CALDWELL, Idaho – Dylan Green ran for 122 yards and three touchdowns and JT Linder was 15 of 24 for a touchdown to lead Carroll College to a 28-24 road win over the College of Idaho Saturday at Simplot Stadium in Caldwell.
 
"Dylan green and the offensive line had a great game. It was fun to watch them eat up the clock," Carroll head coach Mike Van Diest said.
 
The Saints took the lead in the first quarter after an interception from Vince DiGiallonardo gave the Saints the ball at the C of I 37. Three plays later Linder found Connor Fohn for the 34-yard touchdown to go up 7-0 with 6:33 left in the first quarter.
 
The Yotes responded with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that culminated in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Cox to Marcus Lenhardt. The first quarter would close with the score tied 7-7.
 
After trading possessions to start the second quarter, Carroll drove from 88-yards for a touchdown, highlighted by a 26-yard and 43-yard passes from Linder to Troy Arntson. Green found the endzone from 11-yards out to give Carroll a 14-7 lead 6:27 left in the first half. The Saints would not trail for the rest of the game.
 
Carroll special teams came through in a big way late in the second quarter. A C of I drive stalled on the 21-yard line and the ensuing punt was blocked by Craig Kein and covered on the 1-yard line.
 
Three plays later, Green punched in a two-yard run to give Carroll a 21-7 lead which would hold until halftime.
 
The College of Idaho took the opening drive of the second half and scored to cut the lead to 21-14. After a Carroll three-and-out, the Yotes again drove into the redzone but the drive stalled at the 5-yard line. A field goal attempt was good to cut the lead to 21-17.
 
Carroll responded with a 77-yard drive, highlighted by a 45-yard pass from Linder to Fohn down to the 1-yard line. Green again found the endzone on a 1-yard run to put Carroll up 28-17.
 
After trading possessions, and forcing the Yotes into a three-and-out. The Saints drove the ball 64-yards and ate up 6:40 of game time. The drive ended on a turnover on downs on the C of I 23-yard line. It didn't end in points for the Saints but it gave the Yotes just 1:52 to score 11 points.
 
C of I went right to work and drove for the score in just over a minute on a 30-yard touchdown from Cox to Lenhardt. They went right back to Lenhardt for the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 28-25.
 
The ensuing onside-kick attempt fell right into the hands of Fohn and the Saints knelt on the ball to close out the 28-24 win to go to 2-3 on the season and in conference. The Yotes fall to 2-4 overall and 1-4 in Frontier play.
 
The Yotes outgained Carroll 467-389, including 353 yards through the air. Lenhardt had a career day from the tight end position with 11 catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
 
"He is a talented pass catcher," Van Diest said. "He isn't a typical tight end, you won't see him blocking a lot but he is tough to cover. We didn't have the urgency to find him and he exploited that. We shifted Tucker Johnson to cover him and I felt like we did a good job in the second half."
 
The Carroll offense found its best rhythm of the season and JT Linder had his most effective game as a starter. Linder found Fohn seven times for 92 yards and a touchdown and Arntson six times for 120 yards.
 
"On long passes and short passes he had the money on the ball," Van Diest said. "We had both the passing and running game going and that is a product of the offensive line. They took the extra week to get their act together and you could see the difference."
 
Van Diest was pleased with the all-around effort from his team in all three phases of the game.
 
"It was a great team effort across the board," Van Diest said. "The special teams come through big with the blocked punt some big kicks and punts and the onside kick recovery. The offense was clicking and the defense did what they needed to do. It was a great game in all three phases."
 
The Saints play on the road again next week in Butte at Montana Tech, the Saints won the season opener over the Diggers 27-24 on a last-second field goal. MTT is undefeated since and sit atop the Frontier at 4-1.