BLACKFOOT – Blackfoot senior Craig Young signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play football for the University of Montana Western in Dillon, Montana.

The school, located roughly 170 miles north of Blackfoot, is a four-year institution with roughly 1,500 undergraduates housed on campus.

“I visited the campus a couple of weeks ago and was really impressed,” Young said. “I liked the layout of the school, the football program and the workout facilities and the coaching staff seemed to be interested in the students-athletes.”

Ryan Nourse is the head football coach at Montana Western and has slowly been building a team, which finished 7-4 a year ago and was ranked 20th in the nation in NAIA.

Nourse uses a spread offense, with an emphasis of passing first and running second.

The roster for Montana Western is loaded with young players, many of whom have redshirted and are ready to assume the roles that they were brought in for.

There are a number of Idaho players on the roster, including a couple of wide receivers from Wood River High School in the Hailey area and last year’s starting quarterback was junior Sean Miller from Snake River High School.

The team has used the field and facilities of the local high school, but expect its new stadium to be ready for play in the fall, complete with a turf field and permanent stands for the fans.

When he arrives on campus, Young expects to be enrolled in a physical therapy program and has already made the commitment to be there for the full four years. He said he is willing to redshirt for a year to better prepare himself for college football.

“I have talked to my parents about a redshirt if necessary and they are in agreement,” Young said. “I plan on working as hard as I can, but if it takes a redshirt to bring me up to speed, then that is what I will do.”

“Craig is hard working kid who will do what it takes to make himself better,” former Blackfoot football coach Stan Buck said. “His work ethic is as good as any athlete I have had at Blackfoot and I am proud of where his skill is taking him.”