MISSOULA — Saturday will be the regular-season home finale for the No. 10 Montana Grizzlies at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, as the Grizzlies have just two games left on their schedule. But on Saturday, they'll welcome the Portland State Vikings to town, and it's a big one for Montana with the playoffs right around the corner.
After a loss last weekend against UC Davis, it's about regrouping for the Grizzlies, who are 7-3 and 4-2 in Big Sky Conference play.
"The way I approach it is there's one positive and that's when you win, and when you don't it's not," UM head coach Bobby Hauck said. "We care about winning and losing, and we didn't take the game on Saturday when we had a chance to so it's not very positive."
Twice before this season UM has been tasked with rebounding from a loss, which the team has done, to prove its mettle and ability to flush a loss when needed.
"Even when we're faced by adversity, we know what to do with it," senior wide receiver Aaron Fontes said. "We just work hard, put our heads down and just keep working at the end of the day."
Portland State comes to Missoula with a 2-7 record, but the Vikings have been competitive in most games they've played, including an almost-win over UC Davis, a close loss to Idaho, and a recent win over Sacramento State.
It all goes through quarterback Dante Chachere, a human highlight reel who hurts teams with his arm or legs and has been a statistical machine all year.
It'll be a good challenge for the Griz leading into Senior Day, as Montana will honor 26 seniors before the game and then look for its eighth win on the season.
"Just knowing that I'm on a team that holds high standards for their players and knowing that I'm on a team that I'm gonna have a brotherhood at the end of the day, just always come back and help if I even wanted to, so just knowing that I could do that with this team, it means a lot to me," Fontes said.
"We love our guys around here, and they know that," Hauck said. "And hopefully the feeling is mutual. The thing I like about it is we get to recognize them before the game. I think that's earned. And, guys that are here for their senior year are special guys, especially in this era of college football."
