Skyhawks respect Grizzlies’ strength

By: Bill Oram
GameDay Kaimin

The University of Montana and Fort Lewis College football teams have little in common.
The Grizzlies annually dominate the Big Sky Conference of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. The Skyhawks are competitive in the Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
The Griz fly to most of their away games. The Skyhawks bus from Durango, Colo., to all of theirs.
The Skyhawks' media guide lists Ed Rifilato as both the team's head coach and equipment manager.
But on Saturday, the two teams will share the field at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Griz head coach Bobby Hauck acknowledges his team appears to have a decided edge in the match-up.
"It's a game that on paper looks like one we should win, but we are constantly going to remind ourselves that last weekend Michigan looked like they should have won their game on paper," he said.
Last weekend saw one of college football's most shocking upsets when Appalachian State, the top-ranked team in the FCS, edged Football Bowl Subdivision No. 5 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The possibility of an upset in the Grizzlies' game against Fort Lewis wouldn't be entirely without precedent. Last season, Chadron State, another RMAC team, knocked off Montana State in Bozeman.
However, even Rifilato acknowledges that's not likely to happen in Missoula.
"Of course we want to play well and get better, but I'm not sure you can do that against Montana," he said.
The experienced Grizzlies last weekend dismantled a competitive Southern Utah team in Missoula. This will be the opener for the Skyhawks.
"They're a little bit of an unknown coming in," Hauck said. "They were a good team last year, won a lot of games, played well. I anticipate they'll come in excited to play."
As of Wednesday, Rifilato was yet to determine a starting quarterback for the game. Last season Matt Gutierrez threw for 186 yards per game while guiding the Skyhawks to a 7-4 finish, enough for second in the RMAC. This season the job is still wide open, according to Rifilato, who said Tom Stoffel and David Nieman, both juniors, are competing for time.
"We're going to use them both," Rifilato said, but added that he isn't "much for switching quarterbacks in and out."
Montana had its own quarterback controversy over the summer before Hauck tabbed junior Cole Bergquist the starter over freshmen Jeff Larson and Andrew Selle and sophomore Clint Stapp.
The Skyhawks return only 19 letterwinners from last year's team. The most exciting playmaker from that group is senior wide receiver Brandon Cummings, who had 39 catches and six touchdowns in 2006.
"They're not a veteran team as they were a year ago," Hauck said, "but Ed's been there for a while now. I'm sure his recruiting has taken over and they have a good looking group."
Rifilato acknowledges the Griz, with home-field advantage and history on their side, will be an intimidating force.
"I don't know if you can stop that," Rifilato said. "Montana has earned that right for you to respect them like that. It's not like you're going against someone that's not good."
On Hauck's end, he maintains that his team's focus can't be on the opponent.
"The important thing for us to remember is it's not who is coming out the visitors tunnel ... it's who is coming out of the home team's tunnel," he said. "And the Montana Grizzlies have to show up to play. It's irrelevant who the opponent is."