3 Havre DAILY NEWS Monday, Jan. 24, 2011 College years in Review 2005-2009 Walking into Grizzly country George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com When former Havre High School threesport standout Marc Mariani left his hometown for the wilds of Missoula and the University of Montana football program, he knew that the going would be tough in the beginning. But Mariani, who was a two-time AllState selection at wide receiver and defensive back for the HHS football team also knew that he had what it would take to make it at one of the elite football program’s in NCAA Division I-AA. What he didn’t know was just how soon he would arrive on the Grizzly stage. Since Mariani graduated from HHS in 2005, his life has changed dramatically. He turned down several NAIA scholarship offers to pursue his dream of playing football for UM, and he accepted a walk-on spot with the Grizzlies, joining the team in the fall of 2005. “I wanted to come here because I knew I was good enough to play at this level and I wanted to prove that to myself and to the people who doubted it,” Mariani said. “This is not only Division I-AA football, but it’s the elite program in all of Division I-AA and who wouldn’t want the opportunity to be a part of that.” And Mariani quickly learned that life as a non-scholarship player at UM or any other football powerhouse isn’t easy. Especially when just months earlier, he was considered one of the top high school football players in Montana and had just helped guide his Havre High team to its first Class A state championship in 32 years. Needless to say, UM gets the pick of the litter when it comes to recruiting in Montana as well as the Northwest, and the Grizzlies have made a living on Montanaborn players in starring roles. So, despite having to become a little fish in a very large and competitive pond, all those factors were too enticing for Mariani to pass on. Still, in the beginning, there were definitely doubts. Mariani said that in his redshirt season as a Griz, things weren’t easy as a scout-team player. Basically, he was there to make sure that the Grizzlies’ highly-touted defense got better each and every day and was prepared for the coming week’s opponent. “There were times during my first year that I would look back and think ‘what if.’ I mean I passed on a lot of smaller schools where I could have played right away,” Mariani said. “You get here as a freshman and you’re thrown on to the scout team. No one really knows who you are and you don’t really mean anything to anybody.” And Mariani, who has always been known as one of the hardest working football players around took full advantage of his season on the scout team. Up at 6:30 a.m. to lift weights, class all day, team meetings and study table at night, Mariani never wavered. He worked his way through an up-and-down season at UM in which the Griz went 9-4 and lost in the open- ing round of the 2005 playoffs to Cal-Poly. And no more had the Grizzlies’ season ended than winter conditioning arrived. I was another time in which Mariani was tested to his limits. “Winter conditioning is almost indescribable,” Mariani said. “It is the hardest thing I have ever gone through physically.” Despite the bootcamp-like atmosphere of winter conditioning, Mariani persevered. Then, last spring, he met his biggest challenge to date. Spring practice as a walk-on player is the chance to either sink or swim. And Mariani didn’t just swim, he had a spring that would have made Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps proud. He took full advantage of every chance he got on the field during the spring, including catching a touchdown pass from fellow redshirt-freshman quarterback Clint Stapp in the Grizzlies’ spring game. “In the spring everybody gets a fair chance,” he said. “The spring is where you can earn a spot on the team. But you only get so many chances. It’s about working hard every single day, about not making the same mistake twice, and for receivers, it is about catching the ball when it comes your way. I just think I took advantage of every opportunity I had in the spring.” And when spring ball was all said and done, Mariani was given a spot on the 90man roster, eventually his old number (80), a playbook and a chance to run out of the famed Washington- Grizzly Stadium tunnel this fall. And just like the Griz team, Mariani is still making strides that started way back in the fall of 2005. Mariani is listed as one of the Grizzlies’ top eight wide receivers on the depth chart, along with Craig Chambers, Eric Allen, Ryan Bagley, Mike Ferriter, Rob Schulte, Matt Troxel and Mariani’s roommate, Ty Palmer. Mariani is also one of the fastest players on the entire UM roster, running a sub- 4.5 forty-yard dash. The speed, the relentless work ethic and the ability to catch the ball have all been serving Mariani well for years. And now, none of those intangibles are lost on the Grizzly coaching staff either. “Marc is one the fastest players on our team,” UM wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator Rob Phenecie said. “He ran the third-fastest time on testing day. He is in a support role this year, but his speed and work ethic give him a good chance to get on the field. Marc is a quick learner, he’s a tough guy and has a great attitude. And, as I said before, he has a lot of speed.” Just how much playing time Mariani gets for a Griz team that is predicted to have one of the best offenses in the country this season remains to be seen. But one thing is for certain, Mariani knows he will get on the field, one way or another. So things are looking good for the onetime Havre Blue Pony who has now made the jump to Montana’s holy grail of football. And while he knows that in order to keep going, he will have to keep working, at least for now, Mariani has erased any doubts that he may have had when he arrived on UM’s campus last year. “I definitely think I’ve answered the question about whether or not I can play at this level,” Mariani said. “I had a really good first year here and I know I have come a long way from a year ago. How far I can go will depend a lot on getting on the field and getting that game experience. And I know my work is never done. I