Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
CATS IN CAMP: Day #5 Notebook - Zach Wright Enjoys Unique Montana Experience
8/7/2018 4:53:00 PM | Football
Bobcat senior worked the last two springs near Plentywood
BOZEMAN, Montana – Football is a game learned by playing, so when Zach Wright began working on a farm in northeast Montana in the spring of 2017 he was ready to pick things up on the fly.
"There's no learning it slowly," he said of his initiation to running a tractor near Medicine Lake the past two years. "You just jump on it and learn really quick."
Growing up in a ranch family in Texas, Wright didn't think twice about the opportunity. Still, he learned quickly that the monotonous work of rolling fields is punctuated by the unexpected. "Pistons crack, hydraulics crack, welding can break off," he said. He was accompanied this spring by fellow Bobcat defensive lineman Marcus Ferriter from Butte, who "was a little shaky for the first couple of days" by his own admission.
The two quickly settled into a groove, and a routine. "Bear (Don Delorme) ran the service pickup, which acted as the command vehicle," Wright said. The two tractors rolled the fields, and when problems arose the man who everyone in northeast Montana calls Bear spring into action. "He would bring us the parts we needed or whatever and we'd work on the repairs."
Wright appreciates the opportunity to experience life in the Plentywood and Medicine Lake area the last two summers. "The people there are salt of the earth," he said. "The guys you meet are all blue collar people who have been doing that for 20, 30, 40 years, and it's almost like you're intruding because everyone knows everyone, they went to high school with each other, they've known each other forever. But they're welcoming, and to be included in a circle like that is very unique."
GETTING HIS KICKS: Jeff Choate has been talking about transfer kicker Tristan Bailey's leg strength since he arrived at MSU last January. On Tuesday, he tested it. "We let Tristan try a 60-yarder" during Tuesday's practice, Choate said. "He was about (one foot) short. That 71-yarder may have been altitude and wind-aided, that he had on social media this summer. But he does have a big leg and it is kind of a luxury to know that, rather than throwing a Hail Mary here, let's see it."
TWINNING: After Ty'Rhae Gibson intercepted a pass during a 'young guns' scrimmage segment near the end of Tuesday's workout, Jeff Choate again took a moment to praise the Gibson twins. "They have some juice to them. They're very confident, physical, aggressive. The makeup psychologically that you look for in a corner is these guys, and you throw on top of it that they're 6-1, 175 pounds, and they can run, that helps too. For us to get a two-for-one like that is a big deal."
COUNTING SACKS: When asked about a target number of sacks for this year's Bobcats, Choate set the bar high. "I've been a part of teams that had 50. I'm not saying that's a realistic number, but I think 30 is a realistic number. If we get 30 sacks, that's going to be good. When you look at the teams that won the conference the last two years, both of them led (the Big Sky) in scoring defense and sacks. There's a direct correlation."
UP NEXT: MSU is scheduled to practice at 10:30 am on Wednesday in full pads.
AFTER THAT: MSU practices every day this week through Saturday, when the team will conduct its first full scrimmage. That session is closed.
"There's no learning it slowly," he said of his initiation to running a tractor near Medicine Lake the past two years. "You just jump on it and learn really quick."
Growing up in a ranch family in Texas, Wright didn't think twice about the opportunity. Still, he learned quickly that the monotonous work of rolling fields is punctuated by the unexpected. "Pistons crack, hydraulics crack, welding can break off," he said. He was accompanied this spring by fellow Bobcat defensive lineman Marcus Ferriter from Butte, who "was a little shaky for the first couple of days" by his own admission.
The two quickly settled into a groove, and a routine. "Bear (Don Delorme) ran the service pickup, which acted as the command vehicle," Wright said. The two tractors rolled the fields, and when problems arose the man who everyone in northeast Montana calls Bear spring into action. "He would bring us the parts we needed or whatever and we'd work on the repairs."
Wright appreciates the opportunity to experience life in the Plentywood and Medicine Lake area the last two summers. "The people there are salt of the earth," he said. "The guys you meet are all blue collar people who have been doing that for 20, 30, 40 years, and it's almost like you're intruding because everyone knows everyone, they went to high school with each other, they've known each other forever. But they're welcoming, and to be included in a circle like that is very unique."
GETTING HIS KICKS: Jeff Choate has been talking about transfer kicker Tristan Bailey's leg strength since he arrived at MSU last January. On Tuesday, he tested it. "We let Tristan try a 60-yarder" during Tuesday's practice, Choate said. "He was about (one foot) short. That 71-yarder may have been altitude and wind-aided, that he had on social media this summer. But he does have a big leg and it is kind of a luxury to know that, rather than throwing a Hail Mary here, let's see it."
TWINNING: After Ty'Rhae Gibson intercepted a pass during a 'young guns' scrimmage segment near the end of Tuesday's workout, Jeff Choate again took a moment to praise the Gibson twins. "They have some juice to them. They're very confident, physical, aggressive. The makeup psychologically that you look for in a corner is these guys, and you throw on top of it that they're 6-1, 175 pounds, and they can run, that helps too. For us to get a two-for-one like that is a big deal."
COUNTING SACKS: When asked about a target number of sacks for this year's Bobcats, Choate set the bar high. "I've been a part of teams that had 50. I'm not saying that's a realistic number, but I think 30 is a realistic number. If we get 30 sacks, that's going to be good. When you look at the teams that won the conference the last two years, both of them led (the Big Sky) in scoring defense and sacks. There's a direct correlation."
UP NEXT: MSU is scheduled to practice at 10:30 am on Wednesday in full pads.
AFTER THAT: MSU practices every day this week through Saturday, when the team will conduct its first full scrimmage. That session is closed.
Players Mentioned
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