'That one day' arrives for QB Schweikert

Cody Schweikert could be forgiven for getting down during his two-plus seasons with the University of Montana football program.

It was a large quarterback room that he joined and the Columbia Falls product, fresh off an appearance in the 2023 State A championship, got off to a late start because of a torn ACL suffered during UM practices.

Up until this spring, most of the reps for Schweikert were mental.

“I was definitely a little bit down,” he said last Friday, after throwing for 119 yards in Montana’s Maroon-Silver spring game. “But my teammates supported me more than anything, and my coaches believed in me and told me, ‘Just work your butt off.’

“And of course my family always supported me, and I had God to help me.”

The rest, one supposes, is up to Schweikert.

“You just have to have confidence in yourself even though you’re looking around and thinking, ‘God, these guys are so great,’ “ he said, smiling. “You have to have the confidence to just know that one day you’ll be there.”

Keali’i Ah Yat, who as a sophomore became Montana’s first first-team All-Big Sky quarterback since Craig Ochs in 2004, will presumably be healthy this fall after being sidelined early in spring drills. So maybe Friday was Schweikert’s one day. Or maybe there will be many more.

He did perform well, as did Glacier product Gage Sliter, who threw for 113 yards in the scrimmage. But while Sliter has been listed as a QB, Schweikert’s has been as an “ATH” the whole time — including on the rosters handed out Friday.

This can be a tough business. Fynn Ridgeway, whose excellent name was augmented by his QB exploits in Whitefish, suddenly found himself playing running back for UM this spring.

No complaints there. “I think I have a more offensive-minded brain,” he said after toting the rock six times and catching two passes out of the backfield.

So: Ridgeway in; but Browning’s Tommy Running Rabbit, who announced on social media he’s concentrating on his goal to become a pharmacist, is out. Talen Reynolds, whose dad Chase spent the 2006-08 springs at running back, receiver and running back again, was also not on the spring roster.

Bobby Kennedy, freshly appointed Griz coach, was his usual positive self afterward.

“I can’t remember a day where I said, ‘God, we’re just slogging around,’ “ he said. “Guys came in with a great attitude every day.

“Now we just have to put it all together.”

That’s the goal for everyone, including big No. 18 out of C-Falls.

“(Offensive coordinator) Brent Pease did a great job of helping me take it slow,” Schweikert said. “I feel like I got a little bit better every day. That’s what it’s about.”

Sports Editor Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 406-758-4463 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.