HELENA, Mont. – Before the today's game between No. 2 Carroll College and Rocky Mountain Sean Condon was named the National Football Foundation student-athlete of the day. During the game he had four tackles and recovered a fumble in the End zone to break a 10-10 tie and give the Saints a lead they would not relinquish en route to a 27-10 win.
The Saints were led by Quarterback Mac Roche who was 15/21 for 186 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. Dustin Rinker ran the ball 25 times for 186 yards. Anthony Clarke had eight receptions for 98 yards and Jordan Pine and Jared Mayernik scored offensive touchdowns for Carroll.
The Carroll defense held the Bears to 286 yards of offense including just 67 yards rushing on 32 carries.
The Saints received the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards capped off by a pass from Roche to Pine out of the backfield to take a 7-0 lead with 12:31 left in the first quarter.
The Bears answered on their next drive with a 31-yard field goal after a 58-yard drive to cut the lead to 7-3.
Then both defense stiffened. Carroll finally got on the board with just under three minutes left in the half on a 19-yard field goal by Matt Wiest to give Carroll a 10-3 lead at the break.
The Bears received the ball first in the second half and quickly marched down the field and scored on a 13-play 75-yard drive. Rocky quarterback Bryce Baker scored on a one-yard dive to tie the game at 10-10.
The Saints went three-and-out but the punt by Rhys Felton was mishandled by RMC's Cedrick Frost. He was able to cover his own fumble but it left the Bears in a hole on the six-yard line.
After two incomplete passes, Baker mishandled the snap in the endzone and Condon was there to pounce on the ball for the touchdown to give the Saints a 17-10 lead.
After a Rocky three-and-out, the Saints marched 28 yards in nine plays to set up a 27-yard field for Weist.
Rocky Mountain's next drive stalled around midfield and on the ensuing punt, the longsnapper hit the up man with the snap and Shayne Durbin jumped on the ball.
The Saints took advantage of the misstep and scored 11 plays later on a 13-yard pass from Roche to Mayernik to put the Saints up 27-10 with 7:38 left in game.
Neither team mustered much offense in the waning minutes and the second-ranked Saints came away with their eighth straight victory.
Carroll is now 8-1 overall and in Frontier Conference play. The Saints play host to The College of Idaho next Saturday. The Yotes are in the first year of the resurgence of the program after it was shuttered in the 80s.
Rinker's night left him with 4,885 career rushing yards. He needs just 12 more yards to move into the top 10 all-time in the NAIA Record book.
