Editor’s Note: This story is the part of a four-part mini-series that will be included in a short series on the Montana State football program despite the cancellation of spring football practices across the Big Sky Conference. Quotes provided through exclusive interviews by Skyline Sports or provided by Montana State sports information.
Spring football practices seem monotonous for upper classmen who simply want to maintain health and sanity entering the final years of their careers. But the 15 practices each spring allotted to teams across the Big Sky Conference, the FCS and college football as a whole provide important evaluation opportunities for coaching staffs across the country.
Spring football also elicits excitement among fans and a chance for media outlets like this one to observe, evaluate and analyze the composition of a roster. Many players who spent the previous season either sitting out as redshirts or waiting their turns as young players get their first live reps. And often times those reps come against some of the best players on the “varsity”.
The Montana State Bobcats won 11 games last year, advancing to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs for the first time since 1984. That team was led by a talented senior class, many who grew up in Montana, a key factor in helping MSU reach a crescendo in Jeff Choate’s fourth season at the helm.
The Bobcats return All-American do-everything senior Troy Andersen, who has earned an array of accolades on both sides of the football during his three years as a Bobcat. But his health remains shaky entering his potential final season as a Bobcadt.
MSU also returns All-Big Sky Conference players like senior offensive linemen Taylor Tuiasosopo and Lewis Kidd, junior right tackle Connor Wood and junior tailback Isaiah Ifanse, each all-league candidates entering the 2020 season.
The MSU defense returns all-league tackle Chase Benson, all-conference outside linebacker/Buck end Amandre Williams plus experienced corners Munchie Filer and Tyrel Thomas, all of whom will be seniors.
But the Bobcats must replace several players who won’t soon be forgotten. Montana State needs a new starter at left tackle for the first time in years. All-American Mitch Brott started 50 games in a row.
Montana State will also be in the market for a replacement for first-team all-league defenders safety Brayden Konkol and inside linebacker Josh Hill along with second-team all-league picks tackle Derek Marks and end Bryce Sterk. MSU also needs to find replacements for steady cornerback Damien Washington and athletic safety Jahque Alleyne.
Offensively, MSU returns most other than Brott and competitive, athletic captain wide receivers Kevin Kassis and Travis Jonsen.
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Although Montana State’s spring football session (slated to start on March 30) has been cancelled, those within the Big Sky coaching ranks remain optimistic that the 2020 season will take place despite the world being shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s a look at the players Skyline Sports were most intrigued to watch during spring drills, players that will need to have good off-seasons to help Montana State continue driving forward as a national FCS force during Choate’s fifth season at the helm.
BOBCATS TO WATCH – DEFENSE
“Munchie” Filer, cornerback, senior, 6’1”, 167
Filer III has a compelling story. The once-raw but athletic corner bet on himself by attending Compton College after receiving zero offers coming out of Paramount High near his hometown of Compton.
The introspective, analytical Filer earned unanimous first-team All-American, Metro League first-team and All-California Region IV first-team honors after picking off five passes at Compton College in 2017. That earned him a shot at Montana State.
The first half of the 2018 season, Choate always said that Filer could play “Cat defense” – in other words, if the MSU defensive coaching staff told him to “guard that cat”, he could do it. The rest of MSU’s defensive concepts were tougher to hone in.
He managed to start the final eight games of the season for a team that made the FCS playoffs. He led MSU with eight pass breakups, picked off a pair of passes including one he returned for a touchdown in MSU’s near upset of Weber State and he earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors.
Filer was named to the preseason All-Big Sky squad entering last season. But he suffered an arm injury during fall camp that kept him out for all but a few snaps in three games in 2019. He did not record an official statistic last season.
Now Filer seems primed for a comeback, breakout senior season. He will be playing opposite of Thomas, an undersized but feisty player who has played as much football as anyone on the Bobcat roster. Filer gives MSU good length, great skill and one of the best press man-to-man corners in the conference. If he can return to full health, he’ll be in the mix for all-conference honors again.
“Munchie is a guy who has played a lot of ball for us and is a really talented guy,” Montana State defensive coordinator Kane Ioane said.
Kyle Finch, defensive end, senior, 6’4”, 238
For the past several years, Montana State has simply reloaded on its defensive line despite losing stalwart players with strong leadership abilities.
Entering the 2018 season, Tyrone Fa’anono made the switch from Buck end to Montana State’s “4I” strong end position after the Bobcats added Washington transfer Bryce Sterk to play Buck. Fa’anono, defensive tackle Zach Wright and nose tackle Tucker Yates all graduated off MSU’s 2018 FCS playoff squad.
Last season, Marks moved from end to tackle and put together an all-league senior season. In his first season as a starter, nose tackle Benson also earned all-league honors. Sterk moved to “4I” and still lead the league in sacks. And Williams stepped in like Sterk the year before him as a transfer from Washington who earned all-league honors at Buck end.
