Among the large supporting cast that saw action for the No. 3 Montana Grizzlies Saturday, in their 45-10 win over Drake, was one Cody Schweikert — and he came dangerously close to his first collegiate touchdown.

The 6-foot-3, 217-pound junior out of Columbia Falls got the call in, fittingly, Wildcat formation from the Drake 9-yard line and found a lane, then trucked a tackler at the 2. He went down at the 1, and Dylan Paine scored his first Grizzly TD on the next play with 1:27 left in the game. 

Schweikert’s totals: two carries, 10 yards — with an 8-yard gain in the first half called back by holding. 

“Cody’s growing and it was good to see him get in and get some game action,” Montana coach Bobby Kennedy said. “He has got to continue to improve but, yeah, he’s a guy we can use and have confidence in.  

“It’s not easy sometimes being the second or third quarterback because a lot of times you don’t get as many reps. But we’ve had him in those situations in practice.” 

Valley Participation 

Besides Schweikert, running back Fynn Ridgeway saw action on special teams for the Grizzlies, as did fellow Whitefish product Ryder Barinowski. Barinowski sent all eight of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. Glacier High product Isaac Keim saw action as well.  

Sixty-eight Griz saw the field on Saturday, including No. 2 quarterback Luke Flowers in the fourth quarter. He missed on his only pass attempt.