Whitefish's Botner commits to play for Griz

The Bulldogs’ Dillon Botner has signed on to play for the University of Montana Grizzlies next year.

Botner, an offensive lineman and defensive end at Whitefish, on Dec. 19 joined 20 other early signers to the Griz.

The senior is a four-year letterman for the Dogs and has also lettered in basketball and track for Whitefish.

This past season he earned second-team All Conference awards for his play at offensive tackle and defensive end on the football field. Botner was part of the 2015 state championship team as well.

Botner said with Coach Bobby Hauck leading the Griz, the team should be pretty good in the next couple years.

“I really like the coaches,” he said. “They came up and saw me a couple times and as a family, we really like them. They have really nice facilities and a good program going.”

Botner is expected to play as an offensive lineman at Montana.

“I just really want to play college football,” he said. “It’s been a dream for a while, and I just want to see if I’ll be good enough to play with the best.”

Whitefish Activities Director Aric Harris said he was happy to see Botner get past injuries and play a big role for the Bulldogs last season on the gridiron.

“He’s just such a great young man and him being a part of our team and taking on those leadership roles I think really helped to get our program back to where we all expect it to be,” Harris said. “We knew he always had a lot of potential on the football field and he still has potential, and I know that’s what all the college coaches saw.”

Botner says he hopes to eventually attend medical school. His parents are Corey and Michelle Botner.