Football | 09/14/24 | 6:19 AM

HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Football team will hit Valley Bank Field at Nelson Stadium for the second time in as many weeks on Saturday as they host Rocky Mountain College in the first Frontier Conference matchup of the season at 1 p.m.

The Fighting Saints (0-1) will look to rebound from a 30-22 loss in their season opener, while the Battlin' Bears (1-1) enter the week with one additional game under their belts.

The quest for Frontier Conference championship No. 46 officially begins for Carroll College on Saturday afternoon.

A sluggish start, featuring a pair of costly turnovers and a special teams mishap, spelled trouble for the Saints in the season opener last week. Their fourth-quarter rally against now-ranked No. 15 Montana Tech came up just short, and everyone in the Purple and Gold will be looking for a quicker start in week 2.

Across the board, the Saints have 11 new starters learning to play together. With week one out of the way, Carroll will look to connect the dots on Saturday, learning from mistakes made a week ago.

All-around, Carroll played well in the opener. The Saints put up 370 yards of total offense, including a 216 yard rushing performance. That 216 yards rushing is the most in any game since the 2022 season (MSU-Northern - 10.8.22 - 207 yds).

Transfer running back Xzavier Ford (Glendora, Calif. - JR) saw the bulk of the Saints yards on the ground last week. The shifty back went for 151 yards and a touchdown, putting together a terrific debut.

On the flip side, the Carroll defense was as good as advertised as well. The Saints held Tech to 307 yards of total offense, 171 yards fewer than their average in the 2023 season.

Rocky enters the game at 1-1, having toppled MSU-Northern last weekend in Billings, 27-12. In the week prior, they lost 42-17 to then-ranked No. 15 Dickinson State in a game that featured its share of turnovers and mistakes, not too dissimilar from that of Carroll's last week.

Offensively, the Bears are led by quarterback Graedyn Buell. Through two games, the senior QB leads the team in both rushing (133 yds) and passing (39-58-2, 408 yds). Kaysan Barnett is one of the best defensive backs in the conference, and the Bears are solid on the defensive line.

As memorable as it was, no one on the Carroll side wants a repeat of last season's 21-20 win in Billings, which saw the Saints go scoreless for 52 minutes of the game before an explosive comeback. Quarterback Jack Prka (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho / SR) threw for a program record 407 yards and three touchdowns in the game, earning him NAIA National Player of the Week honors.

Kick-off for Saturday's game is slated for 1:07 p.m. Gates open at 11, and tickets are available HERE or at the gate.

The game will be a tape-delay broadcast on SWX channels in Montana, and a live stream is available free of charge HERE. 

Catch Voice of the Saints, Nick Dietzen, and Carroll Hall of Famer, Gary Turcott, call the action live on Rewind 94.9 FM, or online HERE.

Live stats for the contest can be found 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.

FOLLOW THE FIGHTING SAINTS
Facebook: @carrollcollegeathletics
Instagram: @cc_saints
X: @CCsaints
#MarchOn