snell, one grab that netted 15 yards and earned the Gray its first touchdown.
With 11 minutes to play, Austin fumbled a hand off attempt on a messy mesh on a zone-read play and defensive end David Alston recovered the ball for the Gray 18 yards from the end-zone.
Two plays later, Reed, a 6-foot-6 freshman who grayshirted last season, hit former walk-on freshman wide receiver Aidan Garrigan for a 14-yard touchdown. Reed then hit sophomore Tayvian Williams on the two-point attempt to tie the game at 17 with 11:04 remaining.
Sophomore speedster Andrew Patterson got the Blue team into scoring position with 5:18 to play but Glessner, who hit 20 field goals and scored 108 points during an outstanding freshman season last fall, missed two 33-yard attempts that would’ve taken the lead.
The wind swirling in the North end-zone of Bobcat Stadium is more profound now because of the construction of the Bobcat Athletic Complex right behind the scoreboard, creating a sort of wind tunnel that will certainly affect kicks in that direction on any Bozeman day there is a breeze.
Reed and the Gray offense took over and hit a shot right away. Reed hit a streaking Charles Brown II and the sophomore did the rest, ultimately earning a 64-yard gain into the red-zone. Three plays later, sophomore DeMareus Hosey plunged in from three yards out to give the Gray its first lead, 24-17, with 1:20 left.
Mellott, a former Montana Gatorade Player of the Year from Butte who took the FCS by storm last season by leading the Bobcats to three straight playoff victories in his first three career starts, and the Blue team offense got one more chance with 1:20 to play.
Sumner, a former Class B state champion sprinter from Huntley Project, continued his outstanding day (19 carries for 109 yards, TD plus five catches for 59 yards) by catching two screen passes and patiently following his blockers to get the blue team into the red-zone.
With three seconds left, Mellott scrambled, lost his footing, regained his balance and fired to the Northwest corner of the North end-zone, looking for senior wide receiver Ravi Alston. But good coverage and a slightly overthrown ball meant the Gray team emerged with the victory.
Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott on the last possession of the #MSUBobcatsFB spring game pic.twitter.com/qGdIlSxb7M
— Skyline Sports (@SkylineSportsMT) April 23, 2022
Stats
OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
RUSHING – Blue Team: Lane Sumner 86-109-1, Garrett Coon 7-45-1, RJ Fitzgerald 1-2-0, Tommy Mellott 4-12-0, Sean Austin 2-2-0. Gray Team: DeMareus Hosey 18-77-1, Sean Chambers 1-11-0, Nolan Iverson 3-5-0, Jordan Reed 2-9-0.
PASSING – Blue Team: Tommy Mellott 11-16-0, 160, 0; Sean Austin 4-5-0, 77, 0. Gray Team: Sean Chambers 10-18-3, 124, 1; Jordan Reed 2-3-0, 69, 1.
RECEIVING – Blue Team: Willie Patterson 6-89-0, Lane Sumner 5-59-0, Andrew Patterson 2-22-0, Ravi Alston 1-40-0, Treyton Pickering 1-4-0. Gray Team: Derryk Snell 3-46-1, Charles Brown 3-82-0, Tayvian William 1-32-0, DeMareus Hosey 1-12-0, Aidan Garrigan 2-19-1.
DEFENSIVE SPECIAL STATS
SAFETY – Brody Grebe/Ben Seymour
FORCED FUMBLE – David Alston
SACKS – Ben Seymour 2.5, Brody Grebe 0.5
TACKLES-FOR-LOSS – Jory Chaote, Aidan Parks, Nolan Askelson, Luke Fedyk
INTERCEPTION – Dru Polidore 2, Jackson Harmon
PASS BREAKUP – Dru Polidore
HURRY – David Alston
SCORING SUMMARY
Blue: Lane Sumner 2 run (Blake Glessner)/Blue 7, Gray 0
Blue: Garrett Coon 3 run (Blake Glessner)/Blue 14, Gray 0
Blue: Blake Glessner 44 FG/Blue 17, Gray 0
Gray: Safety on sack by Ben Seymour and Brody Grebe/Blue 17, Gray 2
Gray: Derryk Snell 15 pass from Sean Chambers (Blake Glessner)/Blue 17, Gray 9
Gray: Aidan Garrigan 14 pass from Jordan Reed (Tayvian Williams from Jordan Reed)/Gray 17, Blue 17
Gray: DeMareus Hosey 2 run (Blake Glessner)/Gray 24, Blue 17
Social
Montana State head coach Brent Vigen general thoughts following #MSUBobcatsFB spring game pic.twitter.com/hFypXxFIFT
— Skyline Sports (@SkylineSportsMT) April 23, 2022
Scrimmage thread
We will have our eyes on the line play first and foremost (standard for @Colter_Nuanez).
— Skyline Sports (@SkylineSportsMT) April 23, 2022
MSU is looking to replace starters Lewis Kidd, Taylor Tuiasosopo, Zach Redd (retired) on offensive line plus All-American DL Daniel Hardy, Chase Benson, All-#BigSkyFB DE Amandre Williams.
