The Treasure State has produced an array of elite football players over the years and very many have played for the Bobcats or the Grizzlies.
A total of 16 Big Sky Conference Defensive Players of the Year, including 10 for the Montana Grizzlies, grew up and played high school football in Montana.
On Tuesday, the Big Sky announced its annual slate of awards. And for the first time since the league started handing out league Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year honors, both awards went to Montana-made standouts. The league’s Freshman of the Year honor has only been handed out since 2013. But throw in a Montana native claiming that award this year as well and it was a Treasure State sweep for the Montana State Bobcats.
Montana State completed the first undefeated 12-0 regular-season in league history and the first unbeaten regular season in its program’s history with a 34-11 win over Montana last weekend. That victory helped sew up the No. 1 seed in the FCS Playoffs. It also helped ensure the Bobcats were the dominant football program in terms of the post-season awards.
MSU senior quarterback Tommy Mellott earned the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award. He is the third Bobcat to win the honor, including the first from Montana and the first from Butte.
Montana State senior defensive end Brody Grebe won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award. He’s the ninth Bobcat to win the award and joins Mark Fellows as the players who prepped in Class B before coming to MSU. Grebe is from Melstone, but the now 6-man program co-opped with Roundup during Grebe’s high school career.
Montana State’s Adam Jones sewed up the league’s Freshman of the Year award by rushing for 197 yards and two touchdowns in MSU’s rivalry win over Montana. Jones hails from Missoula and went to Sentinel High before going across the Great Divide to play for the ‘Cats.
Never have native Montanans won both the Offensive and Defensive POY awards in the same year, although in 1988 and 1989, safety Tim Hauck of Montana (Big Timber native) and quarterback John Friesz of Idaho won the respective awards. Friesz was born in Missoula but moved to Coeur d’Alene when he was eight years old.
“I think it’s significant and you can go beyond the major awards with Rylan (Ortt), Marcus (Wehr) and McCade (O’Reilly) with first-team recognition, Paul (Brott) as a second team guy, to get the very best guys in our state to come to Montana State is critical to our success,” Vigen said. “Then if you get the right ones, you turn them loose with Coach Herrin (strength coach) and our coaching staff and allow them to develop.
Mellott has been one of the faces of football in the Treasure State ever since leading the Butte High Bulldogs to the 2019 Class AA state championship game. Less than two years later, he was the starting quarterback for the Bobcats in the 2021 FCS playoffs and led MSU on a tear for the ages, culminating in an appearance in the national title game.
Mellott has been very good since. But this season, he’s taken his game to the highest level. He became the first Bobcat to win the honor since DeNarius McGhee in 2012. Overall, Mellott becomes just the third Bobcat to win the offensive honor as he joins McGhee and Kelly Bradley from 1984. Mellott earned 33 total touchdowns and over 2,600 offensive yards this season, while only throwing one interception.
Grebe is the first Bobcat to win the honors since Troy Andersen in 2021. He finished the regular season with 28 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
“That’s not all about stats,” Vigen said. “It’s what those two guys do to impact our result each week.
“Brody did not have this crazy year statistically but each and every week, the way he impacted a quarterback, that’s hard to quantify.”
Jones is the Big Sky’s fifth-leading rusher in terms of yards per game. He has rushed for 928 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 7.4 yards per carry. He also has a receiving touchdown.
“Adam stepped up big more than just this past Saturday and he is more than deserving of that,” Vigen said.
A total of 17 Bobcats made the All-Big Sky list. Nine of them were from Montana. A total of 12 Grizzlies made the all-league list, including five from Montana.
“There are a lot of good football players from the state of Montana that come through the high school ranks. We want to recruit as many as possible. It’s our hope that those young guys who are making their way now can look and say, ‘I can go to Montana State and become the next Marcus Wehr if I’m an offensive lineman, McCade O’Reilly if I’m a linebacker, Brody Grebe if I’m a defensive end.
“Those guys have gone from high school stars in our state to stars at our level and that is significant.”
