Most of Montana was quiet. Its picturesque mountains guarded over the 75-mile Blackfoot River, and its rippling waves danced across rocks and mirrored the terrain around it.
But in Missoula, it was deafening.
The November 2018 gameday was one of the most dramatic matchups of the football season, complete with raging in-state rivalry and passionate fans that broke attendance records year after year.
Cheers from over 25,000 fans boomed between the walls of Washington-Grizzly Stadium, as the Montana State Bobcats and the Montana Grizzlies took the field, awaiting the battle that has long been deemed the Brawl of the Wild.
Dawson Ahrenstorff, a Montana State student and athletics media member, basked in the passion on the sidelines. Armed with nothing but a camera and a sense of admiration, he filmed every bit of the magic that unfolded in front of him.
“That atmosphere was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” said Ahrenstorff, who now captures sports history as a creative producer at LSU, a historically energetic athletic powerhouse. “Every person in that stadium was ready to yell at the top of their lungs.”
The Bobcats were trailing 22-7 at halftime, but with a little bit of luck and a whole lot of heart they managed to force two second-half fumbles, forging the lead and sealing their fate.
Montana State pulled off what had been one of the most climatic and nail-biting endings to a football game in this rivalry in over 118 years. It was its third straight win of the series, and still, every fan knew this win was different.
It was one that would be talked about for years after its ending and would symbolize the pride people in Montana feel for these programs, and for their state.
This immense amount of pride is exactly what Ahrenstorff aimed to capture.
And so, the documentary “Miracle in Missoula” was born.
What started as a seven-minute project for a film class turned into a 40-minute documentary that encapsulated everything this game meant. Being from Iowa, Ahrenstorff didn’t understand the veneration that this game held until he was in the midst of its glory.
“Montanans are incredibly proud of where they come from, and that needed to be very apparent in the doc to show how sacred and timeless this game is,” he said.
“Miracle in Missoula” featured archival clips from previous games, clips from that year’s matchup and the week leading up to it, interviews with coaches and interviews with players that made the big things happen, the ones that gave Montana State their all.
The documentary gives fans who were there and those who weren’t the ability to relive a storybook ending. And for those who don’t understand this type of hometown love, it gives a reason to want to find some.
“I made the doc because it’s an incredible story,” Ahrenstorff said. “But I really made it for Montanans who showed me the importance of brotherhood and tradition.”
The documentary went on to garner a multitude of accolades, but Ahrenstorff knew it was time to take his talent to new heights.
That’s when he landed at LSU.
LSU Athletics had just launched LSU GOLD, an on-demand content streaming service powered by South Stadium Productions, the award-winning content sector of the athletics department.
“LSU Athletics is taking the next step to ensure we continue to lead the nation in innovative, engaging storytelling,” Director of Athletics Scott Woodward said in a press release following the introduction of the platform.
The production team got to work right away, and Ahrenstorff was a part of it all, taking on his role as creative producer.
In just his first year at LSU, he captured a ton of greatness. At the top of that list, however, was Jay Johnson’s second year as LSU baseball’s head coach, the year the Tigers won a national championship.
This is when “The Powerhouse” was born.
“The Powerhouse” is a documentary series that features LSU baseball, taking viewers through the ins and outs of the program. The first season, of course, followed the team through its championship birth. It featured six episodes, each with its own dynamic storytelling.
Similar to what was seen in “Miracle in Missoula,” each episode featured interviews with Johnson and his supporting staff, as well as interviews with players that were continuing to make huge impacts within the program.
Ahrenstorff, along with the rest of the production team, projected the rawness of the players. They captured the entire journey, with stops along the way.
“We featured two student athletes per episode and kind of told their journey of where they came from and what they’re doing now here at LSU,” Ahrenstorff said. “Not everybody can relate to throwing 98 miles an hour every day. So, making them human and making them relatable is important, too.”
Ahrenstorff’s passion for telling stories shone through yet again in the docuseries, as he diligently worked to capture the completeness and individuality of each player.
“Dawson excelled in identifying compelling stories for the series and capturing the details that truly conveyed those stories,” said Austin Gremillion, the principle videographer for LSU baseball. “His skill in weaving together various storylines into a cohesive theme, highlighting the team’s success, was instrumental.”
Ahrenstorff’s work commonly features clips from archives, a component he’s come to enjoy.
“Something I’m interested in is gathering things for a long time and just taking a whole year to make something,” he said.
The last episode of season one of “The Powerhouse” took fans through the highs and lows of the Tigers’ run in Omaha, Nebraska. It featured clips from the iconic 1996 College World Series, when Warren Morris’ walk-off home run gave LSU the national championship title over Miami.
The clips were used to show the parallels of Tommy White’s performance in LSU’s game against Wake Forest. White’s home run sealed the Tigers’ place in the finals.
The episode ended where it all began, at Alex Box Stadium, where families and fans joined together to celebrate the 2023 National Champions.
Ahrenstorff earned a nomination for the series from the Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Though the series didn’t win in its category for “Sports Program – Post-Produced or Edited (Series),” the nomination was a testament to the time and energy that Ahresnstorff and the South Stadium Production team poured into it.
“The success of ‘The Powerhouse’ can be attributed to the remarkable access and freedom granted by the team staff, allowing us to intimately capture the team’s journey,” Gremillion said.
The first episode of season two of “The Powerhouse” has recently aired, showcasing more of Ahrenstorff’s ability to tell sports stories through film.
