Manny Kalfell’s first touchdown as a Bobcat was not supposed to happen.
In the big picture, it looked like a long shot when Kalfell walked on to his hometown Bobcats that he would ever play, let alone catch a touchdown in a key conference game.
MSU wide receiver Manny Kalfell makes his first touchdown catch against North Dakota in 2015/by Brooks Nuanez
In the immediate moment last Saturday in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the play that Kalfell put himself on the scoreboard with was quite literally not for him. When the fifth-year senior finally crossed the end zone to cap a 61-yard sprint for his first career college touchdown, the rest of the Bobcats could not have been happier.
The play is called “Tito”. Montana State third-year offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey called for it on the third play of Montana State’s second possession at the University of North Dakota with the Bobcats trailing 7-0 midway through the first quarter. “Tito” is a pass from junior quarterback Dakota Prukop to senior wide receiver Mitch Griebel in the flat. Griebel, a former quarterback at the Air Force Academy, then looks for a streaking receiver on the outside. The play is supposed to be a pass from Griebel to standout sophomore Mitchell Herbert.
“Manny didn’t realize I was calling that play,” Cramsey said. “ He got pretty excited when I did.”
“We looked out there and we saw that Manny was in that spot,” added MSU head coach Rob Ash. “All of us took a deep breath at first but we shouldn’t have worried. Manny made it happen.”
MSU wide receiver Manny Kalfell catches a pass vs. Central Arkansas in 2014/by Dean Hendrickson
Griebel lofted his pass to a wide-open Kalfell. The senior had a good head start to the end zone but a hamstring injury has slowed him for most of this season. He beat everyone across the goal line for a 61-yard game-tying touchdown only to be mobbed by a collection of his teammates, a group led by Griebel.
“He came up to me and said he wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to throw him that pass for his first touchdown,” Griebel, a team captain, said. “We’ve been through it all together. We used to live together. It was a pretty special moment for us. It was a cool moment to share.”
Montana State has completed 325 passes over the last two seasons, including four to Kalfell. The Bobcats have scored 112 touchdowns, including Kalfell’s first, a burst that took his full effort.
“It was a long 60 yards, for sure, being back from a torn hamstring,” Kalfell said with a laugh. “That seemed like a helluva long 60 yards. But I heard it on the way out, calmed myself down, and told myself that it was another pitch.
“It was honestly a gift. Herby ran it all week in practice. It just happened to be a time where Herby got a few reps, got tired and asked for me to go in. He gifted me that one.”
MSU wide receiver Manny Kalfell talks with head coach Rob Ash after injuring his hamstring in fall camp 2015/by Brooks Nuanez
The hamstring injury is only the latest obstacle Kalfell has had to overcome. Through years of overcoming doubters and battling injuries, Kalfell has kept playing his way into Montana State’s wide receivers rotation only for physical ailments to bite him again and again.
After finishing his Bozeman High career with modest individual success amidst the storied success of the team — the Hawks rolled to the Class AA title undefeated — Kalfell did not know if football was in his future. Former BHS teammates like Tanner Roderick (Nevada), Heath Hunter (Montana State) and Justin Pierson (MSU) had already committed to play Division I football. Kalfell did not have a single offer to continue his playing career, not even at the Frontier Conference level.
The receiver had good size — he’s 6-foot-3 — and he believed in his work ethic. So when former MSU recruiting coordinator Noah Joseph offered Kalfell a spot on the MSU roster after fall camp to serve as a scout team receiver, Kalfell jumped at the opportunity.
MSU wide receiver Manny Kalfell makes a catch during fall camp 2015/by Brooks Nuanez
In the fall of 2011, Kalfell worked against a veteran secondary that helped the Bobcats lead the Big Sky in pass defense. All-Big Sky players like cornerback Darius Jones and strong safety Joel Fuller cut their teeth against Kalfell and the scout team every day.
