Football | 11/16/24 | 8:06 AM

HELENA, Mont. - The No. 23-ranked Carroll College Football team will head sixty miles down the road to Butte for a crucial late-season matchup with No. 8 Montana Tech at Alumni Coliseum at 1 p.m.

For the second straight season, the Fighting Saints (7-2, 6-1) and Orediggers (8-2, 5-2) meet in the regular season finale for a showdown with tremendous postseason implications.

Carroll enters the game a week removed from their first loss in the last two months, having fell 27-14 at No. 4 Montana Western last weekend in Dillon.

The game was a forgettable one on the offensive side of the ball, as Carroll totaled just 167 yards of offense, 210 yards less than their season average. On the other side of the ball, the nation's No. 8 total defense came away with four turnovers, five sacks, and a touchdown of their own. 

The game is in the rear-view mirror, however, and both sides are locked-in on a rematch with Montana Tech, Carroll's lone other loss on the season.

The two schools met in the first game of the season, where the Orediggers capitalized on some early-game Carroll mistakes to build a lead that the Saints couldn't overcome in a 30-22 win.

The game-ten version of the Fighting Saints is wildly different than the game-one version of the Fighting Saints. Over the course of the season, Carroll has seen a number of offensive starters, as well as depth pieces at the skill positions go down with injury.

Xavier Ford (Glendora, Calif. / JR) ran for 147 yards and a touchdown in the season opener, but suffered a season ending leg injury on the first play of the next game. The Saints will attempt to recreate the success on the ground, with Archie LaFurge (Great Falls, Mont. / R-FR) now listed as the primary back. Montana Tech enters the game with the nation's 51st-ranked rush defense (148.5 ypg), and the 41st-ranked defense as a whole (332.6 ypg).

Defensively, the Saints are also a much different team entering the game. A slew of new additions learning their roles, or underclassmen making their first starts were on the field in the opener, but the defense has settled in and evolved into another national power.
The Saints are holding teams to just 266.9 ypg and 16.3 ppg on the season, and boast the nation's No. 7 rushing defense at 85.6 yards per game.

Saturday's clash will mark the fourth-consecutive top-15 team the Saints have played over the final four games of the season, three of which inside the top-10 (UMW, SOU, Tech).

The 133rd meeting between the Fighting Saints and the Orediggers bears much weight, similar to last season's finale in Helena. The winner of the game will likely punch their ticket to the NAIA Football Championship Series, starting next weekend, while the loser will be at the mercy of the selection committee.

Carroll can win a share of the Frontier Conference title with a victory, while Montana Western, with a win over EOU this afternoon, would own the head-to-head tiebreaker and the conference's lone auto-bid to the postseason.

The Saints have an 88-42-2 advantage in the all-time series, while Montana Tech has enjoyed a recent run of success with a 6-4 advantage in the last 10 meetings.

Carroll won the last meeting between the two schools in Butte, a 21-19 win in the 2023 season opener last August.

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

Catch Montana Radio Company's Stewart Davis, and Carroll Hall of Famer Gary Turcott call the action live on Rewind 94.9 FM, or online HERE.

Live stats can be found HERE.

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

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