HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Football team fell at the hands of No. 11 College of Idaho today at Nelson Stadium in Helena, 31-20.

Eyes around the Frontier Conference and the nation were focused on a soggy Nelson Stadium field this afternoon as the No. 11 ranked Yotes and No. 24 Saints duked it out in the rain.

With the steady drizzle of rain all morning and through the afternoon, Nelson Stadium's natural grass field conditions were sub-par at best. No one that saw the field would escape with a clean uniform on Saturday afternoon.

After winning the toss and deferring, Carroll (3-2) would force College of Idaho (5-0) into a punt on their opening series. Once they had the ball, Quarterback Jack Prka (Coeur d'ALene, Idaho / SO) connected with Tight End Tony Collins (Fort Worth, Texas / SR) on a huge 50 yard completion to move into Yotes territory. The drive would fizzle out, and stuck in no-man's-land the Saints elected to go for it on fourth down unsuccessfully.

Two drives later, College of Idaho would come up with the first real momentum shift of the game. The Yotes were able to get to a Spencer Berger (Billings, Mont. / FR) punt, getting a hand on the punt and recovering with the ball in Carroll territory. Ten plays later, C of I would put the first points on the board as Jon Schofield punched it in from two yards out to put the Yotes on top, 7-0.

Carroll would even the score in with just over nine minutes left in the half. Prka and Collins would connect on another big play through the air. Collins grabbed the pass and fought through a tackle to get into the end zone and even the game at 7-7.

The Saints would have one final opportunity to score at the end of the first half. Prka heaved a ball into the end zone with no time left on the clock, but after bouncing around it was ultimately intercepted by Dorian Hardin to end the half, 7-7.

Things looked good for the Saints coming out of the break. Jake Walk (Boise, Idaho / R-JR) knocked the ball loose from C of I Quarterback Ryan Hibbs and Michael Maafu (Phoenix, Ariz. / R-JR) grabbed the fumble recovery.

Taking over at the Yotes' 15 yard line, just one play later Prka would connect with Chris Akulschin (Gig Harbor, Wash. / R-FR) for his second touchdown pass of the day. The field gave way under Berger's PAT attempt, as he slipped and was unable to convert, leaving the score at 13-7.

College of Idaho would respond in a hurry. On the first play of their next drive, Hibbs launched a 68 yard bomb to Brock Richardson to put the Yotes on top 14-13.

The teams would exchange a series of punts before C of I managed to score again. Allamar Alexander broke free for a 22 yard touchdown run with five minutes left in the third to put the Yotes up 21-13 heading into the final quarter.

On the opening play of the fourth, the Yotes would add a field goal to their total, extending their lead to 24-13.

After another three-and-out from the Saints, C of I's Schofield would find the end zone again on an 11 yard run, his second touchdown of the game to bring the score to 31-13.

Carroll would immediately respond. Jack Prka led the team down the field and was able to find Akulschin again in the back corner of the end zone, his second of the game to pull back within eleven, 31-20.

The Saints would have several more chances to score in the fourth, but the conditions led to Prka losing grip on the ball on several attempts, and Carroll's comeback would ultimately fall short.

The Yotes completed only three passes for a total of sixteen yards in the game, but their 222 rushing yards from multiple backs would be enough to secure the win.

Carroll's Jack Prka had his best game of the season passing, finishing the afternoon 16-28 for 218 yards and three touchdowns. Chris Akulschin had a tremendous effort, finishing with seven catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns.

The Saints will look to bounce back and turn their attention towards a trip to Havre next Saturday for a meeting with MSU-Northern (0-5), who lost 73-0 to Montana Tech today.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of that match up, and to stay up to date with all things Carroll Athletics.