BOZEMAN – Over the weekend, Colton Grange had the privelege to be a part of a Montana tradition, the Bob Cleverley 8-Man All-Star Game.
“I’ll never forget that, this game has been fantastic. I’ll never forget it,” said Grange.
The game, in it’s 35th year of existence, took place in Butte and Drummond-Philipsburg quarterback Grange started it out in style, rushing for an 86-yard touchdown on the game’s first play.
“Oh, that was crazy, I wasn’t expecting that. I was starting to get tired there at the end of the run, I was like, ‘This end zone isn’t coming soon enough,’” Grange laughed.
The senior capped off a stellar performance, throwing two more touchdowns on his way a 56-18 win and to being named the Blue Team’s Offensive MVP on Saturday.
“Me and my teammate Andrew Gomez, we were just talking about how we haven’t lost all year and he told me I wasn’t allowed to lose in the Shrine Game or the MonDak, either,” said Grange. “So I’ll have to keep doing that.”
The Titans went through the season undefeated on their way to a state title, and Grange has a few games left in his high school career with the Knights of Columbus Badlands Bowl later this month and the Montana East-West Shrine Game in July. Then it’s off to play for Montana Tech, and with the Cleverley being played at the Orediggers’ Alumni Coliseum, Grange was able to showcase what is coming to Butte next season.
“I think I just showed them that I have heart and that I try my hardest all the time, and that’s pretty much the most important thing to me. So I’m looking forward to Tech and everything that’s to come,” Grange said.
The two passing TDs were to future Oredigger teammate Brett Robinson of Joliet, too.
“We are Tech buddies now, so we have to keep that together. But he was running good routes (Saturday), and I think we had that click (Saturday), so I can’t wait for the future to come,” said Grange.
But through the experience, the thing Grange treasures most is the people he played with.
“First day we got here meeting everybody — I knew a lot of people, but just becoming friends with them, I love them,” said Grange. “I can’t wait to keep those relationships throughout the years.”
