BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 43 Days Until Kickoff Brings to Mind Excellent Treasure State Stars Such as Dan Hodge and Nick Marudas who Wore #43
7/18/2018 4:50:00 PM | Football
Walker Cozzie is poised for a strong junior campaign
July 18: Bobcats by the Numbers takes a look at current and past Bobcats that correspond to the number of days remaining before Montana State opens the 2018 football season against Western Illinois in Bobcat Stadium's annual Gold Rush game on August 30.
#43
Walker Cozzie, LB: Every good football team has what coaches call 'glue guys,' which may not draw a lot of individual accolades but who in effect hold the team together. Walker Cozzie is one of those for the Cats, filling in at the inside linebacker positions when needed while serving as a special teams standout. His talent and versatility stand to be put to even greater use during his junior season this fall.
Spotlight – Dan Hodge: If you wanted to field good football teams in the Treasure State before the last years of the 20th century, you'd damn certain better have success recruiting Butte. A quick perusal of the Montana State's incomplete football letterman list shows that Butte joins Bozeman, Billings and Great Falls as the most productive hunting ground for Bobcat coaches, and while those efforts occasionally produced stars such as Sonny Holland they always produced a kind of toughness hard to replicate. Dan Hodge was one of those players that provided hard-nosed, solid play for the Big Sky's first dynasty. Montana State won league championships when Hodge was a sophomore and senior, with the latter season landing him all-conference accolades. Hodge had played on a state title teams in track and football at Butte High, and as a track and field standout for the Cats he set the school's triple jump record. While his listed major was architecture, it was his passion for track and field that tugged at him. He began his legendary career coaching track and field at Flathead High – he also coached football along the way – in 1972. That career netted him induction into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame and the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame, and in 1992 he won National High School Track Coach of the Year honors. Throughout his career he has credited the strong work ethic he learned growing up in Butte, where his father mined for more than four decades. Even after Dan's excellent two-sport career at Montana State, the Hodge lineage lived at Montana State. His sons Dan and Steven also starred in track and field for the Bobcats, as did Dan's wife Michelle Tronstad, a brilliant pole vaulter.
Chronology: Ralph Gill (1926-27), Francis Ramstadt (1940), Allen Nelson (1941), Dominic Dira (1946-47), Wally Palmer (1948-49), Jim Nordlund (1950), Don Edwards (953-55), Bobby Kopsco (1957), Jim McLeod (1958), Dan Hodge (1964-66), Terry Brown (1967-68), Dave Juarez (1969), Gary Kimmett (1970-72), Randy Hickel (1973-75), , Stuart Dodds (1976-79), Ladin Langeman (1980-82), Will Johnson (1983-84), Marc Paffhausen (1985-86), Steve Haugeberg (1988-89), Tim Klinger (1990), Dan Hicks (1993-95), Eric Kinnaman (1996), Jeff Dunlap (1997), Jeremy Barcus (2000), Nick Marudas (2001-05), Beau Watkins (2006-09), Bryce Staley (2010), Alex Singleton (2011-14), Walker Cozzie (2015-)
Bonus #43 – Nick Marudas: Everyone should finish their athletic careers like Nick Marudas. A Bozeman High star, Marudas was a productive linebacker during his first three seasons on the Bobcat varsity, 2002-04, although a broken leg interrupted a good junior season. As a senior he moved to defensive end, and was brilliant. Marudas led the team with 86 tackles, 12.5 for a loss, and logged a team-high nine sacks. But everything was prologue to his most brilliant moment, a sensational afternoon when Marudas dazzled his hometown crowd and mesmerized the state by ravaging the Grizzlies offense. He registered six tackles and two sacks, and broke up a pass, as the Cats stifled the out-manned Grizzlies 16-6.
#43
Walker Cozzie, LB: Every good football team has what coaches call 'glue guys,' which may not draw a lot of individual accolades but who in effect hold the team together. Walker Cozzie is one of those for the Cats, filling in at the inside linebacker positions when needed while serving as a special teams standout. His talent and versatility stand to be put to even greater use during his junior season this fall.
Spotlight – Dan Hodge: If you wanted to field good football teams in the Treasure State before the last years of the 20th century, you'd damn certain better have success recruiting Butte. A quick perusal of the Montana State's incomplete football letterman list shows that Butte joins Bozeman, Billings and Great Falls as the most productive hunting ground for Bobcat coaches, and while those efforts occasionally produced stars such as Sonny Holland they always produced a kind of toughness hard to replicate. Dan Hodge was one of those players that provided hard-nosed, solid play for the Big Sky's first dynasty. Montana State won league championships when Hodge was a sophomore and senior, with the latter season landing him all-conference accolades. Hodge had played on a state title teams in track and football at Butte High, and as a track and field standout for the Cats he set the school's triple jump record. While his listed major was architecture, it was his passion for track and field that tugged at him. He began his legendary career coaching track and field at Flathead High – he also coached football along the way – in 1972. That career netted him induction into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame and the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame, and in 1992 he won National High School Track Coach of the Year honors. Throughout his career he has credited the strong work ethic he learned growing up in Butte, where his father mined for more than four decades. Even after Dan's excellent two-sport career at Montana State, the Hodge lineage lived at Montana State. His sons Dan and Steven also starred in track and field for the Bobcats, as did Dan's wife Michelle Tronstad, a brilliant pole vaulter.
Chronology: Ralph Gill (1926-27), Francis Ramstadt (1940), Allen Nelson (1941), Dominic Dira (1946-47), Wally Palmer (1948-49), Jim Nordlund (1950), Don Edwards (953-55), Bobby Kopsco (1957), Jim McLeod (1958), Dan Hodge (1964-66), Terry Brown (1967-68), Dave Juarez (1969), Gary Kimmett (1970-72), Randy Hickel (1973-75), , Stuart Dodds (1976-79), Ladin Langeman (1980-82), Will Johnson (1983-84), Marc Paffhausen (1985-86), Steve Haugeberg (1988-89), Tim Klinger (1990), Dan Hicks (1993-95), Eric Kinnaman (1996), Jeff Dunlap (1997), Jeremy Barcus (2000), Nick Marudas (2001-05), Beau Watkins (2006-09), Bryce Staley (2010), Alex Singleton (2011-14), Walker Cozzie (2015-)
Bonus #43 – Nick Marudas: Everyone should finish their athletic careers like Nick Marudas. A Bozeman High star, Marudas was a productive linebacker during his first three seasons on the Bobcat varsity, 2002-04, although a broken leg interrupted a good junior season. As a senior he moved to defensive end, and was brilliant. Marudas led the team with 86 tackles, 12.5 for a loss, and logged a team-high nine sacks. But everything was prologue to his most brilliant moment, a sensational afternoon when Marudas dazzled his hometown crowd and mesmerized the state by ravaging the Grizzlies offense. He registered six tackles and two sacks, and broke up a pass, as the Cats stifled the out-manned Grizzlies 16-6.
Players Mentioned
LB
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