From todays Missoulian

Eastcoastgriz · Post by **Eastcoastgriz** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:56 am

Cats pay respect to UNC player
By RIAL CUMMINGS of the Missoulian

The Montana State Bobcats edged Northern Colorado 13-10 in a key Big Sky football game last Saturday at Bozeman. Then both teams knelt together at midfield and joined hands, surrounding MSU coach Mike Kramer, UNC coach Scott Downing and UNC junior linebacker Asa Matthews.

It was a very public show of support by the Cats for Matthews, whose older brother, Adam, died of an apparent seizure last week at the age of 25. Adam Matthews, the second leading ground gainer in UNC history, rushed for more than 100 yards three years ago on the same Bobcat Stadium turf, leading the Bears to a 14-10 victory.

“I didn't know the other team knew anything about it,” Asa Matthews told the Greeley (Colo.) Tribune. “It meant a lot to me. I wish Adam was here watching to see the lives he's made better. He always provided a smile, some spunk and an encouraging word.”

Asa Matthews registered three tackles as the last-place Bears, now 1-8 overall, gave the No. 19 Bobcats (7-3) all they could handle. UNC outgained MSU 309-294 and thwarted two Bobcat drives with end-zone interceptions.

The win, MSU's sixth straight, kept the Bobcats one game behind Montana in the conference standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Montana travels to UNC this weekend, while MSU has a bye. The rivals will decide the league title when they square off Nov. 18 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

In his remarks to the media, Kramer paused a long time when asked what he had said to Asa Matthews, and his voice broke as he said: “That's a very private thing between us and the Northern Colorado guys.”

“It was a tremendous, tremendous effort by Northern Colorado,” Kramer said later.

“Pretty inspiring for me to see Asa out there, flying around and making plays, a few days after he lost his older brother ... I've got a bunch of brothers and I don't know if I could even function, let alone play in a game. So I was kind of inspired.”

UNC's Aaron Henderson, who made one of the end-zone interceptions, said the Bears dedicated the game to Adam Matthews.

“We played it the way he played it, and the way his brother (Asa) played it - nothing less than the best effort,” Henderson said.

gtapp · Post by **gtapp** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:17 am

Every once in a while a moment like this reminds me that the game of football is not quite as big as I make it out to be.

Platinumcat · Post by **Platinumcat** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:22 pm

gtapp wrote:Every once in a while a moment like this reminds me that the game of football is not quite as big as I make it out to be.

It also serves to remind me of why I love the college game so much.

grizband · Post by **grizband** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:24 pm

Very class act, Cats. You did Montana, the Big Sky, and football in general proud. In a world when players are fighting, stealing, assaulting, an getting shot, its great that these types of stories still makes headlines.

bobcatmaniac · Post by **bobcatmaniac** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 7:29 am

That was something to see. One of the best parts was all of the people who were filing out of the stadium stopped what they were doing, and showed their respect also. Everything was very quiet for that moment.