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THIS WEEK IN CARROLL FOOTBALL
Carroll hosts Montana Western in the only meeting of the year for the two teams. The Saints have turned into the best defense in the Frontier and have held their last three opponents under 60 yards rushing, but Western brings a vaunted passing attack helmed by Bennett Gibson to Nelson Stadium. The Saints are 3-5 but have won two consecutive road games. Western is 4-5 and 4-4 in the Frontier, their only road win came at MSU-Northern and the Bulldogs have given up over 40 points four times. 
 
LAST GAME: SAINTS ROLL OVER MSU-NORTHERN 59-7
The Saints racked up 445 rushing yards, and Reese Hiibel threw for 116 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 57 yards and a touchdown to lead Carroll to a dominant road win over MSU-Northern Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium in Havre.
 
The Carroll defense was stout and held the Lights' offense to just 97 yards, including just 26 yards on the ground. Most of the MSU-Northern yards came on one play, a 52-yard third quarter touchdown from Dylan Cook to Beau Wilhelm.
 
The Saints drove to the one-yard line on their first possession but fumbled into the end zone where MSU-Northern recovered the ball. The gaff just delayed the inevitable as the Saints scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to begin a route.
 
Major Ali scored a two-yard touchdown in the first and a 24-yard touchdown in the third. Shane Sipes scored a pair of TDs in the first, the first an eight-yard TD from Troy Arnston who was lined up as the wildcat quarterback. The second was a 44-yard play action pass from Hiibel where Sipes was wide open streaking to the end zone.
 
Hiibel scored the only touchdown of the second quarter on a 13-yard touchdown run. Sipes caught his third touchdown pass of the game in the third quarter for an 18-yard TD, on the ensuing MSU-Northern Drive, Dylan Cook fumbled the ball, and Tucker Johnson returned the ball 27-yards for the score.
 
Dylan Torgerson added a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Ryan Arntson closed the scoring with a 60-yard TD in the fourth quarter.
 
Carroll rushed the ball 55 times for 445 yards and added 124 yards passing for 569 yards of total offense. Seven Saints had carries Ryan Arntson leading the way with 118 yards and a touchdown for the breakout game that Carroll coaches have been waiting. Ali tallied 96 yards and two TDs on12 carries, Ryan Walsh notched 73 yards on nine carries, Henry Hill had 63 yards on eight carries Troy Arntson notched 40 yards on two carries and Kyle Harrington had one carry for two yards.
 
Sipes had 90 yards on five receptions and three touchdowns. Eric Dawson caught two balls for 17 yards. Sipes was also electrifying in the kick return game. He tallied 126 yards on two returns, including a 77-yard return in the second half. Ryan Beaulieu notched 57 yards on five punt returns.
 
Cook led the Lights with 47 yards on 13 rushing attempts. Trey Blanchard tallied 15 yards on eight carries. Bryce Missey was 5/25 for 18 yards and an interception.
 
The Carroll defense tallied three sacks and 14 tackles for loss. The Saints also had an interception to go along with the fumble recovery for a touchdown.
 
The Saints move to 3-5 on the year with two games remaining on the slate, starting next Saturday at home for senior day against Montana Western.
 
 
ABOUT MONTANA WESTERN
The Bulldogs have been up and down, notching a 42-35 win over Montana Tech and a 59-27 loss to the College of Idaho. Offensively, the Dogs are averaging 400 yards per game, led by redshirt senior Bennett Gibson who has broken out in his final year in a Bulldog uniform. He is fifth in the Frontier in total offense. He has three receivers with almost identical stats in George Sherwood, Caymus Thomas and Seth Roemmele. Hunter Thomsen leads the UMW rushing attach with 858 yards on 193 carries.
 
Western has the seventh-ranked defense in the Frontier, giving up 485 yards per game. 
 
 
 QUICK NOTES
• Carroll hosts Montana Western for Senior Day at Nelson Stadium. 
 
• The Saints will honor fifteen seniors in this season's class with including Cole Adams, David Anderson, Chandler Arbizzani, David Barnett, Alec Basterrechea, Chris Emter, Tanner Gustavsen, Tucker Johnson, Joel Kramer, Beaugh Meyer, Tim Pays, Todd Pays, Walker Ray, Dylan Torgerson and Ryan Walsh. 
 
• 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 18 catches for 202 yards and a touchdown to date. 
 
• Major Ali became the Saints' leading rusher after carrying the ball 24 times for a career-best 147 yards and a touchdown against MSU-Northern. He has 126 carries for 626 yards on the year. 
 
• 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 last Saturday, rocking up 445 yards on 55 carries. 
 
• 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 18th in the NAIA in Punt Yards per attempt at 39.2 yards per attempt. 
 
• Ryan Beaulieu ranks 7th in the NAIA for total punt return yards per attempt (10.3)
 
• 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 fourth overall at 1.9.
 
• The Carroll defense has held four opponents, Montana Tech, Rocky Mountain and MUS-Northern twice, to under 56-yards 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 Carroll defense has racked up 12 sacks in the last three games and is now ranked 34th in the NAIA for sacks at 2.0 a game.
 
• With strong performances over the last two weeks, Carroll has jumped to the top of the Frontier defensive standings, allowing just 343.9 yards per game. The Saints have allowed only 884 rushing yards, more than 250 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 (.806) 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.
 
• Ryan Nourse leads the Bulldogs in his second tenure as head coach at UMW.
 
• Bulldog QB Bennett Gibson is 12th in the NAIA in total passing, 18th in total offense and 26th in pass efficiency.
 
• The Bulldogs have 15 interceptions on the season. Zach Janis and Tristan Clark have a team-high three each.