Senior special-teamer Ia Falo might be the least-likely Broncos captain ever.

Falo (5-foot-7, 165 pounds), who all but begged the Broncos to give him a chance out of Mountain Home High, was named the team’s special teams captain in December.

He was selected by his teammates.

“As a walk-on, that’s like your farthest dream to be a captain,” Falo said. “… All that hard work did pay off.”

While announcing the captains, coach Chris Petersen told the story of a time when Falo and several teammates were doing 100-yard bear crawls as punishment for being late for practice. Falo completed his in about 30 seconds.

“I’m going to have to find something a little harder for you next time,” Petersen told him.

Petersen’s telling of that story was Falo’s first indication that he was a captain.

“I knew that was my story,” he said.

Falo will lead the Broncos by example, he said. That’s just what Petersen likes.

“He’s very quiet,” Petersen said. “He’s really impressive in terms of physically what his body can do — how many decks he can run, how many pull-ups he can do. It’s just impressive.”

Said Falo: “I will push myself to the edge and then I’ll push myself off. To me, that seems more inspirational than you telling them what to do. … You have to show them.”

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The defense showed its big-play ability during the 11-on-11 portion of today's practice.

Safety Marty Tadman jumped a route by tight end Sherm Blaser, reading the play perfectly, and intercepted quarterback Taylor Tharp for an easy touchdown. Tadman performed an NFL-style celebration, spinning the football on the grass and warming his hands over it like a fire.

Earlier, cornerback Kyle Wilson made a diving intereption of a ball that glanced off wide receiver Jeremy Childs, then was batted by Tadman.

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The Broncos enter a critical stretch of practice Friday morning. They practice twice Friday and then scrimmage for the first time this fall. That's three practices in about 32 hours.

During that span, coaches likely will narrow the choices at quarterback and come closer to deciding whether to play freshmen Austin Pettis, Titus Young, Doug Martin and D.J. Harper.

The scrimmage will begin sometime between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Saturday at Bronco Stadium. The public is invited, and it is free.

Check back tomorrow for updates after both practices, at about 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.