Football | 09/30/23 | 8:07 AM

HELENA, Mont. - The No. 9-ranked Carroll College Football team will look to remain undefeated today, taking on MSU-Northern from Tilleman Field in Havre, Mont. at 1 p.m.

The Fighting Saints (4-0, 2-0) have had an excellent first month of the season, they'll look to close out September unbeaten as they take on the Lights (1-2, 0-1) in a Frontier Conference clash on Saturday.

After a game with Arizona Christian, a true unknown, the Saints get the opportunity to square off with a very familiar opponent today. Carroll and MSU-N have faced off 50 times dating back to 1958, with Carroll holding a dominant 43-7 record in those contests including last year's 47-3 landslide in Havre.

The Lights actually carried a 3-0 lead into the second quarter of last season's matchup, but Carroll would power through and score 47 unanswered points for the win. 

The 2022 Lights team lacked depth, after then-first year head coach Jerome Souers was hired relatively late in the recruitment process. Souers, one of the Big Sky Conference's all-time winningest coaches, knows what it takes to be successful, and the 2023 Lights are a much better team.

Northern picked up its first win in the last two seasons in week zero, defeating Mayville State (N.D.) 14-0. The Lights also took Arizona Christian to the wire, with the Firestorm needing last play touchdown to secure a 21-20 win two weeks ago in Arizona.

Entering the week, the Lights have the No. 10 ranked passing defense in the NAIA, and the No. 12 ranked total defense.

Improvement over 2022 certainly, however, the Lights have not played a team with as much firepower as the Saints this season. 

The Carroll offense has been playing well to start 2023, Jack Prka (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho / JR) has been highly efficient though the air, entering the week with 973 yards and five touchdowns on the year, in addition to his new single-game passing yardage program record and NAIA Player of the Week honor.

Prka's favorite target, Chris Akulschin (Gig Harbor Wash. / R-SO) is averaging 106.5 yards per game receiving, a top-10 mark nationally.

While the Saints have done most of their damage through the air this year, the running game showed signs of improvement last weekend in Helena. Duncan Kraft (Billings, Mont. / R-SR) ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns, and Max Lehman (Meridian, Idaho / R-SO) picked up his first collegiate score as well.

Defensively, Carroll has been a dominant second-half team. The Saints seem to only get stronger as the game wears on, as evidenced by their last two fourth quarters. Carroll has allowed only 25 total fourth quarter yards in their last two games (Rocky 18, ACU 7). The group has been exceptional considering the amount of new starters replacing the departed 2022 graduates.

Carroll has won the last 10 meetings between the two schools by an average margin of 35.5 points per game, and will look to continue that trend today on the Hi-line.

Today's game will be broadcast on SWX, and a live stream can be found HERE.

Catch John Kemper and Gary Turcott call the action live on Rewind 49.9 FM or online HERE.

Live Stats can be followed along HERE.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com this evening for a full recap of the action, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.