HELENA, Mont. – The spring football season is a grind. There are hours of practice, film study and conditioning with the games still months away. The Carroll College football team is well into spring drills but this weekend the Saints get the chance to take the field in front of the Carroll faithful at the first of two spring scrimmages.
 
This scrimmage brings a twist. The Saints welcome the University of Montana for a doubleheaderto Nelson Stadium. The Saints play at 11 a.m. and the Grizzlies follow at 1 p.m.
 
"We go through spring football with maybe five or six fans or 20 fans or parents that stop by once in a while," head coach Mike Van Diest  said.  "Hopefully there are a few hundred people out there and the kids get a chance to enjoy the excitement of the crowd. I want the young guys to see what it's like when you wake up on Saturday mornings and it's game day. It's all part of the pageantry and the atmosphere of Saturday mornings here in Helena, Montana.
 
"I hope fans will come out and see us play some good football, and see the Grizzles scrimmage afterward. It's a fun afternoon and a great doubleheader."
 
Van Diest is excited for Saturday but is still putting the same emphasis on improving that he does every spring practice.
 
 "It is an extension of what we've been doing for spring ball, Van Diest said. "We've had some days that we've mixed it up a little bit with team pass and full speed drills with ones-on-ones but this will be a chance to get a look at different combinations on offense and defense."
 
The Saints offense has to replace Carroll all-time leading rusher Dustin Rinker and all-conference receiver/returner Anthony Clarke. Van Diest will look to see what young players will do under the pressure of a game atmosphere.
 
"On offense we hope guys like Ryan Walsh, a running back/wide receiver and Eric Dawson who is moving from linebacker to tight end will really play well," Van Diest said. "Ryan redshirted two years ago and he has tremendous speed that I think we can showcase in our offense. Eric gives us a chance to see our tight end a lot more involved in our passing game. Those are guys we want to highlight on offense and put them in a little bit of a pressure situation and see what they can do."
 
The story is similar on defense. All-American and 2013 NAIA Defensive Player of the Year Sean Blomquist is gone as well as much of the defensive front. Van Diest is looking for a few guys to step into spots and compete for starting positions.
 
"Defensively, there are a lot of names that people recognize, but they haven't been in the forefront," Van Diest said. "Gus Somerfeld,  Elliott McGill and Beaugh Meyer are all guys that I am going to be looking at to see how they do when we're going full speed."
 
The Saints plan to run 75-80 plays with different game style situations and they will use a play clock and officials.
 
"It is good to see them in game like situations and move the chains," Van Diest said. "We are going to start on the 25 yard line or the 45 yard line and let the quarterbacks take charge and see how the defense responds to a sudden change."
 
The Saints have to replace the entire special teams unit and Saturday will be big for the punters and kickers.
 
"We are really evaluating the special teams. I want to see how the punters and kickers are when we put them in situations,' Van Diest said. "We won't have a lot of live kicking in the plan, but we will punt and we will kick field goals. This is kind of like a job interview. They are going to be evaluated very closely over the next couple days after the scrimmage. We only have a few practices left next week so this is the start of phase two of spring."
 
The Grizzlies will also have a lot of new faces. The scrimmage is the end of new head coach Bob Stitt's first spring. He is also evaluating a handful of quarterbacks to replace starting quarterback Jordan Johnson.
 
The Griz scrimmage in Helena is the first in over a decade. Montana moves their annual spring game around the state in a ten-year rotation.
 
There will be a tailgate with food and beverages for sale beginning at 10 a.m. Tickets for the game will be available at the gate. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for kids 12 and under.
 
After the Carroll scrimmage, the Saints football team will be available to sign autographs.