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HELENA, Mont. - While weather conditions deteriorated rapidly throughout the course of the afternoon, nothing was slowing down the No. 12 Carroll Football team in a 52-10 win over Montana Western on Valley Bank Field at Nelson Stadium.

Over the past four weeks, the Fighting Saints (5-1, 2-0) have been one of the hottest teams around the nation. They entered the week averaging 53.3 points per game, and nearly matched the pace on Saturday rolling to a 52-10 win over the Bulldogs (2-4, 0-2).

Few players in the country have been as impactful as Ty Wilkinson (Pocatello, Idaho / R-SO), and even fewer have been nearly as impactful from the tight end position.

Wilkinson etched his name in the Carroll record books on a snowy afternoon in the Capital City, matching a program record with four receiving touchdowns. The standout sophomore became the second tight end in as many years to join the club, which includes Carson Ochoa, Shane Sipes, Kevin McCutcheon, and Hall of Famer Scott Davis.

'Tight End U' is alive and well. Following the graduation of 2025 All-American Carson Ochoa, many questioned how the Saints would fill the 861-yard and 11 touchdown hole he left behind. 

Enter Ty Wilkinson.

The six-foot, five-inch redshirt-sophomore hauled in a trio of first half touchdowns, then added one more for good measure in the third quarter, leading all players on the afternoon with game-highs in both receptions (6) and receiving yards (93). Wilkinson, even without playing a snap in Carroll's 73-0 win over ACU last weekend, has now brought his season total to 22 catches for 399 yards - and an incredible eight touchdowns.

Wilkinson's first score of the afternoon came at the tail-end of the first quarter, a three-yard pitch and catch in the flat to put Carroll up 7-0. His second score of the game came on a perfectly-place corner ball from Kaden Huot, with Wilkinson snatching the ball away over the outstretched hands of his defender to give the Saints a 14-3 lead. The third score of the opening half was as easy as they come, as a flat-footed Wilkinson hauled in a pass without a defender in sight in the back of the endzone to extend the lead to 24-3. Wilkinson capped the record-tying performance with a 36-yard strike on fourth-and-one in Western territory, blowing the game wide open at 31-3 midway through the third.

As impressive as Wilkinson's final line was, the Carroll ground game was the story of the day, as the Saints punished the Bulldogs time-and-time again for four quarters.

While production has picked up in recent weeks, the Saints entered the weekend at No. 59 in the NAIA, averaging just 128.8 rushing yards per game. On Saturday, the Saints ran for 342 yards on 44 attempts - the most rushing yards by any Carroll team since the COVID 2021 Spring season (378 vs MSU-N, 3-26-21).

Leading the march on the ground was Beau Butner (Spokane, Valley, Wash. / R-FR). Butner, who broke-out with 62 yards and his first career touchdown last weekend against ACU, nearly doubled the production this week, leading all players with a career-high 113 yards on 11 attempts, and scored Carroll's longest rushing touchdown since 2021 - a 50-yard burst, untouched up the middle in the second half.

Kaden Huot (Helena, Mont. / SR) continued to show his maturation as the Carroll signal caller, making his presence felt more on the ground than through the air in the 42-point win. Huot was just as effective as ever in the passing attack, completing 10 of his 17 attempts for 136 yards and four scores, but was more impressive on the ground. The Helena High-product and former Grizzly rushed for a career-high 107 yards on 11 attempts, including a 27-yard run that set up his third passing touchdown of the afternoon to Wilkinson just one play later.

Brody Boness (Ritzville, Wash. / R-FR) added 66 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts in the fourth quarter, while Peter Minnaert (Boise, Idaho / JR) opened the game with 45 yards on just eight carries in the first 15 minutes. All said and done, every Saint who attempted a run on the afternoon averaged at least 5.5 yards per carry in a truly dominant performance.

Not to be outdone, the Carroll Defense was equally, if not more impressive throughout.

Coming into Saturday, the Montana Western Offense was among the top units in the entire NAIA, averaging 331.6 passing yards per game (No. 3), and 503.8 total yards per game (No. 6). Meanwhile, the Saints entered the weekend at No. 4 in the NAIA in scoring defense (11.6 ppg) and No. 6 in the nation in total defense (242.6 ypg).

The battle of Top-10 units belonged solely to the Fighting Saints.

The Saints smothered Western all day long. Carroll held the high-powered Bulldog offense to their season-lows in rushing (53 yards), passing (183 yards), and total offense (236 yards). Western quarterback Kaden Laplaunt finished just 9-17 for 157 yards, but was knocked-out of the game in the second half following a crushing sack by Gage Norslien (Lewiston, Mont. / R-JR).

Kolbe Coey (Hayden Lake, Idaho / R-FR) forced one fumble on the night, and tied Michael Bell (Wolf Point, Mont. / R-SO) for the team lead with seven tackles. Carroll was in the backfield all night long, finishing with a season-high four sacks (MacIntyre, Saltzman, Norslien, Fleming, Bell).

Reigning Frontier Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, Eddie Ballanco (Bozeman, Mont. / FR), impressed once again. The freshman went a perfect 7-7 on PAT attempts, and added a 33-yard field goal for another 10-point weekend.

Following a pair of home games in which they've outscored opponents 175-17, the Saints will now turn their attention towards their longest road trip of the season next weekend as they square-off with Simpson.