BUTTE, Mont. - The Carroll College Football Team dropped to 1-1 after a 26-10 loss at Montana Tech in Butte on Saturday.

Coming off of a season opening win at home over No. 17 Montana Western, spirits were high surrounding the Saints headed into the game.

Carroll won the opening toss and elected to receive, eager to get the jump and put points on the board first. The Saints would march down the field on a 13 play drive to start the game. The Carroll offense was firing on all cylinders early, getting production across the field.

Quarterback Jack Prka (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho / SO) spread the ball around, completing passes to four different targets, and Matthew Burgess (Junction City, Ore. / R-JR) took multiple runs over 10 yards on the opening series. Carroll would advance inside the Tech 10 yard line, but would have to settle for a Stephen Powell (Bremerton, Wash. / R-SR) field goal, taking an early 3-0 lead.

Montana Tech would quickly respond. On the second play of their opening drive, Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week Jet Campbell would connect with WR Trevor Hoffman for a 48 yard bomb, moving the Orediggers deep into Carroll territory. The Saints defense held strong, forcing a field goal attempt from Ryan Lowry that would tie the game up at 3-3.

On Tech's next possession, Campbell continued to show his play making ability, connecting twice with WR Kyle Torgerson on passes over 20 yards. The Orediggers would once again advance deep into Saints territory, but would ultimately settle for another Lowry field goal, taking a 6-3 into the Second Quarter.

Carroll was unable to get anything going offensively following their opening drive, and were forced to punt it away several times throughout the early stages of the First Half.

Once Tech had the ball back, they again were able to connect on several long passes down the field, near the end zone. The Carroll defense would put up a fight, stuffing two straight runs at the goal line, before Campbell was able to break through for the first touchdown of the game, putting the Orediggers on top 13-3.

On the ensuing possession, Matt Burgess would make his presence felt. Burgess, coming off of an injury that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2021 season, would break free and scamper into Montana Tech territory, bringing life back to the Carroll offense. 

Carroll, now with a goal line chance of their own, would make the most of it, punching in a touchdown out of a jumbo formation, making the score 13-10.

Montana Tech, aided by several untimely penalties on the Carroll Defense, mounted a drive at the end of the first half. With less than 30 seconds left on the clock, Campbell would find Wyatt Alexander in the back of the end zone for another Oredigger touchdown. Lowry would miss the PAT, bringing the score to 19-10 at the end of the half.

The game would tighten up in the Third Quarter, with neither team able to make much of an advance. Both teams traded punts, as the heat of the day began to take its toll on both squads. 

Late in the third quarter, Montana Tech advanced the ball to the Carroll 31 yard line, setting up a fourth-and-one situation to begin the final quarter of play.

With only a yard to gain, both teams lined up in their jumbo sets, everyone near the line of scrimmage. The Orediggers snapped the ball to their deep man, RB Kaleb Winterburn, who lofted a pass to a wide open TE who had slipped through the pile, and ran untouched into the end zone, putting the Orediggers ahead 26-10.

Carroll's offense was held in check throughout the remainder of the game, and they were unable to mount a late-game comeback.

It simply was not the Saints' day today, as they were unable to get much traction offensively. Quarterback Jack Prka finished the game 9-26 passing for 70 yards, and Running Back Matt Burgess finished with a game-high 81 yards rushing to lead the Saints.

Carroll will regroup, make adjustments throughout the week, and shift their focus to a trip to La Grande, Ore. where they will take on Eastern Oregon (0-2), who lost 48-14 to Montana Western this afternoon.

Be sure to visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of that game later this week, as well as to catch up on all the Fighting Saints action across all sports.