BOZEMAN — Montana State's annual Sonny Holland Classic spring scrimmage took place Saturday at Bobcat Stadium, with the Blue team beating the White team 24-13.
There were no touchdowns until the fourth quarter, but Butte native Casey Kautzman gave the Blue team a 9-0 lead through the first three quarters with his three made field goals.
Redshirt freshman and Missoula native Adam Jones scored the game's first touchdown on a 1-yard run for the White team.
Sophomore tight end Hunter Provience found the end zone for the Blue team as senior quarterback Tommy Mellott connected with him for a score.
MSU coach Brent Vigen was pleased with Mellott's performance.
“Standing back there (behind the line of scrimmage), I think he did a pretty good job,” Vigen stated in a press release. “There were a few times he missed a few things, but ultimately completed the ball pretty well. He made some one-side-of-the-field-to-the-other-side throws, and that was impressive.”
Provience would then score again, this time on a pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Chance Wilson.
Jones had the final touchdown of the game on a 3-yard rush while the clock expired.
The Blue team prevailed, and now the Bobcats look ahead to summer and fall camp, which will start in July due to their first game being in week zero on the road against FBS New Mexico on Aug. 24.
“It’s good to be done with the spring game and to have it unfold like you want to, back and forth with the opportunity to see a lot of guys in the game in situations to see how they respond,” Vigen stated.
“There was enough back-and-forth that I think as a head coach you can walk away from today feeling good about the team continuing to move forward.”
Scoring plays and statistics (provided by MSU):
SCORING PLAYS
Blue – Casey Kautzman 40 FG
Blue – Casey Kautzman 45 FG
Blue – Casey Kautzman 30 FG
White – Adam Jones 1 run (Myles Sansted kick)
Blue – Hunter Provience 16 pass from Tommy Mellott (Casey Kautzman kick)
Blue – Hunter Provience 9 pass from Chance Wilson (Myles Sansted kick)
White – Adam Jones 3 run (Myles Sansted kick)
STATISTICS
RUSHING: Adam Jones 14-68-2, Elijah Elliott 8-33-0, Colson Coon 7-87-0, Chance Wilson 6-23-0, Jared White 4-11-0, Jordan Reed 3-13-0, Jacob Trimble 1-4-0, Scottre Humphrey 1-2-0, Tommy Mellott 1- -2-0. Totals 45-239-2.
PASSING: Tommy Mellott 9-13-0, 95, 1; Jordan Reed 8-17-0, 64, 0; Chance Wilson 1-2-0, 5, 1; Patrick Duchien 2-6-0, 18, 0. Totals 20-38-0, 182, 2.
RECEIVING: Aidan Garrigan 3-30-0, Max Murphy 3-21-0, Ty McCullouch 2-19-0, Taco Dowler 2-16-0, Hunter Provience 2-25-2, Elijah Elliott 2-16-0, Adam Jones 1-12-0, Jacob Trimble 1-7-0, Colson Coon 1-7-0, Marqui Johnson 1-16-0, Javonte King 1-4-0, Zachary Dodson-Green 1-9-0. Totals 20-182-2.
DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS: Brody Grebe – 1 sack, 2.5 other TFL; Blake Schmidt – 0.5 TFL, 1 blocked kick, 1 pass breakup; Bryce Grebe – 0.5 TFL; Blake Stillwell – 1 TFL; Hunter Sharbano 0.5 TFL, Andrew Powdrell – 2 pass breakups; Alec Eckert – 0.5 sack; Kenneth Eiden IV – 0.5 sack, Talon Marsh – 1 TFL; Cole Bullock – 1 sack; Takhari Carr – 1 PB.
