BUTTE — Three Butte High seniors made their decision to play football for their hometown college official on Wednesday morning.
Tocher Lee, Sam Sampson and Will Stepan signed letters of intent to suit up for Montana Tech at Ross J. Richardson Memorial Gym, bringing the Orediggers total commits for its incoming class to 39.
"It's just a collective effort," said Butte head football coach Arie Grey. "I'm really proud of the kids, super excited for them. This is a neat opportunity, and then to be here in Butte is even better."
Stepan is slated to play defensive back for Tech while Sampson — who this fall turned a catch from Colton Shea into a 99-yard touchdown, the longest play in Butte history — and Lee are set to become wide receivers.
"It's something I've dreamed of," said Lee. "To finally put the pen on the paper and finally say I did it, I'm just super excited."
The three Bulldogs signing with Tech comes a week after seven Helena Capital players inked NLI's with the Orediggers, including Merek Mihelish, the Montana Gatorade football player of the year who guided the Bruins to their second Class AA championship in three seasons.
Mihelish was orginally committed to the University of Montana before decommitting and then landing with Tech.
Kyle Samson, Tech's head football coach, was an all-state quarterback for Capital — playing for his father Mark Samson — and felt his connection to the program helped them convince Mihelish to join the Orediggers.
"Obviously being a coaches' kid and me being from Capital...we've been recruiting him really hard for the past couple of years," said Samson. "(Mihelish) committed (to the Griz) this summer but we just kept talking to him a little bit. Told him we'd really love him to play quarterback."
The Orediggers are coming off a season that saw them advance to the playoffs for the second straight year and host a second-round game for the first time in program history.