All the while, Finch has been waiting his turn. The former Dillon standout helped the Beavers to Class A state championships in 2013 and 2014 before joining the Bobcats as a preferred walk-on in 2016.
The stellar student — he was a first-team Academic All-American last year and carries a 4.0 grade-point average in mechanical engineering — has been a backup at Buck the last two seasons.
In the off-season, he put on nearly 25 pounds in anticipation to make the move to the inside of MSU’s odd-man front.
“In this scheme it’s a lot more being a 4I, kind of a B-gap player, much more of an inside defensive lineman than an outside linebacker, which is almost what Buck is,” Finch said in an interview with MSU sports information. “I would say that’s the biggest difference.
“You’re down in the trenches a lot more, everything is closer, the 12 inches in front of your face (is the responsibility), and I kind of like that about it, a little bit tighter spaces, not so much open space, pass drops, stuff like that.”
Finch, who played in 15 games and started in one, logging 12 tackles last season, said watching Sterk made the move last season gives him confidence in his own ability to play a new position in his final season with the Bobcats.
“There are a ton of correlations in our defensive scheme between that Buck position (and end). It was awesome to see Bryce make a really smooth transition, obviously, and have a great season, and I learned a lot from having him there, both at the end and Buck positions,” Finch said. “I hope to make the transition smoothly as well.”
Jeffery Manning Jr., safety, junior, 6’1”, 192
One of the most important moves of Montana State’s season in 2019 was putting a priority on a three-safety look in which Konkol often times played at the second level instead of in the secondary. That allowed Alleyne and fellow senior JoJo Henderson to roam the back end.
“It was an underrated move last year being able to get JoJo on the field and it shows that we are a personnel-driven defense,” Ioane said. “It’s not necessarily about scheme as much as the guys out there.
“It allowed all three of those guys to play multiple spots and we are going to miss all three of those guys.”
Those three all graduated. No other players save Ty Okada played any sort of repetitions at safety last season. Okada, a 5-foot-11, 183-pound junior, is a former walk-on who has improved as much as any player in the program the last two seasons. His ability to play nickel and rover means he will be a versatile member of MSU’s back seven.
But Montana State will need other unproven players to step up to replace the productive, savvy pair of Konkol and Alleyne. Enter Manning, a player who played in four games at Oregon State last season a year after starting a pair of games and playing in 12 during head coach Jonathan Smith’s first season in 2018. Two years ago, Manning recored 35 tazckles, including one for loss, an broke up a pass during his redshirt freshman season.
Coming out of high school, Manning was ranked as one of California’s top 100 prep prospects and the No. 12 cornerback in the state. He was a first-team all-league selection at Cathedral High in Los Angeles. He received an invite to the Army All-American Bowl. He enrolled at Montana State following last season and has been on campus since January.
“He has done an awesome job of transitioning and acclimating to our group, understanding his initial job is to come in and show us he wanted to work hard nad really acclimate himself to the team well and he’s done that and then some,” Ioane said. “I’m excited about what he can bring us having played at the Pac 12 level.”
Rylan Ortt, safety, RS freshman, 6-1, 195
Ortt, one of the best javelin throwers to come out of Montana in recent years and the 2019 Montana Gatorade track & field Athlete of the Year, was also a standout quarterback at Missoula Sentinel.
His ability to absorb scheme was apparent early as he was running with the third-team defense less than a week into fall camp last August. He probably would’ve pushed for a spot on the two-deep and repetitions on special teams but he suffered an arm injury that forced him to redshirt.
Ortt returned to earn a key role on MSU’s scout team, earning defensive Scout of the Year honors. This off-season, Choate and Ioane have both mentioned him without solicitation as a player who has impressed each coach.
“By and large, smart players are good players and even if they have physical limitations here or there, they are smart enough to figure it out,” Choate said. “For example, Josh Hill. If Josh walked in, you would be like,’ What’s he going to do? Take the garbage out?’ And after two back surgeries, he figures out how to be a first-team all-conference linebacker.
“You don’t have to be physically imposing, you don’t have to be the fastest guy in the world. All those things help. But if you are smart, you can overcome a lot. And that’s what I really think Rylan is: a really smart kid.”
Ioane, the only four-time All-American in Bobcat history, has coached safeties for the Bobcats since his return after two seasons as a defensive assistant at Washington. Ortt has made an impression on Ioane as well.
“He’s a guy who has really shown signs of being a really good player for us throughout fall camp and he’s really progressed and progressed as the season got going,” Ioane said. “He was the scout team Player of the Year. He’s definitely going to help us on the teams. And we want to factor him into that rotation somehow, someway so when fall camp hits and we get rolling, he’s a guy who’s going to compete and be out there quite a bit.”
