Indians back in action at Western

GUNNISON — For more than eight months, Roy Catlin has been waiting to hit somebody.

On Tuesday, the senior lineman finally got his chance. For the first time since its heartbreaking loss to Loveland in last season’s state playoff quarterfinals, Montrose was back in action at the Mountaineer Football Camp at Western State College. The camp, which runs through Thursday, features seven total

teams from Class 5A, 4A and 2A.

Arapahoe, Eaglecrest, Middle Park, Faith Christian, Montezuma-Cortez and Dakota Ridge were also in attendance for the camp.

For the Indians, the months of hard winter conditioning finally paid off as they were able to test their progress for the first time against quality competition from around the region.

“We started out slow because we’ve got a lot of new guys playing new positions, but things definitely went a lot better today,” Catlin said.

“The competition is great.We haven’t had a chance to get our pads on since we lost to Loveland, so this gets you back in the mode for football.”

Both Montrose’s varsity and junior varsity teams made the trip for the four-day camp.With five teams from

Class 5A attending the camp, the Indians were put to the test from Day 1. Even against the tough competition, head coach Todd Casebier said he was pleased with his team’s effort thus far.

“It’s not so much who we’re playing, it’s how we play,” he said. “The kids are working hard and getting better each day, and that’s the whole reason you come here.”

Following a brief practice and scrimmage on Monday, the Indians started Tuesday off bright and early with

scrimmage time followed by two different competition drills.

The scrimmages were broken up into seven-play series’ pitting one team’s offense versus another team’s defense.

After the seven plays, the teams would rotate and play the other side of the ball. After that, the teams broke

up into two groups and rotated between the Oklahoma drill and a one-on-one receiving drill.

The most spirited competition by far was the Oklahoma drill, which featured a team made up of a ball carrier and three blockers trying to score against a four-man defense in an area only 10 yards long and four yards wide.While Montrose saw both ends of success in the drill, Casebier said he got exactly what he was looking for from his players.

“You can have months of off-season conditioning, but you don’t really know what you have until you get to put it in motion,” he said. “We’re getting to see who’s going to compete.We’re putting guys in the fire and seeing who’s going to play football.”

For the players, the chance to finally get back on the field and gel with their teammates has been as valuable as anything at the camp.

While they admittedly still have a lot of work to do before they hit their expected regular season form, the first taste of the latest Indians’ football team has been a good one thus far.

“This has definitely been worthwhile,” senior lineman Brandon Jones said. “The season starts right here, and we’re getting used to playing with each other. It’s been a little rough, but we’re starting to click.”