BUTTE — Students and teachers at Hillcrest Elementary School in Butte are getting into the spirit of the big game for the annual Brawl of the Wild between the Montana State Bobcats and the University of Montana Grizzlies.
"We just love celebrating it here in Butte because it used to be played here and we love the rivalry," says Sadie Byrnes, who wears a Griz t-shirt and a Griz paw print on her cheek.
Her third-grade class is covered in either Montana’s maroon and silver or Montana State’s blue and gold, with the exception of one student.
"I go for the Bobcats half of the game and then the Griz the other half," says Rye Morgan. He peels off his Montana Grizzly sweatshirt to reveal a Bobcat t-shirt that pays homage to Butte's own Tommy Mellott, the Bobcats' quarterback.
When asked what he does if the team he's rooting for starts to lose, Morgan simply replies he doesn't care.
"Then I’ll root for the other team," says Morgan.
The Butte kids are coloring their favorite college football team's helmets and watched a Cat-Griz documentary to learn fun facts about the game. Kids rattle off the facts that begin with the early 1900s when the game was first played at Clark Park, then moved up to Naranche Stadium at Butte High School before moving to the respective universities.
One boy was shocked to see a parade that took place in Butte featuring a real grizzly bear.
Other students studied the 2025 team rosters to find players hailing from the Mining City on both teams.
When asked if one boy has a favorite player, he points to an autograph on his t-shirt.
"My favorite player is Tommy Mellott. He’s my favorite cause I think he’s really good and my friend told me that he fell down the stairs and he still showed up to his game, so I think that’s pretty good," says Moni Mondloch.
One young Griz fan wears eye black, the paint, or grease, that football players wear under their eyes to reduce glare. When asked what her favorite part of the game is, she smiles and simply says, "Touchdowns."
"It’s just a fun competition. I have heard some of my students even say that they want to go to one or the other so yeah, it’s putting it in their minds for college," says Byrnes, who says she recently graduated from the University of Montana and is a lifelong Griz fan.
