ASHLAND, Ore. - The No. 11-ranked Carroll College Football team found a way to close out a 21-13 win over Southern Oregon for their second win in as many years at Raider Stadium in Ashland.

The Fighting Saints (7-1, 5-1) managed to close out the eight-point victory over the Raiders (4-4, 3-3), keeping pace with the rest of the contenders for the Frontier Conference title, who all also won.

Ashland has historically been a very difficult place for the Saints to play. This particular group of Saints, however, have managed to escape Raider Stadium with wins in each of their last two visits.

The nation's No. 11 and 12-ranked defenses lived up to their billing, with both sides making several big plays on the defensive end throughout.

Carroll would receive the opening kick, and after marginal advancement would be forced to punt. Spencer Berger (Billings, Mont. / SO) would be hit on the punt, and the 15-yard penalty would extend the Carroll drive. The Saints would return the favor just two plays later, with an illegal hands to the face penalty forcing Carroll deep behind the sticks and they would be forced to punt it away.

With just over five minutes remaining in the opening frame, the Carroll defense would come up with perhaps the biggest play of the day.

Southern Oregon started a drive on their own 45-yard line, and on the first play Blake Asciutto would loft a pass over his receiver in the flat's head, right into the hands of Daxon Graham (Dillon, Mont. / R-SO). Graham would race untouched into the end zone for Carroll's second defensive score in the last three games, and the Saints' first points of the afternoon.

Near the end of the first quarter, a low snap on a punt near midfield would result in a swarming Carroll front tackling the Raider punter for a 14-yard loss and great field position.

Just one minute into the second quarter, Jack Prka (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. / JR) would capitalize on the special teams blunder, connecting with Camron Rothie (Hamilton, Mont. / R-SR) on beautiful 14-yard corner route to cap off a 6 play, 41-yard scoring drive to give Carroll a 14-0 lead.

Things appeared to be in Carroll's control until a shanked punt from their own end zone would result in an instant red zone opportunity for the Raiders.

Five plays and 25 yards later, Avery Mcquaig leaped over the line and scored the Raiders' first points of the game, trimming the Carroll lead in half at 14-7.

With under a minute remaining in the half, an encroachment penalty by Carroll on an SOU punt would extend the Raiders drive, and they would proceed to get into field goal range and Brian Batres would knock down a 42-yard field goal as time expired in the half to cut the Saints lead to just 14-10 at the break.

Carroll entered the game as the least penalized team in the nation, but saw flag-after-flag thrown on them in Saturday's contest. Several first half penalties aided the two Raider scores, and Carroll would finish the game with seven penalties for 82 yards in total.

After forcing a Raider punt, Carroll would score on their first possession of the second half. A steady combination of Prka passes, and hard-running by Duncan Kraft (Billings, Mont. / R-SR) would culminate with a 19-yard strike from Prka to Jaden Harrison (St. George, Utah / R-SR) for six. Harrison's touchdown was his first of the year, and the Saints would extend their lead to 21-10.

Later in the third, Southern Oregon would string together the game's longest drive, but the Carroll defense would rise to the occasion in the red zone and force SOU into another field goal attempt. Batres would hit a 32-yard kick to cap off an 11-play, 66-yard SOU drive to pull the Raiders within one score at 21-13.

The teams would again exchange punts to start the fourth quarter, before SOU would again embark on a long drive aided by a Carroll penalty.

One costly penalty by the Saints, followed by a 25-yard pass from Asciutto to Saywer Cleveland would give SOU a chance to tie the game with time winding down.

Again, the Carroll defense would stand tall in the red zone. Backed up against their own end zone, the Saints defense would force a fourth-down incompletion with just 30 seconds remaining to turn over possession and lock up the seventh win of the year, 21-13.

Jack Prka finished his day 12-27 for 119 yards and two passing touchdowns. 

Duncan Kraft saw the bulk of the rush game, finishing his afternoon with 58 hard-earned yards on 17 carries.

Chris Akulschin (Gig Harbor Wash. / R-SO) quietly led the Saints in receiving, finishing with five catches for 50 yards.

Tucker Jones (Hamilton, Mont. / R-JR) spearheaded a terrific Carroll defensive effort, leading the team with 12 total tackles, while Hunter Peck (Windsor, Colo. / JR) also had a stellar seven tackle, 1 TFL day as well.

With Saturday's win, Head Coach Troy Purcell earned win No. 30 in his career, moving him into solo-third on the program's all-time coaching wins list.

Every game from this point on gets more-and-more important, and next up for the Saints is a showdown with one of the school's longest regional rivals, No. 13 Montana Western, next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Helena.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of that game, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.