Young interior defensive linemen
Montana State is looking for more than just a replacement for Marks, a four-year contributor and former captain who hailed from Belgrade and finished his career with as sparkling a reputation as any Bobcat of the modern era. MSU also needs to find depth to help replace Jason Scrempos, a hulking 6-foot-6, 299-pound graduate transfer from Washington as well as Marcus Ferriter, a Butte Central product who made the transition from end to tackle seamlessly and had his best season as a senior.
“The defensive line room, it’s different, especially for guys like Amandre and Chase and I being the seniors in the room now,” Finch told MSU sports information. “Things are different, I know, but we plan to pick it up where we left off.
“Those guys set a really good example for us to step up to that role as seniors. Things obviously have to change and evolve, that’s the nature of the game, but it’s still a great room of guys, really tight-knit, a family unit.”
Part of that family will have big expectations for a trio of redshirt freshmen who have created buzz for themselves during the off-season.
“I’m really excited to watch three young defensive lineman,” Choate said. “Marcus Wehr, the defensive end out of Billings Central, he’s going to be a really good player. I’m excited to see him get some turns.
“Blake Schmidt is a guy who is big and strong who has put in a lot of work in the off-season. And Tua (Areta) came to us as a project. But those three have spent so much time in the weight room together working. I would’ve liked to see what they can do this spring.”
The 6-foot-3 Areta is one of the most intriguing prospects on the entire roster. The native of Kent, Washington came to Montana State at nearly 400 pounds. He cut down to 382 by the beginning of the season. He has lost more than 50 pounds since coming to campus, gaining strength along the way. He earned MSU’s “Young Gun” award last season. His continued development could give Montana State the stout young plug its coveted but lost to transfers with the departures of Elu Leota and James Williams.
“Tua Areta, a young guy, a (redshirt) freshman behind Chase, had an unbelievable off-season,” MSU defensive line coach Byron Hout said to Montana State sports information. “It sucks (losing spring drills) because he was one of the guys I was most excited about seeing in practice. He’s going to have to produce for us next year, he’s going to have to play a lot of downs.”
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Wehr has impressed coaches with his internal drive and competitiveness. He was a first-team all-state selection after leading Billings Central to the Class A state title two years ago.
Schmidt is a 6-foot-2, 275-pounder who chose Montana State over an array of offers, including from several Big Sky and several Ivy League schools. As a senior at Monte Vista High in San Diego, he was his conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“I’m really excited all three of the (redshirt) freshmen, (including) Blake Schmidt and Marcus Wehr. Wehr is going to play defensive end for us, that 4I. He has an unbelievable motor, high football IQ, kind of a splash player right now. He doesn’t have the size you probably want right now, but he’s going to grow and be there. He’s going to make some plays, he really uses his hands well.
“Blake Schmidt will play tackle, I’m really excited about him. He’s a hard-nosed football player, I call him Chase 2.0, he’s really going to be a good football player for us. He’s from California but his family just moved up here to Billings so he’s kind of a local kid.”
Go to a Montana State practice, particularly one where the Bobcats are not in full pads, and Hardy’s athleticism aside from his prowess as a football player will likely be on full display.
Daniel Hardy, linebacker, senior, 6’3”, 233
He is one of the most impressive dancers on the team, incorporating acrobatics and varying jumps that sometimes finish with splits. The former junior college transfer has received praise from the MSU coaches as one of the harder workers in the program and one of the most likeable teammates in the locker room.
Andersen earned first-team All-Big Sky honors at Sam linebacker last season despite playing in a part-time defensive role. He battled injuries all season, culminating in him missing the final month and a half of the season, including MSU’s 48-14 lambasting of rival Montana and the Bobcats’ playoff run.
In Andersen’s place, Hardy settle din perfectly. He started the final four games of the season, registering 18 tackles, 5.5 tackle for loss and 1.5 sacks. In 2018, he was a strong special teams contributor who also made plays defensively.
The former College of the Siskiyous standout had 66 tackels, 12.5 tackles for los and nine sacks his freshman year playing JC ball. He also forced three fumbles.
The former high school basketball standout from Valley Catholic in Portland will be expected to play a big role this season for Montana State, particularly if Andersen is limited early after he recovers from another off-season surgery.
“Daniel Hardy, for example, is a guy who has the tools and the physical capability to be a real problem for offensive tackles and offensive linemen in general, we just have to continue to develop him to that,” Ioane said. “The other piece, obviously, is schematically we can do different things to put guys in position to win one-on-ones. That is going to be on us as coaches to figure out personnel-wise, No. 1 what can we do and No. 2 schematically what can we change and tweak to take advantage of the people that we have.
“Daniel has shown flashes of being another guy who showed great athletic ability, length and a guy who can develop into a really productive players for us.”
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
