HELENA, Mont. –Mac Roche hit freshman Connor Fohn on the five-yard line  on a 55-yard completion and he strode into the end zone to give Carroll College a 42-36 lead over Rocky Mountain College with seven seconds remaining and the seventh-ranked Saints prevailed to move to 2-1 on the season.
 
The game seemed out of hand just minutes earlier when a 39-yard field goal attempt from Colter Hamel fell short and Rocky took over with just 1:32 left on the clock.
 
Three plays and two Carroll timeouts later the Bears punted and Carroll took over on their own 40-yard line with 29 seconds left on the clock. A dropped pass and a five-yard Roche scramble out of bounds set up third down on the Carroll 45.
 
Roche evaded pressure and stepped up in the pocket to find Fohn who had got behind the defense and went untouched for the score.
 
"Connor Fohn has the speed. He has as great of speed for a wide receiver we've ever recruited," head coach mike Van Diest said. "When (Dylan) Simac isn't out there, or Kyle Griffith, (Fohn) is going to the go-to guy for Mac Roche and coach Nick Howlett and coach Tyler Emmert have a lot of faith in him. He's not a typical freshman, maturity-wise. That's what great about him. "
 
The high-scoring affair came with an unlikely start. Neither offense could find traction in the first quarter.  The Saints finally got on the board with a Mac Roche one-yard dive to take a 7-0 lead 10:22 left in the second quarter.
 
Rocky scored on three consecutive drives to take a 17-7 lead into the break. Carroll answered with a 50-yard pass from Roche to Fohn, their first connection of the game to cut the Rocky lead to 17-14 with 13:21 left in the third quarter.
 
Rocky extended the lead to 23-14 with a six-yard pass from Chase White to two-time All-American Andre McCollouch with 12:06 left in the third quarter, the P.A.T. was blocked.
 
Carroll scored on back-to-back possessions. Conner Poulson scored on a four-yard pass with 7:44 left in the third quarter.
 
Dylan Green scored on a 16-yard run after a blocked punt by defensive lineman Kyle Smith gave Carroll the ball on the Rocky 21-yard line. Troy Arnston pulled in the pass for a two-point conversion to give Carroll a 29-23 lead with just under three minutes left in the quarter.
 
Rocky answered with a drive and a two-yard touchdown pass to McCullouch from White with 14:10 left in the game to give Rocky a 30-29 lead.
 
Carroll took the lead back with 4:18 remaining on the clock with a 16-yard pass from Roche to a wide-open Arntson.
 
Rocky didn't take long to respond. Eric Buer returned a wind-hindered kickoff for a 94-yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 36-35 lead. A two-point conversion try was snuffed by the Saints defense.
 
The Saints started their next drive at the 25-yard line before driving to the Rocky 22 yard line and attempting the field goal. That appeared at the time to end the Carroll chances of a victory before the three-and-out and the Carroll Hail Mary.
 
Roche was 19-of-41 for 290 yards and four touchdowns, for the first time this season he didn't throw an interception. Fohn had four receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns.  Arntson had two receptions for 30 yards and a touchdown and Poulson had two receptions for six yards and score.
 
Walsh had 18 carries for 96 yards to lead the Saints' rushing attack; he also tallied five catches for 42 yards. Green tallied 14 attempts for 74 yards.
 
"I thought we did well with the run game today," Van Diest said. "Walsh to got the perimeter, green busted off some runs inside. It was an improvement from last week. Now we have to continue to do that because Western has one of the best defenses in the country, and they have the best corps of linebackers these conference has seen since Cooper and Atkinson and that group."
 
Saints fans are hopeful that today's performance is the beginning of something special for the 2015 Carroll squad but Van Diest knows that good teams put themselves in positions to win by getting better every day.
 
"It might be a turning point, but we've got to get better," Van Dies t said.  "We can't rely on ...I don't want to say luck because these guys played and they put themselves in a position to do that. But we've got to get better, we can't be playing games like this or like we did at Tech last week where we had missed tackles."
 
The Saints next face 3-0 Montana Western who punished MSU-Northern 44-2 Saturday in Havre. The Game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday in Dillon.