All-conference snubs add fuel to Bobcats' fiesty playoff att

[Eastcoastgriz]

All-conference snubs add fuel to Bobcats' fiesty playoff attitude

From the Great Falls Tribune

When it was announced that only one Montana State Bobcat earned all-Big Sky Conference honors — four less than made the preseason all-league team — it seemed logical to assume that coach Mike Kramer's Cats just didn't measure up this year.

Of course that's not quite the case. Montana State went 6-2 in the Big Sky, tying for second place with Portland State, and will take a 7-4 record into Saturday's first-round Football Championship Subdivision playoff game against Furman.


Bobcat senior receiver Michael Jefferson was named all-Big Sky, but no teammates made the first team. Three MSU standouts — tackle Joe Hirst, linebacker Epikopo King and safety Ryan Force — made second-team all-league.

"There was some frustration," said Kramer of the snub. "But like we tried to tell the guys, all those coaches who didn't vote for you can watch you play on Saturday."

WHAT THEY WON'Tbe able to do, apparently, is watch on TV. Montana State officials have said the playoff game will not be televised.

Through Wednesday, Bobcat officials had sold more than 8,000 tickets for first-round FCS game, which begins at 11:30 a.m. A sellout of more than 13,000 is distinctly possible.

FURMAN FULLBACKJerome Felton, a 248-pounder with 50 career touchdowns in three seasons with the Paladins, has a brother, Simon, who is currently stationed in Iraq. It's Simon's second tour of duty overseas with the U.S. Army.

"My thoughts are with him all the time," said Jerome. "He was in Afghanistan and now he's in Iraq. And it's getting kind of hectic over there ... When you have a loved one overseas you always worry and pray for him, but at same time I know why he's over there. It's where he wants to be. I've got a lot of respect for him and I'm always thinking about him."

FELTON, WHO WASrecruited by Duke and Vanderbilt, is destined to be Furman's all-time leading rusher. With 328 points, he is already Furman's career scoring leader.

Felton is also among a handful of Furman players who have been to Montana.

"We went on vacation once and drove across the country, and we passed through Montana," he said.

The memories?

"It was cold up there and I remember a lot of fields," he said with a laugh. "I don't know. I was kinda tired. It was a long ride ..."

FURMAN COACH Bobby Lamb told reporters Tuesday that his team got some help from the South Carolina climate during its preparation for a trip to Big Sky Country.

"We shipped some Montana weather in here (Monday)," Lamb said from Greenville, S.C. "It was like 42 degrees here with low wind chill."

The Bozeman weather forecast for Saturday? A high of 28 with a 30 percent chance of snow.

SEVEN PALADINSearned first-team honors on the All-Southern Conference team.

They include offensive tackle John Kivett, offensive guard Andrew Thornburg, fullback Jerome Felton, defensive linemen Justin Brown and Roy Ravenell, linebacker Andrew Jones and defensive back Jeremy Blocker.

He looks like a linebacker, he's got the speed of a safety, and he's listed as a defensive end.

Meet McNeese State's Bryan Smith, the defensive player of the year in the Southland Conference, and perhaps the best player on the Cowboys' roster.

But he's not an end, said UM coach Bobby Hauck.

"Number 93 (Smith) is kind of an outside linebacker," said Hauck. "He's really good. He's got a nose for the football.

"They use an eight-man front, that's their base (defense)," added Hauck. "Weber State has that structure.'

But Weber State didn't have that kind of team speed. The Wildcats gave up 33 points and 427 yards to the Grizzlies back on Oct. 21.

McNeese coach Matt Viator, who utilizes a 3-3-3-2 defense, said Bryan and linebacker Allen Nelson are his top playmakers.

"Bryan is one of those guys who remind me a lot of Montana's guys, who have their motor going constantly.

"Nelson, he's a speed guy who's really stpeed up this year."

Smith is 6-3 and 217 pounds, and has 12.5 quarterback sacks and 21 tackles for losses. Five of those sacks, however, came in the Coyboys' 76-0 romp over Division II West Virginia Tech.

Nelson, a smallish linebacker at 6-1, 205, leads McNeese with 106 tackles, but no sacks. He has two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception.

Two of the best punt returners in the nation will be on display Saturday.

Montana's Tuff Harris ranks seventh in I-AA with an average of 15.7 yards per return, but Steven Whitehead of McNeese State is even better. The Cowboys' wide receiver ranks third with an average of 17.6 yards per return.

Harris, however, has scored two touchdowns on returns (plus one on an interception). Whitehead has run one punt back for a score, and has three TDs on pass receptions.

Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton has publicly reprimanded Idaho State football player James Drake, and suspended Weber State football player Jared Wilcox for their actions in a Big Sky Conference game on Saturday, Nov. 18

Both players were ejected for fighting in the second quarter of the game in Pocatello, Idaho.

Drake, a senior defensive lineman from Long Beach, Calif., was playing in his final collegiate game. Because he has exhausted his eligibility, he can't be suspended.

Wilcox, a freshman offensive lineman from Clearfield, Utah, will be suspended for the first half of Weber State's first game of the 2007 season.