2024 Big Sky Football Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Tommy Mellott, Montana State
Defensive Player of the Year: Brody Grebe, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year: Ty Pennington, Northern Arizona
Freshman of the Year: Adam Jones, Montana State
Coach of the Year: Brent Vigen, Montana State
Coaches could not vote for their own nominees
* – Unanimous first-team selection
First Team All-Big Sky Offense
QB: Tommy Mellott, Montana State
RB: Lan Larison, UC Davis*
RB: Scottre Humphrey, Montana State
FB: Rohan Jones, Montana State
WR: Efton Chism III, Eastern Washington
WR: Jeff Weimer, Idaho State
WR: Christian Fredericksen, Idaho State
TE: Bryzai White, Northern Arizona*
TE: Winston Williams, UC Davis
OL: Marcus Wehr, Montana State*
OL: Jackson Slater, Sacramento State*
OL: Conner Moore, Montana State
OL: Brandon Casey, Montana
OL: Wyatt Hansen, Eastern Washington
OL: Ayden Knapik, Idaho
AP: Michael Wortham, Eastern Washington
First Team All-Big Sky Defense
DL: Keyshawn James-Newby, Idaho
DL: Elijah Ponder, Cal Poly
DL: Dallas Afalava, Idaho
DL: Zach Kennedy, UC Davis
LB: McCade O’Reilly, Montana State
LB: David Meyer, UC Davis
LB: Jaxton Eck, Idaho
LB: Tommy Ellis, Northern Arizona
LB: Will Leota, Sacramento State
DB: Rex Connors, UC Davis*
DB: Alex McLaughlin, Northern Arizona*
DB: Tommy McCormick, Idaho
DB: Andrew Marshall, Idaho
DB: Kavir Bains, UC Davis
DB: Rylan Ortt, Montana State
First Team All-Big Sky Specialists
KR: Junior Bergen, Montana
PR: Taco Dowler, Montana State
K: Gabe Panikowski, Idaho State
P: Hunter Green, Northern Colorado
ST: Dwayne McDougle, Idaho
Second Team All-Big Sky Offense
QB: Miles Hastings, UC Davis
RB: Damon Bankston, Weber State
RB: Eli Gillman, Montana
FB: Austin York, Eastern Washington
WR: Jacob Sharp, Weber State
WR: Jared Gipson, Sacramento State
WR: Keelan White, Montana
WR: Jordan Dwyer, Idaho
TE: Mike Martinez, Idaho
TE: Tanner Beaman, Portland State
OL: Jonny Bottorff, Northern Arizona
OL: Titan Fleischmann, Montana State
OL: Stryker Rashid, Idaho State
OL: Eli Simonson, UC Davis
OL: Gavin Ortega, Weber State
OL: Cole Sain, Montana State
AP: Dante Chachere, Portland State
Second Team All-Big Sky Defense
DL: Kemari Munier-Bailey, Weber State
DL: Hayden Harris, Montana
DL: Matt Brown, Eastern Washington
DL: Paul Brott, Montana State
DL: Evan Bearden, UC Davis
LB: Riley Wilson, Montana
LB: Peyton Wing, Portland State
LB: Porter Connors, UC Davis
LB: Ryan Tirrell, Montana
LB: Danny Uluilakepa, Montana State
DB: Andrew Powdrell, Montana State
DB: DJ VanHook, Northern Arizona
DB: Zach Lewis, Northern Arizona
DB: Trevin Gradney, Montana
DB: Mason Rivera, Cal Poly
DB: Derek Ganter Jr., Eastern Washington
Second Team All-Big Sky Specialists
KR: Michael Wortham, Eastern Washington
PR: Junior Bergen, Montana
K: Hunter Ridley, UC Davis
P: Brendan Hall, Montana State
ST: TJ Rausch, Montana
Honorable Mention Offense (at least 3 votes)
QB: Dante Chachere, Portland State
RB: Adam Jones, Montana State
RB: Elijah Tau-Tolliver, Sacramento State
WR: Giancarlo Woods, Cal Poly
WR: Mark Hamper, Idaho
WR: Junior Bergen, Montana
TE: Jett Carpenter, Eastern Washington
OL: Nate Azzopardi, Idaho
OL: Jack Seelye, Eastern Washington
OL: Billy Lutui, Portland State
OL: Ernesto Nava, UC Davis
OL: Luke Dahlgren, Eastern Washington
OL: Journey Grimsrud, Montana
OL: Richard Estrella, Portland State
Honorable Mention Defense (at least 3 votes)
DL: Micah Carreon, Northern Arizona
DL: Princeton Toki, UC Davis
DL: Ethan Rodriguez, Cal Poly
DL: Malakai Williams, Idaho
DL: Kenneth Eiden IV, Montana State
DL: Brayden Wilson, Weber State
LB: Garrett Beck, Weber State
LB: Isiah King, Idaho
LB: Ammon Allen, Northern Arizona
LB: Zach Johnson, Idaho
LB: Brandon Wong, Northern Arizona
DB: Jaxon Lee, Montana
DB: Tyreese Shakir, Portland State
DB: DaJean Wells, Eastern Washington
DB: Cam Chapa, Northern Colorado
Honorable Mention Specialists (at least 3 votes)
KR: Andrew Marshall, Idaho
PR: Isaiah Eastman, Northern Arizona
K: Zach Schreiner, Sacramento State
K: Mathias Uribe, Portland State
P: Ben D’Aquila, Northern Arizona
ST: Jeremy Justice, Cal Poly
ST: Sean Farfan, Northern Arizona
