By Week Eight vs. Southern Oregon University
After a tough loss against the College of Idaho, the Saints dropped to No. 11 in the national rankings.
In week eight, the Saints aimed to play Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, for a must-win game to keep their conference title and playoff hopes alive.
The game against the Southern Oregon Raiders turned out to be a defensive slugfest.
Daxon Graham, a redshirt sophomore studying pre-med from Dillon, Montana, set the tone early for the Carroll defense in the first quarter with an early pick-six. Graham streaked across the field 45 yards untouched. After a successful point after attempt, the score was 7-0.
In the second quarter, Jack Prka, a junior secondary education major out of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, threw a touchdown pass to give the Saints a 14-0 lead.
Southern Oregon responded, cutting the Saints lead 14-10 before halftime.
In the third quarter, Prka threw another touchdown to Jaden Harrison, a senior business and Spanish major from St. George, Utah, making the score 21-10.
After not much offense and a crucial defensive stop at the end of the fourth quarter to secure the win, the Saints left Ashland victorious, winning 21-13.
This win marked the Saint’s seventh this year and was head coach Troy Purcell’s 30th career win as Carroll’s head coach. Positioning coach Purcell to third all-time in Carroll history for wins as a head coach.
Week Seven vs. College of Idaho
The No. 6 Carroll Fighting Saints hosted No. 9 College of Idaho for a top-10 matchup on Saturday, Oct. 21 in Helena at Nelson Stadium.
The Saints suffered their first loss of the season to the Yotes, dropping them to 6-1.
After the first quarter, neither team would notch points on the scoreboard, showcasing impressive defensive efforts for both teams.
Yotes quarterback Andy Peters found the endzone on an 11-yard run to score the first points in the game. Carroll quickly tied things up 7-7 after Carson Ochoa, a redshirt sophomore majoring in health science from Yorba Linda, California, pulled in a touchdown pass from Jack Prka. Prka ended the game going 20-40 for 216 yards and a touchdown.
After two more Yotes touchdowns, the score was 21-7. Carroll would score after a 70-yard drive, cutting the lead to 21-14. The Yotes would answer back with another touchdown pass from Peters heading into the fourth quarter, making it 28-14.
After four quarters, the Saints would fall to the Yotes with a final score of 35-21. The Saints offense finished with 302 yards with 216 passing and 86 rushing yards.
“Saturday didn’t go how we wanted it to, but we’ll learn from our mistakes and apply them for our next games,” said Hunter Mecham, a senior anthrozoology major out of Las Vegas. “As a team, we’re looking forward to continuing to improve with each day and winning out for the rest of the season.”
Week Six vs. Eastern Oregon University
The undefeated Saints team (6-0, 4-0) beat Eastern Oregon University (EOU) 14-6 on Saturday, Oct. 14 in La Grande, Oregon
The opening kickoff by EOU was an unsuccessful onside kick, giving the Saints a promising field position to score. The Saints could not make anything happen and punted the ball back to EOU.
Eastern Oregon’s offense would go three and out on the next drive, giving possession back to Carroll after punting. EOU and Carroll’s offense could not find rhythm in the first half, other than a successful field goal with 19 seconds remaining by Ethan Cutler of EOU.
The second half would start with both teams punting and an Eastern Oregon Mountaineers field goal by Cutler from 25 yards out, making the score 6-0.
The Fighting Saints finally put points on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. Jack Prka, a junior secondary education major out of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, rushed to the end zone behind his offensive line. The Saints led 7-6 with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, on the way to a 14-6 victory.
Carroll’s defense played another impressive game, allowing only 253 total yards and only 15 rushing yards.
Forrest Suero, a sophomore Helena native studying sociology and business marketing and management, scored Carroll’s last points of the game with a defensive fumble recovery on third down.
“I picked it up and ran as fast as I could towards the end zone,” said Suero. “Our defense played great, and we all did jobs and believed in each other the whole game and came out on top.”
Tucker Jones, a senior out of Hamilton, Montana, studying business, led the Saints squad with a total of nine tackles.
