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Veterans go light, young players battle in Rocky's final scrimmage of fall camp

Billings Gazette - 8/19/2021

Aug. 19—For all intents and purposes, fall camp is now over for the Rocky Mountain College football team. Still, practices scheduled for Friday and Saturday will count a lot toward positional evaluation, locking in the depth chart and deciding which freshmen will redshirt and which will suit up right away.

It should also be noted that third-year coach Chris Stutzriem said he and his staff haven't chosen a starting quarterback, though the competition is down to veteran Nate Dick, junior college transfer George Tribble and freshman Jonathan Morris.

That decision, Stutzriem said, should be made by the time the team gathers for its first practice of Week 1 preparation early next week. The Battlin' Bears will host Frontier Conference opponent Southern Oregon on Aug. 28 in the season opener.

And so Wednesday night's practice, which took place under light rainfall and in front of a smattering of fans at Herb Klindt Field, was a more relaxed outing for Rocky's veterans as the team conducted individual positional work and 7 on 7 drills. After that, the younger players got their first crack at full-blown team contact during a 50-play scrimmage.

Rocky knows full well what it has in its returning talent. This was a showcase for the team's youth.

"The older guys took the bulk of their plays Saturday, so this was what we call kind of a 'last chance scrimmage,' where there's maybe a surprise or a special teams guy or a backup, or you find out who's going to step up when injuries happen," Stutzriem said.

"It was good. We saw a lot of guys that maybe haven't had a ton of plays."

Two of the standouts during the scrimmage were freshman quarterback J.T. Allen from Kalispell Glacier and freshman running back Zaire Wilcox out of Florida, the brother of defensive backs coach Paris Wilcox.

Allen looked poised beyond his years while throwing a pair of touchdown passes; Wilcox, a short and slippery scatback-type, had one of the evening's most explosive plays — a 30-yard touchdown catch from another young QB, Matt Asplund, after which he did a celebratory backflip in the end zone.

"There's a lot of guys showing things that we love and a lot of guys showing things we don't love," veteran defensive back Ty Reynolds said of the scrimmage portion of practice. "But that's why we're here. We're going to improve both the bad and the good. We'll get them there."

Reynolds intercepted three passes during Rocky's abbreviated schedule last spring, a season in which the team lost three of four games by a combined 12 points.

Reynolds said the defense set a key goal during camp.

Rocky's 1-3 spring record "didn't reflect our talent and our work ethic, and so I think everyone came in with a fire," he said. "The main objectives were to play more as a unit and trust each other more. We've been harping on, 'Do your job every single play, trust the man next to you.' That's what we really bought into this camp."

Senior running back Dawson Schick wants to make a splash this season after rushing for 95 yards on 28 carries during the four-game spring season.

Schick, who transferred to Rocky from Division I Western Michigan, said one of the offense's big aims in camp was to limit the squandered scoring opportunities that seemed to plague the Bears during the spring.

"Fast and efficient, really locking in on the details," Schick said. "Making sure we're really crisp and not throwing away any drives."

Of the quarterback competition, Schick said, "We've got a deep stable this year. We've got a few older guys that can really sling it and know the offense and are really commanding it. Whoever comes out (against SOU), we'll be in good hands."

Rocky will take Thursday off before practicing Friday and Saturday, outings that Stutzriem said need to be physical and well-executed before prep for Southern Oregon truly begins.

If things are up to snuff, the team will take Sunday off followed by a lighter practice on Monday. If not ... "then we'll strap it up Monday and get after it," Stutzriem said.

Either way, Rocky is ready to turn the page toward a real opponent — and its first fall football season since 2019.

"Now it's time to stop hitting and banging each other and try to get ready for Southern Oregon," Stutzriem said.

Email Greg Rachac at Greg.Rachac@406mtsports.com or follow him on Twitter at @gregrachac

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