Montana Grizzlies ready to kick off season with opener against Northwest State

MISSOULA — In the end, there’s only one extra sleep till school soccer is again in Missoula.

All the discuss is previously, and preseason expectations heaped on the Montana Grizzlies might be put to the check beginning on Saturday when Northwestern State visits Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. on a day the place temperatures are supposed to succeed in the higher 90s.

Popping out of fall camp, Griz coach Bobby Hauck likes what he sees from his squad.

“I believed the work that we acquired achieved in our fall follow session was good,” Hauck mentioned at his Monday press convention. “I believed the gamers had been actually tuned in and that makes it good, so we’re into recreation week now, and Saturday we get to search out out if our work was good and we’re able to play properly.”

Northwestern State, a group situated in Louisiana within the Southland Convention, went 3-8 final 12 months, and hasn’t had a profitable season since 2008.

Nonetheless, with heavy turnover each on the teaching workers and with participant personnel, Hauck mentioned this recreation is troublesome to arrange for.

“The primary week’s at all times somewhat unnerving simply because you do not know your individual group after which once you add the uncertainty of the prep for these guys the place we simply do not know what we will get,” Hauck mentioned. “There’s numerous uncertainty and we’ll have to enter the sport with type of a primary gameplan and attempt to work our manner out of it.”

The depth chart was launched on Tuesday, with San Diego State switch Lucas Johnson set to make his debut as Montana’s beginning quarterback. Additionally on Thursday, the Grizzlies named Helena native Marcus Welnel because the recipient of the legacy No. 37 jersey. Welnel was picked to put on the jersey by Townsend native Jace Lewis, however all through fall camp had been sporting his normal No. 10 jersey whereas Hauck and UM had declined to touch upon the delay.

Welnel can been seen sporting the jersey in UM’s latest hype video for the season, which served as an official announcement of types. His quantity has additionally been modified on the group’s roster.

Montana enters because the preseason choose to win the Massive Sky Convention, and the Grizzlies are ranked at No. 3 within the Stats Carry out FCS ballot with quite a few gamers reeling in preseason accolades.

However all of that’s thrown out on Saturday when the season formally begins, and the Grizzlies kick off their first of 11 video games to open the 2022 season.

“I am a fairly agency believer that effort can get you out of some unhealthy conditions. In the event you’ve acquired good gamers who play actually arduous you’ve gotten an opportunity to win video games it doesn’t matter what you do X’s and O’s smart so hopefully we’re able to go and wholesome and might exit and put a very good effort on the market.”