A rite of spring back in my Billings Gazette days was that co-worker Bill Bighaus would go to a Rocky Mountain College football scrimmage.

He’d come back to the newsroom, freshly sunburnt, and sports editor Mike Zimmer would ask the same question every time: “Did we win?”

“We won,” Bighaus would say.

Friday night, in front of roughly 2,000 fans, the Montana Grizzlies held their annual Spring Game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. I’m pretty sure they won.

The Maroon side scored 35 points, including a dynamic 62-yard interception return for a touchdown by TJ Rausch. The former Frenchtown Bronc/Sentinel Spartan caught six touchdown passes for the 10-0 Spartans of 2020; this spring he’s played both safety and corner.

“It felt good getting back in that end zone,” he said. “I tried to get the straight shot down the sideline but people were taking good angles. I had to get back to my receiver days and cut back and I made it. It’s been a little while. 

“I had to make it or I never would have lived it down.”

The pick came on a pass from Kaden Huot, though it was tipped and Rausch cut the carom. Of the four quarterbacks who got the most reps — Keali’i Ah Yat, Fresno State transfer Logan Fife and Sam Vidlak were the others — Huot looked the sharpest. His 41-yard dime to Aaron Fontes stood out.

Six of the White team’s seven points came on another dime: Glacier product Gage Sliter found Sentinel grad Drew Klump for 22-yards and the TD on a fade.

Last time I looked in on Sliter, he was the seventh quarterback at the Grizzlies’ 2023 fall camp. At the practice I attended, drills kept switching up after six reps.

“He got a chance to play some in our rookie bowl Friday scrimmages,” Griz coach Bobby Hauck noted after Friday’s scrimmage. “That’s why we do them.

“That’s a good thing about spring practice is everybody gets to play and everybody gets the reps. It was a good pass, and a good catch. Might have been bad defense. It’s spring ball, right?”

It’s often tough to write home about, especially with freshmen — like Sliter and Libby linebacker Cy Stevenson, who had four tackles and 1.5 sacks — not allowed to be interviewed.

The offensive line, which is under new leadership, seemed to blow big holes for running backs Asher Croy (Bozeman High) and Stevie Rocker, Jr. (Arizona transfer). It was the new blood’s time to shine; Xavier Harris, the third running back last fall, only caught passes Friday.

“We want to be multiple on offense, and be able to do a lot of stuff,” Hauck said. “And he’s had a pretty physical spring. We didn’t need to kill him today.”

It was the 15th and final “practice” of spring drills for the Griz, who will reconvene on the field in August. The Griz, coming off a loss in the FCS title game, still look good. They won Friday, anyway.

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or at [email protected].