football news from the trib

[gfallscat]

Bobcats add late signees, walk-ons to recruiting class

By Scott Mansch
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Recruiting season never ends for the Montana State football program, which recently added two scholarship athletes from California and received commitments from more than a dozen instate walk-ons.

Mike Brown, a receiver from Lakewood (Calif.) High, and Wesley Mauia, a middle linebacker from Edison High in Stockton, Calif., have signed NCAA letters-of-intent with the Bobcats, MSU head coach Mike Kramer said.

"Both guys fell through the cracks and were available to us in spring recruiting," Kramer said. "Brown is a really smooth, productive, game-savvy receiver with downtown ability. And Wesley has great size and great range. He's an inside backer with enough speed to play on the outside. ... He's too good of a player for us to bypass."

Brown, a 5-foot-9, 175-pounder, caught 26 passes for 482 yards and seven touchdowns this season at Lakewood, a school with 4,200 students in the top four grades that finished 8-3.

Mauia, a 6-1, 230-pounder, was highly regarded by many internet recruiting services before the season began.

Kramer said the late signings are not an accident.

"We have a good tradition of not closing the door and keeping our options open," Kramer said. "And that goes all the way back to (MSU star quarterback) Kelly Bradley, who in about 1982 was signed very, very late to a tiny scholarship and turned out to be a pretty good player."

Meanwhile, a large group of Montana high school athletes have told Kramer they will walk on the Bobcat team.

The invited walk-ons include Eureka running back Terrance Foster (5-11, 185), Helena High defensive back Chase Gill (5-9, 170), Plain-Hot Springs defensive back Shane Cavallini (5-8, 159), Superior running back Dan Alexander (5-9, 180), Winifred linebacker Dylan Kinkelaar (6-1, 205), Bigfork linebacker Jacques Boiteau (6-1, 200), Helena Capital defensive end Bobby Daly (5-11, 225), Anaconda center Jim Verlanic (6-0, 220), Helena Capital offensive lineman Scott Rucker (6-3, 270), Missoula Big Sky tight end Brandon Bostick (6-4, 230), Missoula Sentinel receiver Jaren Stensland (6-2, 180), Big Timber offensive lineman Ben Fjare (6-2, 285) and Missoula Loyola tight end Nick Parker (6-4, 215).

Daly was a two-time Class AA first-team All-State selection. Bostick and Stensland were also named first team All-Staters last fall.

The MSU program has also lost several players in recent weeks. Kramer said running back Dan McInerney, a walk-on from Billings Skyview who enjoyed many fine moments during spring football, has left the program. Kramer said McInerney left when he wasn't rewarded with a scholarship.

"It's a tough loss for us, because he can really play," Kramer said. "But we've really spent a lot of time and energy to improve our situation at tailback, and we feel like we're where we need to be."

Kramer said Jason Gathing, a 200-pound junior, will enter training camp as the starter. Transfers Morris Milton and Justin Domineck are also in the picture, along with freshman recruit Terrence King.

Receiver Demetrius Williams, defensive lineman DeShawn Gibbs and freshman linebacker Ross Judisch of Conrad have also left the Bobcat program, Kramer said.

Williams, a 6-2, 185-pounder, caught 29 passes for 319 yards last year. He grabbed seven passes for 70 yards in MSU's NCAA I-AA first-round playoff loss at Northern Iowa.

But Kramer said Williams slid far down the depth chart this spring.

"Demetrius didn't slip at all, the other guys just galloped past him," Kramer said, referring to Ricky Gatewood, Branton Sherman, Kellen Alley and Brandon Roosevelt. In addition, the Bobcats have high hopes for JC recruit Chaz Guinn.

The defection of Gibbs, who played in five games last year, may provide an added opportunity on the defensive line for Great Falls native Aaron Papich, a walk-on who missed last year because of shoulder surgery.

"Aaron had an awesome spring. He's a walk-on who is pushing hard toward money and will be in our two-deep at defensive tackle."

Kramer said Papich, a former Great Falls High star, has impressed him with his work ethic.

"Even though he has a redshirt year left, Aaron is a guy who we anticipate will play this fall. He's really been showing progress in our program."

Also, Kramer said he was not necessarily in the market for a transfer offensive lineman at this stage of the game -- even though starting right tackle Joe Hirst suffered a season-ending knee injury last week.

"Our young talent is pretty considerable there," Kramer said of his O-Line situation.

[SonomaCat]

I think all of these signings are great news -- even the news of the guys who have left the program. When the talent level of everyone else steps up and overshadows guys who used to be contributors (forcing them to leave to the program), that can only be a net positive.

I'm sure there have been articles like these in the past, but I can't remember reading one that detailed all of the walk-on guys like this. It was nice to see that long list. I hope a bunch of them end up earning scholarships and having great careers at MSU, especially that Kinkelaar kid. My spies on the ground say that he is listed a bit light on the roster already, and that he is easily in the 215 to 220 lbs. range already -- a real solid build and a great kid (yep, he's a close family friend).