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THIS WEEK IN CARROLL FOOTBALL
Carroll travels to La Grande, Oregon to close out the season against Eastern Oregon in the only meeting of the year for the two teams this season. The Saints have the best defense in the Frontier Conference and hasn't allowed more than 77 yards of defense in any of the last four games. The Saints travel to meet Kal Quinn, one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the Frontier. Carroll is 4-5 on the season but 3-0 over the last three games, including two on the road.
LAST GAME: SAINTS DOMINATE THE RUN TOP WESTERN 24-15
The Carroll College football team dominated the run game both offensively and defensively, holding Montana Western to just 78 yards on the ground while rushing for 250, led by Major Ali with 175 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries in a 24-15 win.
The Saints set the tone in both halves with touchdown drives. Western went three-and-out on their first drive, and the Carroll marched 85 yards, highlighted by a 66-yard pass to the four-yard line from Reese Hiibel to Chase Fossum. The long pass set up a one-yard touchdown by Major Ali, it would be his lone score, but the start of a big day for the sophomore.
The Bulldogs responded with a game-tying, 61-yard drive, capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Hunter Thomsen with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
After a short Carroll drive, the Bulldogs took the lead on a 43-yard field goal from Mark Kharchenko with 8:09 left in the first half. The Saints tied the game at 10 with 1:40 left on a 35-yard field goal from Dylan Torgerson.
Western responded with a quick drive and a 34-yard field goal to close out the scoring in the first half to take a 13-10 lead into the break.
The Carroll defense held the Western offense scoreless in the second half, and the Saints offense rushed past the Bulldogs.
Carroll opened the second half with a 75-yard drive, capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hiibel to Shane Sipes in the corner of the end zone to give Carroll a 17-13 lead.
The Saints added to their lead in the early fourth quarter with a 16-play, 93-yard drive that ate 8:27 off of the clock. The drive was capped by a touchdown run from Eric Dawson out of the wildcat formation on third and goal from the 13-yard line. After taking the snap, he slipped in the backfield but somehow kept his feet only to find four Bulldog defenders on him. He broke away from all four and got dove for the pylon over the top of another Western player and crossed the plane to put Carroll up 24-13.
The Bulldogs got their only second-half points on special teams. A UMW punt pinned the Saints at their own seven-yard line. After a holding penalty put them even deeper. The Saints were forced to punt from their own end zone. The snap was low, and Torgerson's punt was blocked but recovered by the Saints in the end zone for a Western safety to cut the lead to 24-15.
On the ensuing Western drive, Gibson's pass was intercepted by Parker Barnhardt with 4:45 to play. Ali and Ryan Walsh combined to carry the ball seven times for 50 yards to consume the remaining time on the clock and close out the win.
Ali's 175-yard performance was just the tip of the iceberg in the run game. Ryan Walsh ran for 42 yards on eight carries, Dawson had 39 yards and a touchdown on four carries. Ryan Arntson, Shane Sipes and Troy Arntson combined for another 33 yards.
Hiibel was 7-17 for 146 yards, a touchdown and an interception on the day. Gibson was impressive for Western. He was 19-31 for 260 yards and interception but failed to get the ball into the end zone.
ABOUT EASTERN OREGON
Eastern Oregon has wins against Montana Western, MSU-Northern and Rocky Mountain on the year. The Mounties dropped three-straight, before picking up a road win over Rocky in Billings last week. Kai Quinn leads EOU with 1,912 passing yards and 537 rushing yards on the year. Brendon Kelly is a big-time target with 42 receptions for 732 yards and seven touchdowns. Defensively, Chase Van Wyck leads the Mounties with three sacks and eight tackles for loss. EOU has the sixth-ranked defense in the Frontier, giving up 433 yards per game.
EOU's Tim Camp is the winningest coach in school history and has helmed the ship at EOU since the 2008 season.
QUICK FACTS
• Carroll Travels to Eastern Oregon for the season finale.
• Carroll returned eight starters on offense, including three offensive linemen, two receivers, the tight ends and a pair of running backs.
•Starting Quarterback Tanner Gustavsen was injured in the first drive of the second quarter against College of Idaho. Redshirt-Freshman Reese Hiibel took over and went 7-19 for 87 yards and an interception.
• In Hiibel's first start, he was 17-33 for 184 yards and he threw one interception. He earned his first win as a college quarterback against Rocky Mountain. He threw two touchdowns in the effort.
• In the season opener at Montana Tech, Tight End Eric Dawson made an impressive return from a medical redshirt year with five receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown and a 15-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat formation. He has a team-high 29 catches for 291 yards and a touchdown to date.
• Major Ali became the Saints' leading rusher after carrying the ball 24 times for 147 yards and a touchdown against MSU-Northern. He has 153 carries for 921 yards on the year.
• Ali tallied a career-high 176 yards in the win over Montana Western.
• Carroll running backs combined for 321 yards in the first match up against MSU-Northern, the most since rushing for 396 against the College of Idaho in 2014. They topped the feat in the second meeting, racking up 445 yards on 55 carries.
• Parker Bernhardt was named the Frontier Defensive Player of the Week with a pass breakup, a tackle for loss, six tackles and three assist tackles to go with a game-clinching interception on the Montana Western's last drive.
• Shane Sipes was named the Frontier Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 18, after racking up 119 yards on two returns, including an 85-yard touchdown against MSU-Northern.
• In the opener, the Saints and Diggers were tied at 21 at halftime and stats were very similar, before the Saints struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the second half.
• Carroll is seventh in the Frontier in total offense/game after seven games.
• Dylan Torgerson is ranked 22nd in the NAIA in Punt Yards per attempt at 38.6 yards per attempt.
• Ryan Beaulieu ranks 14th in the NAIA for total punt return yards per attempt (9.0)
• Drew Melton jumped into the NAIA top-10 in passes defended after breaking up five passes and grabbing a first quarter interception against MSU-Northern. He is now third overall at 1.9.
• The Carroll defense has held five opponents, Montana Tech, Rocky Mountain, Montana Western and MUS-Northern twice, to under 80-yards total rushing. Montana Tech's Jed Fike is the leading rusher in the NAIA and Rocky Mountain is the leading rushing team in the Frontier.
• The Saints are now 10th in the NAIA for rushing yards allowed per game at 106.9 per game.
• The Carroll defense has racked up 13 sacks in the last four games and is now ranked 39th in the NAIA for sacks at 1.9 a game.
• With strong performances over the last three weeks, Carroll has jumped to the top of the Frontier defensive standings, allowing just 343.2 yards per game. The Saints have allowed only 962 rushing yards, more than 400 less than the next best team.
•There are 36 true freshmen listed on the Carroll roster.
• In one of the smallest classes in recent history, only 14 seniors are listed on the roster, 11of those seniors are listed as starters on the two-deep.
• Head Coach Mike Van Diest has the sixth-best winning percentage (.808) of any active college football coach with more than ten years of experience. He is ranked 23rd all-time from any division.
• Van Diest has the highest winning percentage of any coach in NAIA history with 10 or more seasons. Second is Charlie Richard who coached at Baker (Kan.) from 1980-90, 92-94.
• Tim Camp is the winningest coach in EOU history. He is in his 10th season.
• Mountaineer QB is prolific inboth the run and he pass. He is 20th in the NAIA in total offense.
• EOU is 28th in the NAIA for rushing yards per game at 191.7.
• Eastern made the NAIA playoffs a season ago, falling in heartbreaking fashion to Baker (Kan.) in the national semifinal. EOU gave up three touchdowns in the final 4:13 of the game to lose 45-41.
