Bobcat Ground Game Shines on a Day When the Sun Didn't During Sonny Holland Spring Classic
4/23/2022 10:10:00 PM | Football
Lane Sumner, DeMareus Hosey churn out yardage
BOZEMAN, Montana – On a day plucked from November or December, Montana State's offense proved it was built for such conditions in the Gray team's 24-17 win over Blue in the Sonny Holland Spring Classic.
The two teams combined to rush for 244 yards on a day that transitioned from driving snow to light rain to more or less pleasant. Lane Sumner carried 16 times for 109 yards for the Blue, while DeMareus Hosey's 77 yards on 18 carries paced the Gray. "I thought those guys got some good work in today," said MSU coach Brent Vigen. "And they don't do that without good line play."
The passing game also had its moments. Incumbent Tommy Mellott threw for 160 yards on 11-for-16 passing without an interception, and his counterpart on the Gray, Sean Chambers threw for 124 yards (10-for-18). But Chambers threw three interceptions - two by Air Force transfer Dru Polidore and one by Jackson Harmon - and the Blue's second signal caller, Sean Austin lost a fumble. David Alston caused and recovered it.
That play was key to the Gray team's impressive comeback. After the Blue team scored the scrimmage's first 17 points, Brody Grebe and Ben Seymour combined on a touch-sack of Mellott in the end zone for a safety. Chambers threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Derryk Snell not long after to make the score 17-9, then a pass from Jordan Reed to Aidan Garrigan and a two-point conversion leveled the score, and a two-yard run DeMareus Hosey provided the winning margin.
The fireworks weren't quite complete, though. With under a minute left Mellott moved the Blue team down the field, completing six straight passes to set up a one-play-for-the-scrimmage situation from the 13-yard line. Mellott scrambled and found a receiver on the end zone's back line, but the coverage was tight and the ball sailed just out of the end zone, and the Gray had its victory.
Aside from the turnovers, Seymour led the defense with 2.5 sacks and the half-sack safety. Alson added a quarterback hurry to his fumble forced and recovered.
OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
RUSHING – Blue Team: Lane Sumner 86-109-1, Garrett Coon 7-45-1, RJ Fitzgerald 1-2-0, Tommy Mellott 4-12-0, Sean Austin 2-2-0. Gray Team: DeMareus Hosey 18-77-1, Sean Chambers 1-11-0, Nolan Iverson 3-5-0, Jordan Reed 2-9-0.
PASSING – Blue Team: Tommy Mellott 11-16-0, 160, 0; Sean Austin 4-5-0, 77, 0. Gray Team: Sean Chambers 10-18-3, 124, 1; Jordan Reed 2-3-0, 69, 1.
RECEIVING – Blue Team: Willie Patterson 6-89-0, Lane Sumner 5-59-0, Andrew Patterson 2-22-0, Ravi Alston 1-40-0, Treyton Pickering 1-4-0. Gray Team: Derryk Snell 3-46-1, Charles Brown 3-82-0, Tayvian William 1-32-0, DeMareus Hosey 1-12-0, Aidan Garrigan 2-19-1.
DEFENSIVE SPECIAL STATS
SAFETY – Brody Grebe/Ben Seymour
FORCED FUMBLE – David Alston
FUMBLE RECOVERY – David Alston
SACKS – Ben Seymour 2.5, Brody Grebe 0.5
TACKLES-FOR-LOSS – Jory Chaote, Aidan Parks, Nolan Askelson, Luke Fedyk
INTERCEPTION – Dru Polidore 2, Jackson Harmon
PASS BREAKUP – Dru Polidore
HURRY – David Alston
SCORING SUMMARY
Blue: Lane Sumner 2 run (Blake Glessner) Blue 7, Gray 0
Blue: Garrett Coon 3 run (Blake Glessner) Blue 14, Gray 0
Blue: Blake Glessner 44 FG Blue 17, Gray 0
Gray: Safety on sack by Ben Seymour and Brody Grebe Blue 17, Gray 2
Gray: Derryk Snell 15 pass from Sean Chambers (Blake Glessner) Blue 17, Gray 9
Gray: Aidan Garrigan 14 pass from Jordan Reed (Tayvian Williams from Jordan Reed) Gray 17, Blue 17
Gray: DeMareus Hosey 2 run (Blake Glessner) Gray 24, Blue 17
