When it came down to a decision, the small-town feeling drove Lowry High School senior Josh Shaver to choose Montana Western to further his football career.
"I am really excited about playing at the next level," Shaver said. "I like the small-town feeling of Dillon and the way they do their schooling. You do one class at a time for 18 days. It was the perfect fit for me. If I wasn't playing football, I would have gone to Nevada, but I wanted to play a sport."
Montana Western is an NAIA school, located in Dillon. Shaver will join former Lowry player Will Thacker on the Bulldogs' squad. Thacker is an offensive lineman, who garnered All-American honors this past fall. The Montana Western roster featured just three players from Nevada last fall.
"(Lowry) Coach (Shaun) Murgel called up there for me and helped getting everything going," Shaver said. "Coach Murgel is good friends with the staff and everything got started from there. We have a pretty good Lowry connection in the Frontier Conference and will be fun to play with Will."
After winning its first three games of the season in 2013, Montana Western finished 5-6. and tied for fourth in the final league standings. The Bulldogs are coached by B.J. Robertson, who will be entering his second year as coach.
Montana Western is part of the Frontier Conference that includes Carroll, Rocky Mountain, Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon, MSU-Northern, Montana Tech and Dickinson State.
Shaver most likely will play wide receiver, but may have to wait a year to get on the playing field.
"For the most part they redshirt their freshman," Shaver said. "I will probably do that, but I still get the practice time on the field and an extra day in the weight room."
Shaver helped lead Lowry to a fourth consecutive trip to the Division I-A state semifinals this past fall. The senior caught 17 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns. In addition, he had two carries for 33 yards. Shaver was named to the Division I-A second team as a wide receiver.
The Buckaroos lost to Faith Lutheran 16-7 in the state semifinals but Lowry finished 10-2 for the second straight year. Those are the only 10 win seasons in school history.
In addition, Shaver has been a part of the Lowry boys basketball team and was part of the 2012 squad that beat Elko in the state championship as a sophomore.
Shaver has played the past three years for the Buckaroo boys golf team and was part of state championship teams in 2011 and 2013 and the state runner-up team in 2012.
"I am little nervous about the transition and it is a quicker game," Shaver said. "I am going to work hard this summer and hopefully make the transition a little easier."
Shaver wants to go into physical education to teach and hopefully be a coach one day.[[In-content Ad]]
