HELENA, Mont. -- Carroll College spotted the No. 15-ranked Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears 21 first-quarter points and could never recover, falling 42-21 on Saturday in Nelson Stadium in front of 2,228 in attendance.  

"It hurts just like all the other losses," Saints head coach Mike Van Diest said. "It seems like this is a broken record. It just isn't fair to those young kids in there. Those guys play hard. Defensively that was a terrible game plan I had. It was evident by 21 points in the first quarter. I put our kids in some bad situations and made some bad calls."

The Saints (3-5, 2-5 Frontier) and Battlin' Bears swapped touchdowns on their opening drives. 

Rocky quarterback Jacob Bakken completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Cody McCombs to cap off the Battlin' Bears' opening drives and then the Saints responded.

With a strong mix of run, pass and play action, the Saints rolled right back down the field and capped it off with an eight-yard run by Major Ali. 

The 7-7 score suggested a shootout was on the horizon, but the Saints' offense didn't keep pace and the defense was gauged too quickly. 

"I thought (offensive coordinator) Nick Howlett had a great game plan going," Van Diest said. "I didn't have a good game plan. It was fun to see the kids battle back. When we got to 35-21, it was a great ball game." 

Rocky scored on a three-play, 85-yard drive next. Bakken hit Darneail Jenkins for a 10-yard score and Rocky never looked back. 

The Battlin' Bears added to that lead when Bakken hit Derrick Olsen for a 20-yard score to push the lead to 21-7 at the end of the first quarter. 

Rocky scored its 28th point of the half in the second quarter when backup quarterback Drew Korf checked in and took a QB draw 20 yards for a score. 

Rocky would score again on a six-yard run by Sam Sparks with five minutes remaining in the half to take a 35-7 lead.

The Saints would find a little momentum before the half and at the start of the second half. 

"It's hard not to check out, but you have to stay focused and try to make a big play and help anyway you can, special teams or offense for me," said receiver Shane Sipes, who finished with four catches for 53 yards. "You have to reduce the mistakes as much as possible." 

The Saints struck late in the quarter as quarterback Kolby Killoy hooked up with Eric Dawson for a 30-yard touchdown with two seconds left on the clock. 

Killoy got the Saints on the board again in the third quarter, hooking up with his other tight end, freshman Tony Collins for a five-yard score. 

Trailing 35-21, the Saints had their opportunities to get back in the game. They narrowly missed deep passes. The defense forced turnovers on downs. Rocky missed a field goal. 

The chances were there, but the Saints just couldn't find the try mixture to capitalize. 

It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Saints, who started the season 3-1. 

Senior tight end Eric Dawson shined on offense, recording seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. 

"Just to see how hard of work he puts into practice every day and how much effort and time he's put into this program… we all love to see him do good," Sipes said of Dawson. 

Rocky won the turnover battle 4-1. The Saints threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. 

"You can't win a football game when you lose the turnover battle," Sipes said. "That's a tough one. That's something we need to work on with the receivers and quarterbacks."

Carroll hosts Montana State-Northern next weekend.