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THIS WEEK IN CARROLL FOOTBALL: Saints host MSU-N for homecoming
The Fighting Saints will look to build a winning streak as they host Montana State-Northern (1-2) for Homecoming on Saturday. Carroll (1-1) hopes to continue its momentum from a week ago.
QUICK NOTES
* Turning over a new page: A week after not recording a takeaway, the Saints posted three turnovers against Rocky Mountain College. The Saints had three interceptions in a dominating effort against the Battlin' Bears.
* The last time the Saints had three interceptions in a game was against Montana Tech on Nov. 3, 2018. The Saints did it earlier that season, too, against Linfield on Sept. 8, 2018.
* True freshman Matthew Burgess kept his amazing start to the season going. He became the Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week after rushing ror 153 yards and three touchdowns against No. 23 Rocky. Burgess is the first Saint to win the award since Mac Roche won it in Sept. of 2015.
* The last time the Fighting Saints had a running back record three rushing touchdowns in a game was when Carroll's all-time leading rusher Dustin Rinker accomplished the feat against Valley City State in the NAIA Playoffs in 2014.
* Major Ali's 63-yard reception against Montana Western was his longest play of his career with the Fighting Saints. His previous long was a 48-yard rush in 2018.
* Multi-use running back: Ali's 77 yards receiving against Western surpassed his previous career total. Prior to the game against Western, Ali possessed 51 career receiving yards over the past three seasons.
* Devan Bridgewater made his second career start and commanded the offense well. Bridgewater got better in Week 2, completing 11-of-21 passes for 230 yards.
* Bridgewater's 300-yard game to open up the season was the first time the Saints have passed for over 300 yards since Sept. 3, 2016, when quarterback JT Linder threw for 330 yards, two touchdowns and an interception when he completed 19-of-33 passes against Montana Tech as the Saints defeated the Orediggers 27-24.
* For a second consecutive game, the Saints' offense put up over 500 yards of total offense.
* The Saints have the best total offensive in the Frontier Conference, averaging 514 offensive yards per game. That mark is also the No. 6 best offense in the NAIA.
* Despite a statement win over No. 23 Rocky Mountain College, the Saints did not receive votes in the Top 25 poll this week.
* The last time the Fighting Saints were ranked in the NAIA Top 25 was September of 2016 when they held a ranking of No. 21.
* With a conversion rate of 59.4 percent, the Saints own the No. 3 mark in the NAIA for third down conversions.
* Senior cornerback Isazah King recorded a career-high four pass break-ups against Western. Prior to that, King had broken up three passes in a single game in two instances, against Rocky on Aug. 23, 2018, and then two weeks later against Linfield Sept. 8, 2018.
* In just two games the Fighting Saints have scored more touchdowns than MSU-Northern has in three games.
* Purcell played at Carroll under Bob "Putter" Petrino, who posted a 163-90-2 record (.644) from 1971-1998. In Petrino's first season at the helm, the team went 2-3.
* The Saints were picked to finish seventh in the Frontier Conference by coaches and media.
* Northern has never won in Nelson Stadium, twice coming close in 2006, the only time the Lights have ever made the NAIA playoffs. Then, the Lights fell 10-3 twice in Helena.
• The Lights' last win in the Frontier came in 2016 against Carroll in Havre. Since then, the Lights have lost 29 consecutive Frontier Conference games.
• Northern began the season with a win over Arizona Christian, but have since lost two games in a row, giving up an average of 45.5 points in the losses.
• Northern is ranked No. 9 in the NAIA for total sacks with eight.
• Andrew Rolin is now 2-12 since taking over the Lights' head coach in 2018.
