HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College defense held Rocky Mountain to 192 total yards, including 54 yards rushing and Reese Hiibel threw a pair of touchdown passes to lead the Saints to a 16-3 win over the Bears Saturday high winds at Herb Klindt Field in Billings.

The game started with two three and outs, but Rocky Mountain downed their punt on the the Carroll one-yard line. The Saints drove the ball to the 27-yard line before they were forced to punt into the wind. 

The ball struggled in the wind and was downed at the Carroll 45, giving Rocky excellent field position. The Bears drove 25 yards on 11 plays, eating the clock on the wind advantage and leading to a 37-yard field goal from Griff Armies.

Carroll regained the ball and drove the ball to the 50-yard line before the switched the field and earned the advantage of the wind. 

The Saints rode the advantage and capped a 75-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Hiibel to Eric Dawson. Dawson caught the ball in the flat and got to the pylon to put Carroll up 6-3. The winds pushed the PAT wide, but the Saints would not trail again.

The Bears notched one first down on their ensuing drive but were forced to punt. Cole Greff blocked the punt to give the Saints the ball on Rocky's 13-yard line, setting up a six-yard touchdown pass from Hiibel to Chase Fossum to put Carroll up 13-3. 

The two defenses would step up for the remainder of the half, combing for just two first downs for the rest of the quarter and the 13-3 score would hold to the half. 

Rocky received the second-half kick and advanced into Carroll territory, but the Carroll defense held and forced a punt. 

The two teams traded possessions before the Saints closed the third quarter with the ball and continued the drive to the Rocky 13-yard line to set up a field goal from Torgerson to give the Saints a 16-3 lead. 

The Bears went three and out on their ensuing drive and the Saints took their ensuing drive 10 plays for 31 yards on a clock-killing drive. A field goal attempt was missed, but the 5:42 off the clock was the real advantage for Carroll.

Rocky had one more possession, but a David Peterson sack on third-and-10 and a batted pass on Cole Greff ended the offensive opportunity for the Bears. 

Major Ali ran three times and earned a first down, and the Hiibel took a knee to close the game and the victory for the Saints.

Hiibel was 9-for-20 for 93 yards and two touchdowns, but the yeoman's work was done by Ali who had 25 attempts for 117 yards. Ryan Arntson added 46 yards on six carries. 

Eric Dawson caught four passes for 38 yards and a touchdown. Shane Sipes notched three catches for 46 yards. Fossum only caught one pass, the six-yard TD. 

The defense was the story of the game. The Saints held dynamic runners Sam Sparks and Mason Melby to a combined 54 yards, well short of their 141-yard season average to date. It is also the first game of the year that the Bears were held without a touchdown, their previous low was 23 against Southern Oregon. 

Carroll tallied four sacks, including two from senior defensive end Alec Basterrechea. The Saints secondary also came up big with nine pass breakups.

The Saints look to build on the win next Saturday on the road at MSU-Northern.