BUTTE, Mont. - The No. 23-ranked Carroll Football team fell in their final regular season game of the season, 42-14 at No. 8 Montana Tech on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Coliseum.

The Fighting Saints (7-3, 6-2) got off to a strong start in their final road test of the season, but couldn't keep momentum against a highly-efficient Oredigger (8-2, 6-2) effort.

Carroll would begin the game with the ball, and the offense went to work right away stringing together a game-opening scoring drive.

The Saints marched down the field, picking up four first downs on a 13-play, 75 yard drive resulting in the game's first points. Jack Prka (Couer d'Alene, Idaho / SR) was excellent on the drive, spreading the ball around to multiple receivers. The longest play of the drive was a Prka connection with Garrett Stone (Great Falls, Mont. / R-SO) on a 27-yard pitch and catch that would eventually lead to a three-yard touchdown pass to Chris Akulschin (Gig Harbor, Wash. / R-JR), giving Carroll an early 7-0 lead.

The Carroll defense came up with yet another big play on the first drive of the game for the Orediggers. Montana Tech QB Blake Thelen thew a wobbler while trying to escape the grasp of Garrett Worden (Laramie, Wyo. / R-SR), and Cam Pruitt (Boise, Idaho / R-SR) would snag the interception to give the ball right back to the Saints. 

The Pruitt pick was the linebacker's third turnover in the last two weeks, having also forced a pair of fumbles last week against Montana Western.

Carroll took their 7-0 lead into the second, but a methodical Tech offense would get things rolling as the game progressed. 

Facing a third and 10 early in the second, Thelen would find a streaking Wyatt Alexander down the left hashes, connecting for a 43-yard touchdown to even the game at 7-7.

On the response possession, a deep ball attempt on the second play of the drive from Prka would be jumped by Tech's Payton Gonser, and the Orediggers would take over in plus-territory at the Carroll 47. A heavy dose of Landers Smith was in the gameplan for Montana Tech, and the big back would eventually cap an 11-play 47-yard drive with a touchdown run from two yards out to give the Orediggers a 14-7 lead.

A quick three and out from the Saints would force a punt, and a personal foul on the punt would give Montana Tech a short field with 3:30 left in the half.

Landers Smith would score his second touchdown of the game four plays later, and Tech extended their lead to 21-7 with just over two minutes remaining in the half.

Carroll moved the ball into field goal range at the end of the half, but a 41-yard attempt from Nick Clouse (Seattle, Wash. / R-SO) would sail just left as time expired.

Coming out of the break, the Carroll defense got a quick stop, and Chris Akulschin would get Carroll right back into the game. Prka threw a beautiful ball down the right sideline to Carroll's leading receiver, and Akluschin would out-race everyone to the endzone on a quick-hitting 73-yard touchdown that brought Carroll within a score at 21-14.

The Orediggers responded with the third rushing touchdown of the game by Smith, a 14-yarder that capped an eight-play 66-yard drive to double their lead, 28-14.

Prka engineered a steady drive on the next Carroll possession, but the offense would sputter out on downs at the Tech 12-yard line following three-straight passes broken up at the last second near the goal line.

Tech again relied on Smith to move the ball down the field on their next possession, as the senior back would score his fourth touchdown of the game to put an end to a time-consuming 12-play 88-yard scoring drive to put Tech in front 35-14.

A fumble on the ensuing kick-off would fall in favor of the Orediggers, and Thelen would find Derek Pearse for a 29-yard score to capitalize on the mistake, extending their lead to 42-14.

Prka threw for a game-high 307 yards and two touchdowns, going 24-37.

Akulschin led all players with 111 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Lincoln Holmes led all players with seven catches, totaling 61 yards.

Landers Smith finished with 170 yards on 33 carries to lead the Orediggers.

Bodie Smith (Whitefish, Mont. / R-SO) led the Saints with 11 tackles, and Braeden Orlandi (Valley Springs, Calif. / R-FR) added 10 from their safety positions.

Hunter Peck (Windsor, Colo. / SR) made a strong case for Frontier Defensive Player of the Year, adding nine more tackles in the season finale.

The Saints finish the season tied for second place in the Frontier Conference standings with Montana Tech, both at 6-2 in league play.

Carroll will have to wait for the results of the NAIA Football Championship Selection show tomorrow evening to find out if they will make a return to the postseason, with a loss by No. 14 SOU this afternoon muddying the waters.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.

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