MISSOULA — After going 3-7 in each of its past three seasons, the Missoula Big Sky football team is already sitting at 3-0 early this season with no plans on slowing down.
Big Sky head coach Matt Johnson said his young group of players has bought into the program and found ways to win games by any means necessary.
"I think the last three games we won each game very differently and I think that's important,” Johnson said. “Whether it's by a lot of points or a few points, finding a way to make something work and get it done when you need to, I think that's the key. I think that was a key in our first three wins.”
Another key to the hot start has been a strong defensive presence led by junior Cormack Batt. The Eagles' defense forced eight turnovers in Big Sky's 29-0 win over Kalispell Flathead last week.
“We all came into the season with like a chip on our shoulder,” Batt said. “I mean, we want the ball — our safeties, our cornerbacks, we all have a knack for the ball. Shoutout to linebackers. I mean, they're playing their hearts out with forced fumbles, QB pressures, D-line QB pressures. I mean, our DBs, we just have chips on our shoulder and we're like, we want this, we want the ball anywhere it goes.”
Batt was part of a Big Sky freshman team two years ago that went 9-0, and now those players have key roles on the varsity team.
Senior Tanner Davis has noticed a difference in mentality since this new crop of juniors started playing.
“Those boys definitely know how to win,” Davis said. “Last year, we started off the games real hot, but we couldn't really finish the games. But having these younger guys come up, who really know how to win the games and put the other teams to sleep there, (it's) very helpful having a good younger class, like almost be seniors in a sense.”
Big Sky will look to keep its perfect season alive when it faces a tough test at Butte on Friday.