have to go out there and work hard every day. But having the opportunity to play for this program and play in front of 25,000 people on Saturdays is pretty good motivation, and I’m going to keep working hard to get better.” Mariani went from star to legend Column By George Ferguson MISSOULA — I'll admit, I, like most of the 19,000-plus partisans at halftime of Saturday's FCS playoff game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium didn't give the Montana Grizzlies much of a chance to come back on the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. After all, it was 34-14 and things were not going well for the mighty Griz, while the underdog Jacks were seemingly doing whatever they wanted. But in looking back, knowing Montana senior wide receiver Marc Mariani like I do, I should have known better, and I shouldn't have been at all surprised by what I witnessed in the final 30 minutes of Saturday's game. Unless you live under a rock, and even if you do, you've heard the story. The Grizzlies mounted the biggest comeback in school history, scoring the game's last 40 points, including five fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat the Jacks 61-48. The game was an instant classic in an already long line of classic games at the famed stadium in Missoula. And amidst all of the chaos and pure joy of a comeback for the ages by the Grizzlies was Mariani, sparking the whole thing, and with it, running right into Grizzly lore. Mariani's 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown gave the Griz hope, pulling them to within 48-21 late in the third quarter. The return was classic Mariani, as he showed off not only the blazing speed which has made him famous at UM, but also his uncanny ability to make defenders miss as well as his strength, as he slipped several would-be tacklers. The rest as they say, is history. Mariani went on to grab 12 catches for 171 yards and he caught two fourth-quarter scores, including, fittingly, the game-winner with just under two minutes left. He finished the game with 389 all-purpose yards and some of his most important plays came on third and fourth-down receptions where he broke tackles and picked up extra yards when the Griz absolutely had to have them. He did the same thing on punt returns, time and time again setting UM up with great field position when the Griz couldn't afford to waste any time trying to score. It was obvious to anyone there, to anyone watching on TV, to his Griz teammates and, especially to SDSU that Mariani wasn't going to be denied, and he was going to do whatever it took to make sure Saturday wasn't his last game in Missoula. But that's the kind of player, the kind of leader Mariani is for the Grizzlies, and it's how he's always been. After all, this is the same kid who was nearly knocked unconscious in the opening minutes of the 2004 Class A state championship game, only to come back and put on an MVP-like display in helping lead the Blue Ponies to the state title. On Saturday in Missoula, Mariani did that and more. It isn't easy for one player to dominate a team-game like football, and Mariani wasn't alone in Saturday's historic rally. But for a time, to everybody in that stadium, it sure seemed like Mariani put the Griz on his back and carried them home. And in doing so, Mariani carried himself from one of the best Griz receivers of his gen- eration to one of the best and most revered Griz players of all time. It's true, Mariani was already beloved and highly respected in Griz Nation, but he left little doubt about what his legacy will be at UM when he's finally done playing. His performance Saturday prompted high praise from everybody, including UM head coach Bobby Hauck, who said on the postgame telecast that he was proud to be Marc's coach, and that it was unlikely the Griz would have pulled off the comeback without him. But being the type of player, leader and person Mariani is, in the postgame press conference which was legendary in itself, he chose to gush about what his team had just achieved, about how proud he was of his team and how honored he was to be a part of such a historic game. That's Marc and that's why he's so respected by his teammates, his coaches and by all of Griz Nation. He's a star — Grizzly players are treated like royalty in this state, yet Marc remains humble, even minutes after perhaps the greatest single-game performance in UM history given the circumstances. It's part of what makes him so unique and special. And it's also part of why one day we'll see Mariani in the UM Hall of Fame. Not only has Mariani shattered Griz football records and will continue to do so, but he's done it in a way in which every football program hopes a player would, with class, dignity, humility and honor, on and off the football field. Mariani was already a Griz great, but after Saturday's game, he has to be considered among the greatest ever. And I'm talking about putting him in the same echelon as legendary Griz athletes like Dave Dickinson, Larry Krystowiak, Shannon Cate and Michael Ray Richardson. I didn't have the opportunity to see some of the Griz football giants of the past like Mike Tilleman, Doug Betters and Grady Bennett to name a few, but I've seen most in the time when Montana's program grew into what it is now. I've been watching Griz football intently since 1993. Dickinson will always be No. 1 in the hearts of Montana fans and rightfully so. Not lost on all this, his legend started with a miraculous comeback against who else, the Jackrabbits in 1993. But Mariani deserves to be in the discussion with Dickinson and everybody else who's worn a Grizzly uniform, and I'm sure, having seen what they've seen from Marc, not only last Saturday, but in the last two years, no one who's worn the old Copper and Gold or Maroon and Silver would argue with that. What we witnessed Saturday from Mariani was something so rare, it may be a long time, if ever, before we see it again. But what he did against SDSU actually embodies the type of dominant football player he's been at Montana for three seasons now, and just like the second-half show he put on on Saturday, his career will be something none of us will ever forget. www.havredailynews.com