Football | 09/03/22 | 8:17 AM

HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Football team will take on the Orediggers of Montana Tech at 1 p.m. in Butte, Mont.

In what looks to be another spotlight game in the Frontier Conference early on in the year, expectations and excitement are at a high for both squads.

The 148th installment of one of Montana's oldest rivalries is here. Carroll College and Montana Tech, separated by only 71 miles, have been playing football against each other since 1920.
The Saints have a hefty advantage in the all-time series, 86-39-22, and will look to add to their win total today in Butte. 

Both teams enter today's game off of week one victories, with Tech beating Eastern Oregon 38-3 to open their year, and the Saints knocking off No. 17 Montana Western 16-10 at Nelson Stadium. Both teams also enter the game with a Frontier Conference Player of the Week on either side of the ball. The Oredigger's QB Jet Campbell was named the Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week, and Carroll LB Tucker Jones (Hamilton, Mont. / R-SO) was named Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Week.

Montana Tech showed their offense is capable of putting up plenty of points last weekend in La Grande, Ore. The Orediggers put up 38 points on the Mountaineers, and were in control of the game from the get go. Tech's skill players had quite the day, stuffing the stat sheet. Quarterback Jet Campbell had a terrific game, throwing for 285 yards, rushing for 32 yards, and finishing the game with four total touchdowns. Running Back Blake Counts ran for 98 yards on 21 carries, and WR Trevor Hoffman grabbed 8 passes for 122 yards in the win. 

On the flip side, Carroll's Defense had a stellar week one, holding No. 17 Montana Western to just 263 yards of total offense. The Saints were able to completely shut down Western's RB Reese Neville, holding him to just 30 yards on the day. The Saints created a ton of pressure on 2021 Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the year Jon Jund, and racked up six sacks on the day. Garret Kocab (Phelan, Calif. / R-SR) was dominant in the middle of the line, and the rest of the defense took care of business as well. Carroll grabbed two interceptions, Including Tucker Jones' 63 rumble to set up the first points of the season for the Saints. Carroll's defensive unit appears to once again be one of, if not the, strongest in the Frontier.

The outcome of today's game will likely fall on the performance of the Carroll offense.

Things are off to a bit of a slow start for the Saints on the offensive side. Carroll was unable to sustain many long drives in their opener, finishing the game with only 23 minutes in time of possession. That will need to change today if the Saints want to walk out with a win. QB Jack Prka (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho / SO) showed resiliency and toughness after taking some huge hits in week one, but still leading his team down the field in the fourth quarter when it mattered most. Prka went 15-26 for 148 yards and a touchdown, and will look to build off of that performance today in Butte. Running Back Matthew Burgess (Junction City, Ore. / R-JR), coming back from a knee injury that sidelined him all of 2021, showed that he is still an All-American caliber RB, picking up a couple of key late game first downs. If Burgess and Prka get rolling, it could prove to be a long day for the Montana Tech defense.

Today's game will be streamed live on the Montana Tech Athletics Youtube page, and live stats will be available HERE.

Stewart Davis and Gary Turcott will be in the booth calling the game on the radio on 94.9 FM, also available online HERE.

Visit www.carrollathlethics.com for a full recap of the action tonight.