By Bruce Sayler
I can’t remember whether the stairs at either end of the bleachers at Bob Green Field on the Montana Tech campus have 435 or 437 steps.
They are the ones you climb a few times, then pause and look up at the top, and discover there are many more to climb. On Thursday night, it was suspected that a work crew had sneaked in the night before and planted eight or ten new specimens in the structure.
Butte football legend Greg Salo was sitting in the top row, next to the south stairs. Once a star player at Butte High and Montana, and who had spent a year tackling ball carriers at UCLA, Salo saw no reason or desire to go down those stairs. He could see just fine from where he stood.
Salo, a former head coach at Butte High and one of his favorite coaches, raved about Montana Tech’s 29-22 season opener, discussing the pros and cons and describing details from the game as passersby passed by and recognized him.
One by one the exhausted and now bone-weary supporters smiled, even laughed and exclaimed: “What a match! Great match! And that was exciting!” Salo agreed. The words were redundant only in language. Emotions were all fresh and unwearied. They were accurate.
Montana Tech senior quarterback Blake Thelen ran left and then burst out of the pocket as the fourth-quarter clock ticked down to under 15 seconds. With the packed home crowd begging him to “Run!!!,” Thelen threw a pass to the back-left corner of the end zone. Well-covered senior receiver Wyatt Alexander, of Whitehall, leaped to his feet and hauled in the 31-yard toss, and the NAIA’s 21st-ranked Orediggers had likely toppled third-ranked Georgetown (Kentucky).
“A great catch,” described Salo and 5,000 other Oredigger fans.
The Tigers had given the home team a critical upset a minute and a half earlier when Montana Tech was on the verge of securing the win, but they fumbled at the Georgetown 4-yard line. The Orediggers, leading 21-14, rode Landers Smith’s demo derby running style, with occasional touches of finesse, behind a fast and powerful offensive line to the decisive TD while eating up the clock.
Tiger Justin Richardson, who apparently did not participate in this year’s Olympic Team sprint tryouts, however, picked up a fumble at his own 4-yard line and may have broken the 96-yard dash record when he reached the end zone. A two-point conversion on a reverse end-around by Dillon Warren gave Georgetown the 22-21 lead with 1:42 left.
The packed stadium crowd was distraught on a warm football evening.
Thelen, Smith and the rest of the Oredigger offense lifted their spirits and played with sensible conviction. Thelen paid. The possession after Richardson’s TD was given legitimacy when Thelen was clocked on a batted pass play by Georgetown. Instant replay showed the Oredigger QB getting pummeled and the targeting rule put the ball at midfield. Thelen set up shop and found Alexander two plays later. His flip to recent Butte High Bulldog Dylan Snyder in the far back corner of the end zone made Montana Tech’s lead 29-22 with 12 seconds left.
Matt Whitcomb’s tackle on Tiger Darius Neal on a lateral was the final play of the game. It was about 65 yards short of the goal line.
“It was crazy,” Montana Tech defensive back Jadyn Downs, who mixed in a lot of the craziness with three interceptions, said of playing in the game. “I want to give a shout-out to BT (Thelen), and a shout-out to Wyatt, and a shout-out to the whole defense, and a shout-out to the whole offense.
“And a shout-out to the whole team. How about a shout-out to the whole team.”
Still wildly enthusiastic as he spoke about the effort, head coach Kyle Samson was impossible to find in the post-game celebration, shouting a congratulatory speech after the game and being swarmed by players and staff.
I wonder if he’s found his way out of the pile yet.
“It’s definitely a good night to be an Oredigger,” Downs said.
Two of Downs’ picks came in the second quarter after the teams had tied 7-7 in the first. Georgetown’s only early lead was 7-0 when QB Gehrig Slunaker found Warren three yards behind him and left the Montana Tech secondary for a long pass. The Orediggers answered with a cross-country drive that Smith finished with a 3-yard crash into the end zone behind Butte freshman Zach Tierney’s pancake block at right tackle.
Downs stopped a Tiger drive with a steal that was returned to the Georgetown 41-yard line. He put his team ahead with a pick-six with 1:47 left. The scoring play saw him cover center field and then leap over the receiver to pick off the pass.
He said both were a result of reading the quarterback — watching hips, shoulders and even elbows — and getting good chances on the ball.
His third interception came in the third quarter and led to a touchdown for Montana Tech.
“The third one was all Matt Whitcomb,” Downs insisted, spreading his arms demonstratively. “To me it was a surprise. It was all Matt Whitcomb.”
Whitcomb punched Slunaker’s pass into the air and because Downs had already made two air attacks, the ball, out of habit, fell into Downs’ hands.
“All credit goes to Matt Whitcomb,” said the DB’s player of the match.
A one-yard Smith dig to pay dirt while the line of defenders backed 2 yards into the end zone capped the drive and Montana Tech led 21-7 until the Tigers got a big play late in the third quarter. Matt Miller flew through the air nearly parallel to the ground to catch a long throw from Slumaker, bouncing it downfield at the 1. Georgetown scored on the next play.
Smith ran for 201 yards on 34 carries in the game. Angel Sanchez’s interception gave a Montana Tech defense four for the game. The unit also posted two first-half goal-line stands in bent-neck efforts.
Montana Tech’s campus currently leads the way in traffic cones and detours. And it probably had nothing to do with the high kick, but fans may have lingered in the stands and on the field’s new turf for an hour.
Salo began to walk away, while there were fewer and fewer people to talk to.
“This is quite a venue, isn’t it?” he said with a slight smile as he took in the celebration and the sights. “It was a great game. A great game.”
And yes, it was exciting.