The Fighting Saints gave the enthusiastic Homecoming crowd at Nelson Stadium lots to cheer about with a 26-14 pounding of Southern Oregon on Saturday.
The victory moved the Saints (3-1) into the top 25 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics poll in the 24th seat.
The win sets the stage for a showdown with undefeated conference leader College of Idaho this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Nelson Stadium. A win over College of Idaho would move the Saints into a tie for the Frontier Conference lead.
The Saints executed on all cylinders in the first half, giving them the lead. The score at the end of the half was 13-0.
“It felt great, all the support from the players and people that have come before me, it felt good to get a win in front of all these people that came to support us,” said Chris Akulschin a red-shirt freshman majoring in civil engineering from Gig Harbor, Washington.
During halftime, the homecoming court was announced where Hanarose Gironda a senior from Boise, Idaho, and Issac Armstrong a senior from Great Falls were crowned homecoming Queen and King. The rest of the homecoming royalty was represented by juniors Tanner Ahmann and Hailey Dickerson, sophomores Luke Ostberg and Ryan Annika, and first-year students Sydney Gulick and Rope Mycke.
Halftime also hosted the annual bed race, with the junior class coming out on top. Tanner Ahmann, David Luhmann, Emma Pinal, Thomas McGowan, and Chris Schuver were the fastest team to carry their mattress across the field and add their names to the historic trophy.
Homecoming was not just a celebration for current students, but also for alumni who returned to the campus for the festivities.
Garrett Thompson, the photography professor at Carroll was one of the 2009 football inductees to the hall of fame during the weekend.
“The best thing about homecoming is how it brings everyone back together,” said Thompson. “Getting inducted as a team and being able to share the successes together with people that I haven’t seen since college was something many people don’t get, and we were able to spend time reminiscing on the glory days. The 2009 team was talented and very deserving of that honor, a soul-fulfilling type of day.”
After the half-time festivities, the game was back in full swing.
“The game plan coming in was to run the ball, establish the run and then look to pass,” said Andrew Carter, a redshirt junior psychology major from Gooding, Idaho. “We struggled at first but we were able to pick it up in the second half and get some big chunks of yards and also score.”
Some of the top players in this game were Jack Prka, a sophomore secondary education major from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho who finished the game at 18-25 for 137 yards passing, and one rushing touchdown. Duncan Kraft, a redshirt junior from Billings led the rushing attack with 92 yards on 13 attempts, and Baxter Tuggle, a redshirt junior from Laramie, Wyoming finished the day with 72 yards on 9 attempts.
Tony Collins, fifth-year business management and marketing major from Fort Worth, Texas, was one of the players who celebrated their last homecoming game as a Saint.
“It’s a bittersweet moment because we won, but this will be the last time I’ll be a player in this position. But I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group of guys,” said Collins.
Cia Schuh, senior elementary education and special education double major from Spokane, Washington, cheered on the Saints for her last homecoming as well.
“The weekend was so surreal and filled with so much joy and community. It was my last homecoming weekend, and wow did four years fly by fast. I will always remember the community Carroll gives us and all the spirit that was present at the football game on Saturday,” said Schuh.
Carroll ranking fourth will be facing the College of Idaho, ranked first in the conference on September 30th at 1:00 p.m. in Nelson Stadium.
