BOZEMAN — Logan Kleinhans has always loved the Bobcats. But the Bozeman High senior did not know becoming one would be feasible until he took a trip to Moscow last summer.
Kleinhans has a solid junior season in 2016, catching 30 passes for 559 yards and seven touchdowns as the Hawks advanced to the Class AA playoffs. He was invited to watch a Montana State football game on the sidelines of Bobcat Stadium that fall. But he held no solid scholarship offers from anyone when he and a few of his prep teammates went to a football camp at the University of Idaho.
“All the Bozeman High coaches tell us to get out, to go try different camps, get yourself our there so we did,” Kleinhans said in September. “We did our best and after (head coach Paul) Petrino talking to me, he told me I had a chance. He told me I could get money to come play football there. I was just shocked. I couldn’t believe it. I was super happy.”
That eye-opener led to Kleinhans attending individual camp at Montana State later in the summer. His performance netted him an offer from MSU head coach Jeff Choate to play wide receiver. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder gave his verbal commitment to the Bobcats in late July. He will sign an National Letter of Intent likely on December 20 during the opening of the new early signing period.
“They stay in touch with you all the time,” Kleinhans said. “It makes you feel very important and very involved with everything. They just keep on direct messaging on Twitter, texting you, keeping you updated on everything that is happening with them, how they live their lives and do football and everything like that. They kept in contact and it fell to where I wanted it to be after a little while.”
During his senior season, Kleinhans, who is also a standout track athlete, continued to produce. He caught 48 passes for 748 yards and five touchdowns in nine games according to his profile on MaxPreps.
The Hawks won their final two regular-season games to secure the No. 8 seed in the Class AA playoffs. Bozeman took eventual repeat state champion Billings Senior down to the wire before losing 35-25 in the first round. Kleinhans earned Class AA first-team All-State honors.
During his junior year, Kleinhans caught passes from Callahan O’Reilly, a redshirt freshman quarterback for the Bobcats who earned Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year honors last fall. Kleinhans also flanked true freshman MSU receiver Lance McCutcheon, an athletic outside wide receiver who notched two catches of more than 59 yards during his rookie year at MSU.
Kleinhans said he looks up to O’Reilly and McCutcheon and that “both did a great job of showing me how to be a leader” during the fall of 2016.
The Montana State roster sports six former Hawks not including Kleinhans. Former Gatorade Player of the Year Balue Chapman played a reserve role at outside linebacker as a redshirt freshman last season. Fourth-year junior Grant Collins played seven games in his third year as a starter, including his second as the starting Buck end, before a shoulder injury ended his 2017 campaign. Junior John D’Agostino missed the entire 2017 season after suffering a torn ACL last spring. Redshirt freshman walk-on defensive back Will Martel broke into the lineup as a special teams player.
“Bozeman High School, all the teachers are great mentors and great examples of everything,” Kleinhans said. “(Levi) Wesche and all the other coaches on our coaching staff are not only mentors on the football field but they are mentors in life, teaching you how to be a great person. It’s definitely helping everyone set up for the next phase of their lives. They have been a big influence on how I am as a person.”
Last spring, Kleinhans showed his athletic potential by winning the Class AA state title in long jump. His leap of 21 feet, 7.5 inches marked a personal best. He also had PRs of 6-foot-5 in the high jump and 11.48 seconds in the 100 meters. His triple jump of 44 feet, eight inches earned third at state.
That athleticism is something that turned the heads of the MSU coaches, including Bobcat wide receivers coach Matt Miller. Kleinhans mentioned being impressed by Choate and liking the coaching philosophies of Miller.
“I’ve talked to Coach Miller a lot since they do such a great job of staying in contact with you,” Kleinhans said. “It’s kind of like what my high school coaches believe: they are not just trying to set you up to be great in football but they want to set you up for life and be a great person. Coach Miller, that’s what he emphasizes a lot. He is going to make you a better player on the football field and he’s going to make you a better person in life. That’s one thing I love about him.”
With the early signing period a week away, Kleinhans will confirm a reality that he didn’t think possible a year ago. For a local kid right up the road, the chance to solidify his spot with the Bobcats seems surreal.
“It’s a dream come true,” Kleinhans said. “It’s cliché and you will hear a lot of commits say it but growing up here, watching the games, watching all the players you loved running out on the field and then getting the opportunity to go be a part of that, it’s a big deal to me. It’s a dream come true. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
Photos by Shellenberg Photography in Bozeman. All Rights Reserved.
