Hayden Isenhart was so impressed with Montana State University and the city of Bozeman, he committed to the Bobcat football team less than a month after attending football camp.
His family was so impressed with Southwest Montana, his dad said he never wants to leave.
“My parents love Bozeman and they love MSU,” Isenhart said. “My dad goes up there and fishes up there all the time. He said he’s probably going to buy a house up there. He said if we have back-to-back home games, he won’t even come back to Colorado. He’ll just stay in Montana and fish.”
Beginning next fall, the Isenhart family will have plenty of chances to watch their son. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound defensive end and tight end from Grandview High in Aurora, Colorado fielded offers from around the country during the spring of his junior year.
North Dakota offered first. Then came scholarships from nearby Northern Colorado, fellow Big Sky Conference rival Eastern Washington and Ivy League suitors Penn, Columbia and Dartmouth.
After initially hearing from Montana State safeties coach Kyle Risinger and attending MSU’s junior day in April, Isenhart attended individual camp at Bobcat Stadium the final week of June last summer. He shows his skills on both sides of the ball, earning an offer from the Bobcats. He committed to Montana State on July 17.
“Definitely the engineering program,” Isenhart said when asked the deciding factor. “And beyond that, it was the campus and everything Montana State represents. I just felt at home at Montana State and it wasn’t something I could find at any other school.”
Isenhart said Risinger expressed to him the trajectory of the Montana State football program entering head coach Jeff Choate’s fourth season. The Bobcats posted their first season since 2014, winning MSU’s first playoff game since 2012 with a 35-14 win over Incarnate Word. Montana State finished the 2018 campaign with an 8-5 record.
“And I love the town and the campus,” Isenhart said. “I think they are both amazing. The town, it’s just getting bigger and bigger every year. And the campus, the stadium, all the facilities, everything up there is just amazing.”
In 13 seasons under head coach John Schultz, Grandview has established a reputation as one of the most hard-nosed football programs in the greater Denver area and in Colorado’s Class 5A ranks. Schultz’s coaching staff has an MSU connection as well: quarterbacks’ coach Matt Fisher played quarterback for the Bobcats from 1991 until 1994.
In his first year as a two-way starter as a junior, Isenhart had a pair of sacks and two other tackles for loss among his 45 tackles. He was also a key blocker for an attack that rushed for 237 yards per game. The Wolves threw for just 86.2 yards per game in 2017.
“I don’t really have a preference,” Isenhart said. “I love doing both, tackling guys versus catching the ball or blocking people. They are both great.”
The highlight win of Isenhart’s junior year acme in the semifinals of the Class 5A playoffs. The Wolves posted a 28-16 win over No. 1 Valor Christian, one of the great prep powerhouses in the Centennial State.
“It was surreal,” Isenhart said. “We got down 10-0 in the snow and the rain and it’s cold and everyone was wondering what we could do. We are then up at halftime 14-10 and the clock is ticking and then it’s the final seconds of the game and you realize we are up a touchdown and it was like, ‘Wow, we really just knocked off the No. 1 team, all these state championships.’ It didn’t feel real at first.”
As a senior, Isenhart caught eight passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. He also had 51 tackles, four sacks and six tackles for loss. Despite losing 11 seniors who earned Division I scholarships off the 2017 seam, Grandview only lost once during the regular season and did not lose again until a 31-29 heartbreaker at the hands of Valor Christian in the state semifinals.
“The team mentality and definitely hard work are the things I’ll carry into college,” Isenhart said. “Grandview prides itself on working hard and not really using your mouth but the way you play. Coach (John) Schultz is a big team guy and we are always back-to-back, shoulder-to-shoulder. I definitely think that is going to play into going up to MSU.”
Isenhart first became interested in engineering when he was a sophomore. He said “I realized it has math and science, which are my favorite subjects and I could do what I really love to do in school and make some money while doing it.”
The high achieving student said he has always taken great pride in his academics. Because of that, he will receive a partial football scholarship from Montana State and fill in the rest with academic aid.
In his interactions with Choate, Isenhart said he was struck by Choate’s vision and his priority on building a family program. Now Isenhart gets a chance to be a part of that family even if moving North means his dad will likely often be right on the rivers close by.
“This has been my dream my whole life so to get a chance to play college football in a town I know I’m going to love as well as go to a school that is such a great fit academically, I couldn’t be more happy with my decision,” Isenhart said.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
