HELENA, Mont. -- The Carroll College football team capped off their spring practice schedule with a scrimmage in front of about 200 fans in Nelson Stadium on Saturday. 

The Saints mixed in players up and down their depth charts to get live-action looks on the field. The offense and defense took turns making big plays, energizing the crowd in attendance. With a full team of officials, the Saints elected to place the ball on different yard lines to begin drives, running through a variety of situations over the course of about two hours. 

"I'm just very very pleased with the coaching staff and the players," Saints head coach Troy Purcell said. "From December 11th when I got here, formulating a staff, meeting the kids and getting stuff in and going on the road, it's been a lot of improvement from Day 1 to where we're at right now. It's a tribute to the coaches and the coaching staff and the players wanting to get better."

Purcell's offense gave all four of the quarterbacks on the roster time on the field to show their stuff. Kolby Killoy hooked up with tight end Matt Culpon for a scoring strike, and then hit Bobby Cade Morningweg a little later for a touchdown. The offensive line allowed for time to pass and opened up lanes for running backs Major Ali, Jesus Parra-Gutierrez and Griphen Le, who found his way into the end zone for a score. 

"There were bright spots all over," Purcell said. "We'll watch the film and evaluate. After watching this we'll have our two-deep ready. Whoever works hardest in the summer and whoever steps up in the fall always has an opportunity to earn a job." 

Defensive backs Isazah King and Brian FauntLeRoy recorded interceptions to highlight a few of the big plays on the day by the defense.
 
"I liked how fast we played," Saints defensive coordinator Jared Petrino said. "That's the biggest thing. I wanted to play fast. It doesn't do you a lot of good to have an answer for every play. You just let them play. I was happy. We got some takeaways. We had missed tackles, but the missed tackles we had didn't lead to big plays." 

The Saints closed the scrimmage with players taking turns standing in front of the team to recite their C4 creed -- choosing their character, controlling their attitude, being confident in decision making and loving their teammates. 

Some members of the 2019 recruiting class were also in attendance and introduced themselves to their teammates. With a little goading from current Saints, some of the incoming freshmen shared their "special talent," to cheers and laughs from their upperclassmen. 

"You have to have fun," Purcell said. "There's a lot of enthusiasm. You have to love your teammates. Be a man of character and live the creed. It's a positive, positive place to be." 

Offensive line and strength and conditioning coach Alex Kastens closed the practice by awarding Isazah King with the Lifter of the Year Award for his gains in the weight room and coming back from an injury over the past season. 

"It's been an uphill battle," King said. "Last year I suffered a pretty bad wrist injury. Toward the end of winter ball, I couldn't clench my fist. Doing rehab and PT over the summer and I got some strength back in the wrist. It felt great." 

Now, the Saints will wait until fall to see who kept developing over the summertime and who wants to step up in the fall.