By the following spring, Kalfell felt a break through. He felt he could compete. Following spring drills in 2012, the MSU coaches gave Kalfell an invite to be on the 95-man roster for fall camp that fall.
“That was the trigger,” Kalfell said. “It clicked for what I needed to do so I stuck my nose to the grindstone.”
The grindstone included serving as a scout team receiver again in 2012 as MSU captured a third straight Big Sky title. By the next spring, Kalfell’s body began to transform from the rigors of college weight lifting. He came to MSU at less than 180 pounds but was up to 191 by the fall of 2013. That season, he found his way onto the field for nine games, notching his first career catch in a win at North Dakota.
In the spring of 2014, Kalfell reported to spring drills with a whole new look. The only thing that drew as much attention as his afro-like hairdo was his newfound muscle mass. He was up to 205 pounds and looked the part of an “X” receiver who can move the chains.
MSU wide receiver Manny Kalfell stanced at the line of scrimmage vs. UND/by Brooks Nuanez
“He looks like a completely different person,” Ash said at the time.
By the end of spring, Kalfell had a leg up for a starting spot. By the fall, he was a starter for Montana State’s games against Arkansas State, Black Hills State and Central Arkansas. Against UCA, he hauled in a 32-yard reception, the longest of his career up to that point.
“It’s been a huge pleasant surprise to watch Manny develop,” Ash said. “We really didn’t expect much from him when he came into the program. He wasn’t very heralded as a high school player here in Bozeman. Great kid, happy to have him. But over time, he progressed, got stronger, started to run well. He’s a very tenacious, tough competitor.”
The next week, all dreams came crashing down. Kalfell found out he had torn a ligament in his knee that would require surgery and cost him the rest of his junior season. During spring drills of 2015, he played sparingly as he recovered from the injury.
Kalfell reported to his final fall camp healthy. Less than a week into the action, he severely pulled his hamstring, an injury common to an athletes surgically repaired knee. The set back cost him all of fall camp and the first five games of his final season.
MSU wide receivers and Bozeman High alumn John D’Agostino, Manny Kalfell, & Tanner Roderick/by Brooks Nuanez
“The hardest part, you always have to come down from cloud nine,” Kalfell said. “I started my first game against Ark State last year after coming back. Black Hills State, Central Ark and then I felt cheated. I was on cloud nine, exactly where I needed to be my junior year. I had two years left and I felt I had finally proved myself and I felt I had proved a lot of people wrong. I didn’t get looked at out of high school by anybody, any college at all. I was glad to not only prove myself right but prove the rest of ‘em wrong. That’s when it all clicked but then the injuries set in.
“I felt cheated and I felt the chip on my shoulder grow and grow and grow but it never held me back at all.”
Kalfell’s work ethic and toughness are each partially a product of his roots. He talks with an accent customary of Eastern Montana rather than the Gallatin Valley. He was born in Miles City and spent much of his youth on his family ranch in Terry.
He will graduate in December with a degree in business management. He someday wants to run a ranch of his own. Before that, he has a November slate of football games to play with his 16 senior teammates. Montana State hosts Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon.
MSU wide receiver Manny Kalfell/by Brooks Nuanez
Kalfell’s touchdown at North Dakota was a sort of affirmation for his long journey, a stamp on an atypical resume for a walk-on who few thought could be a viable Division I player. Kalfell said he will remember the struggles and the workouts and the injuries and his teammates and last week’s touchdown. But the thing he will remember most is the experience he’s been able to share each Saturday playing for his hometown team.
“It’s going into the tunnel after warming up and the stands are filling up, then coming out and hearing that roar coming at you and you are running into the abyss, that’s something else,” Kalfell said. “Seeing it all, seeing what it is now compared to what it used to be. It’s those Saturdays, you drive up to campus and everyone has Bobcat stuff on their trucks, everywhere and you realize that hey, this is a pretty special place to be. It’s that stuff I will remember most. This has been my dream come true.”
Photo attribution noted. All Rights Reserved.
