Since school started last week, Montana State has expanded its football roster to the full limit of 104 players.
The day school started, redshirt freshman wide receiver Hunter Mahlum rejoined the team, as did junior cornerback Morris Gates. Alex Tennant, a walk-on wide receiver from Arapahoe High in Littleton, Colorado, and Tanner Hoff, a Hot Springs product who will play safety, also joined the team when school began.
Last Wednesday, Montana State held a tryout and three more native Montanans made the Bobcats to round out the roster. The new additions are: Dylan Stenseth, a 6-foot, 245-pound fullback from Lewistown who was a redshirt at Montana last season, will wear No. 39. Justin Rock Above, a 6-foot, 250-pound offensive lineman out of Billings West, will wear No. 69. Ty Robbie, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound linebacker out of Park City, will wear No. 30.
As a senior at Fergus High in 2013, Stenseth piled up 81 takles, two sacks and three forced fumbles defensively along with 341 yards rushing, 76 yards receiving and three total touchdowns offensively. He earned Class A first-team All-State honors as a fullback. The scholarship-strapped Grizzlies signed 15 prep players to formal admissions waivers, including seven from Montana.
Of those 15 players, just seven remain on the UM roster. Stenseth, Billings Central lineman Ben D’Alton, Bozeman fullback Riley Kack, Deer Lodge wide receiver Tristen Clark and Whitefish wide receiver Sean Foley were all cut when new Griz head coach Bob Stitt was hired.
Rock Above, the Montana Class AA heavyweight champion in wrestling last winter, earned honorable mention Class AA All-State honors at offensive tackle and first-team All-State honors at defensive tackle last fall. He was a selection to the Montana East-West Shrine game.
Robbie threw for 846 yards and 13 touchdowns, rushed for 591 and seven scores. He also racked up 88 tackles and an interception defensively. He did not earn any sort of post-season accolades. He was a second-team Class C All-State selection in basketball.
Hoff was a three-time first-team All-State selection at quarterback and linebacker for Hot Springs, a 6-man powerhouse that posted a 35-5 record in four years, including a 77-0 win over Big Sandy in the 2012 6-man state title game. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder tore his Achilles tendon last November 1 in the first round of the playoffs against Sunburst. The Savage Heat’s season ended the next week. All told, Hoff threw for 5,005 yards, and 91 touchdowns. He totaled more than 90 tackles in a season twice and 309 in his career, including three sacks. He broke up 15 passes, intercepted 18 more and recovered six fumbles.
Gates spent 2012 as a redshirt and saw extensive action the following spring at running back at Montana State. He left the program before the 2013 season. The 5-foot-9, 185-pounder played cornerback at Division II Western Oregon of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference last fall. He will be one of seven cornerbacks for the Bobcats and one of just three upper classmen. He will wear No. 35.
Tennant caught seven passes for less than 100 yards his final season of prep football. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder played in only five games before suffering a season-ending injury. He will wear No. 16
Mahlum is a Missoula Hellgate product who redshirted at Montana State last season.
