HELENA, Mont. - The wait is finally over Saints Fans. For the first time in 11 years, the Carroll Football team will host a postseason game as they welcome in the 17-seed St. Thomas (Fla.) for a 1 p.m. NAIA Football Championship Series (FCS) First Round battle on Valley Bank Field at Nelson Stadium.

Following an 8-2 campaign, the Fighting Saints find themselves back in the hunt for the program's seventh national championship, earning one of seven at-large bids to the 2025 NAIA FCS.

Carroll, the 14-seed, and St. Thomas will meet for the second time in the programs' histories on Saturday, and the for the first time in NAIA postseason play. It's hard to find too many schools with different histories, but the pair have one thing in common - both have shown to be postseason contenders.The Saints first fielded a Football team in the 1914 season, while the Bobcats program started over a century later in 2019. Interestingly enough, Saturday's matchup in Helena will mark the fourth time a Carroll team has played against STU in the last three seasons (FB - '23, '25, VB - '23, MBB - '25). The lone other Football matchup in the series was one that won't soon be forgotten by Saints fans, as Carroll erased a six-point deficit with only a minute remaining, capped by a Chris Akulschin (Gig Harbor, Wash. / R-SR) TD reception and a Kaden Gardner pick to seal the 2023 home-opening win. 

The Saints are making their 25th all-time appearance in the postseason, matching Northwestern (Iowa), and Dickinson State for the most All-Time. Saturday's First Round matchup marks the third trip for the Fighting Saints to the NAIA Football Championship Series under Troy Purcell. This is the first time that the Saints have qualified for the Postseason as an At-Large selection. Every other appearance has come by way of a conference championship autobid. Carroll has a postseason record of 42-18 in their 25 appearances, the most postseason wins by any NAIA program in history.

Nelson Stadium has proven to be a true nightmare for opposing teams in the postseason. Since the stadium opened in 2001, the Saints are 23-3 in postseason games - the most home wins of any NAIA school in that timeframe. Since 2001, the Saints have never lost their first postseason game inside Nelson Stadium, with the three losses all coming in the quarterfinals or later.

It would be difficult to find two schools further apart, as the Bobcats will travel over 2,700 miles for Saturday's showdown - over 600 more miles than all the other First Round matchup distances combined (2,108 miles).

On paper, Saturday's matchup appears to be a classic battle high-powered offense vs a smash mouth defense. The Bobcats are No. 14 in the NAIA in scoring, averaging 41.2 points per game, while Carroll enters the week as a top-15 team in points allowed (17.2 ppg - No. 15), rush defense (99.4 ypg - No. 14), pass defense (165.4 ypg - No. 9), and total defense (264.8 ypg - No. 7).

Several players from each side were key contributors in the 2023 meeting between the two schools - most notably quarterback Keely Watson, who was 10-19 for 142 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. The Saints were led to victory by a terrific outing from Chris Akulschin, who finished with nine catches for 167 yards and a touchdown.

Saturday's game will start at 1 p.m., and will be broadcast throughout Montana, Northern Wyoming, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Washington on SWX stations.

A simulcast will be available free of charge nation-wide online through the Urban Edge Network, HERE.

Catch Voice of the Saints, Stewart Davis, and Carroll Hall of Famer, Gary Turcott, call the action live on Rewind 94.9 FM in Helena, or online HERE.

Live stats can be found HERE.

Be sure to 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.
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