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THIS WEEK IN CARROLL FOOTBALL
Carroll hits the road for the final time this season to face the 25th-ranked Montana Western Bulldogs at Vigilante Field in Dillon. The game was moved from the original start time of 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. to accommodate Beaverhead High School who hosts a playoff game earlier in the day. The Bulldogs are 5-4 and 4-4 in Frontier play with wins over the College of Idaho (twice), MSU-Northern and Southern Oregon. 

LAST GAME: CARROLL ROLLS MSU-NORTHERN 49-14
The Saints scored on the first drive and didn't let off the gas en route to a 49-14 win Saturday at Nelson Stadium. Tanner Gustavsen was efficient in his second start, throwing 17–of-22 for 243 yards and four touchdowns. Troy Arntson had six receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns, Connor Fohn also had two touchdowns and 60 yards receiving.

The Carroll ground attack racked up 189 yards rushing, led by Major Ali with 92 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Ryan Walsh notched 51 yards rushing and another 36 receiving. Conner Poulson and Henry Hill both scored touchdowns on the day.

Carroll held MSUN to 266 yards and just 15 first downs. Senior runningback Zach McKinley was again outstanding for the Lights, notching 119 yards on 20 carries. Caleb McLaren was 10-for-23 for 115 yards and an interception. Ethan Snow tallied 73 yards on two receptions and both touchdowns for the Lights.

Carroll opened the game with an 11-play, 62-yard touchdown drive that was punched in by Ali from a yard out to go up 7-0. The Saints scored again in the first quarter, this time on a 23-yard pass from Gustavsen to Arntson with 1:51 to play in the frame.

Carroll scored three times in the second quarter. Fohn notched back-to-back touchdowns, one for 28-yards and another for 18-yards. A fumble recovery on the Northern 25 set up another touchdown throw from Gustavsen to Arntson with 1:13 left in the second quarter, to put Carroll on top 35-0.

The Lights tried to get on the board before the break but a field goal attempt was blocked by Kyle Smith to keep MSU-Northern scoreless in the first half.

Neither team could muster a score in the third but a blocked punt early in the fourth quarter gave Carroll a short field. They capitalized with a touchdown from Poulson from the wildcat formation. Northern got on the board with a 43-yard touchdown from McLaren to Snow to cut the lead to 42-7 with 7:50 left in the third.

Carroll scored their final touchdown on a 3-yard run by Hill with 2:16 remaining to go ahead 49-7, with 2:16 in the game. McLaren again found Snow with just 10 seconds remaining for a 30-yard touchdown to close out the scoring 49-14.

ABOUT MONTANA WESTERN
Head Coach Ryan Nourse returns to the sideline after a stint as the Montana Western Athletic Director. Nourse was the Western head coach in 2011-12 but stepped into the AD role while BJ Robertson led the Bulldogs in 13-15. Nourse was 6-15 in his first stint as head coach but would tie that win total in just the the first season with a win over the Saints Saturday. QB J.D. Ferris has made significant improvement from his freshman to sophomore year and ranks in the NAIA Top-50 in five statistical categories. Jason Ferris leads the Bulldogs with 70 tackles while Adam Hanson has 4.5 Sacks on the year.

QUICK NOTES
• Carroll Makes the final road trip of the year, playing at the University of Montana Wester. It is the first meeting of the year and the first since last season's 10-9 defensive slugfest that was won by Carroll. 

• The game will be played at 6 p.m. under the lights at Vigilante Field to accommodate Beaverhead County High School's playoff game against Laurel which will be held at noon. 

• It is the first night game since 2012 when Carroll had two games, the first was against MSU-Northern in Havre, the second was against Portland State. 

• The Saints started the season with a bang, topping No. 7 Montana Tech 27-24 on a last-minute field goal. The Saints trailed 24-10 with just over nine minutes remaining in the game buts scored 17 points in the final minutes to notch the win. 

•Two Carroll receivers made a triumphant return to the field in week one after season-ending injuries in 2014. Kyle Griffith caught six passes for 74 yards and a touchdown and Connor Fohn tallied six catches for 141 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown to spark the Carroll comeback over Montana Tech. 

• Fohn comes into the game ranked No. 9 in the NAIA in receptions per game, No. 8 in receiving yards per game, No. 10 total receptions and No. 13 total receiving yards. He is also ranked No. 47 in all-purpose yards per game. He is the second-leading receiver in the conferences at 788 receiving yards.

• With 188 yards in the first match up against MSU-Northern, Fohn has the individual single-game high in the Frontier Conference for receiving yards in 2016.

• Fohn caught the only touchdown scored by either team in Carroll's 10-9 win over Western last season in Dillon.

• Western's Zach Janis is tied for second in the conference with four interceptions on the year.   

• The Bulldogs are second in the Frontier in scoring defense with 21.8 points per game. 

• Western is fourth in the conference in scoring offense with 28.2 points per game. 

• Major Ali notched his first touchdown of his Carroll career against Southern Oregon, the redshirt freshman had 13 carried for 60-yards. 

• Senior Dylan Green had the biggest game of his career against the College of Idaho. He racked up 110 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. The big game propelled him into the NAIA Top-50 in Scoring TDs and Scoring TDs Per Game.

• Despite missing the last two games, JT Linder ranks in the top-50 in three different statistical categories including Passing Yards per game, total offensive yards per game and pass efficiency.  

• Tanner Gustavsen earned his first start under center against Rocky. He threw for 102 yards and a touchdown and ran for 42 yards and another score. He was stellar against Northern throwing for 257 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. 

• Tucker Johnson is sixth in the Frontier Conference for tackles per game at 8.4 and David Anderson is 10th at 7.8.

• Alec Basterrachea is second in the Frontier Conference for sacks (5.5) and sacks per game (0.07).

• Carroll ranks sixth in the Frontier for total offense.  

• Carroll is third in the Frontier for sacks per game at 2.6. 

• The Saints are second in the Frontier Conference in total defense

•There are 37 true freshmen listed on the Carroll roster. 

• In one of the smallest classes in recent history, only 18 seniors are listed on the roster. Seven of those seniors are listed as starters on the two-deep.

• Head Coach Mike Van Diest has the second-best winning percentage (.838) of any active college football coach with more than ten years of experience. He trails only Ohio State's Urban Meyer. His winning percentage is also the 11th-best of all-time.