The most memorable moment of my first 'Brawl of the Wild' happened early in the first quarter, after Montana had made a goal-line stand on Montana State's first possession.

After Montana punted on its ensuing possession, a member of the event staff standing next to me on the sidelines casually strolled onto the field with a small plastic bag and picked up some remains of the pregame ceremony that involved horses.

I'd been looking forward to the game since first driving by the stadium in early August, when the finishing touches were being applied to the numerous offseason stadium improvements.

Washington-Grizzly Stadium is built with a lot of concrete, so the one thing I wasn't expecting is wooden stairs, the stairs that lead to the press box. And, not just wood, really old, weathered wood, the kind that shakes when you walk on it and has the occasional nail sticking up.

The sidelines, what there is, didn't disappoint from the four months of build-up leading to Saturday. The stadium definitely has the feel of a soccer stadium, even more so than the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, where the Major League Soccer championship game played out Sunday. It would be great to see the reception an MLS exhibition game might get in Missoula.

Although the score, 35-3, didn't show it, the game lived up to its billing from the outset as a brawl with the Grizzlies stopping the Cats from scoring after first and goal from the 3.

That stand was highlighted even more by a magnificent effort from junior Shann Schillinger, who fought through a blocker to push MSU tailback Demetrius Crawford out of bounds at the 3, setting up the goal-line stand.

From the press box, it was easy to root, internally anyway, for the Bobcats because of their late-season surge through quarterback injuries, and a more quotable head coach, Rob Ash. Montana coach Bobby Hauck is something close to the Atlantic Wall of quotes.

It would have been very interesting to see what the NCAA FCS selection committee would have done had the Bobcats won and tied the Grizzlies for second place in the Big Sky Conference. The Cats would've tugged at the hearts of football fans everywhere by starting a third-string quarterback who was a receiver until midseason.

Having watched the Grizzlies in person, they seem more than ready to tackle the playoffs and Texas State Saturday, especially after watching Schillinger make his play on Crawford.

And, if it snows, imagine how those Texans will deal with a few snowballs.

Sports Editor Cliff Pfenning: 447-4070 or cliff.pfenning@helenair.com