Oct. 26, 2008

By JEFF WINDMUELLER – Helena Independent Record

 

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HELENA, Mont. -- No close call. No near miss. No doubts at all.

 

The Carroll (Mont.) College football team let the rest of the NAIA know that they are the Frontier Conference champions and they’re back in the playoffs to defend their national title.

 

The No. 1 Saints (9-0 overall, 8-0 conference) crushed No. 19 MSU-Northern 37-0 Saturday at Nelson Stadium, shutting out the second-ranked team in the conference for Carroll’s ninth straight Frontier title.

 

“It’s the best feeling ever,” said Saints senior receiver Travis Browne. “All these guys can just shut their mouths now. It wasn’t a close game, we came out here and beat them from first quarter to fourth quarter.”

 

The Lights (5-3, 5-3) had been able to hold Carroll within one touchdown in their last three meetings, including a 17-10 Saints win on Sept. 20.

 

But after another close call, a 24-21 win over the University of Montana Western two weeks ago, the Saints have been in overdrive.

 

They stuffed the nation’s top quarterback, Rocky Mountain College’s Kasey Peters, last week in a 59-13 drubbing, and picked up their first shutout of the season Saturday.

 

Carroll’s defense pounded the conference’s rushing leader, Northern’s Justin Moe, for 78 yards and sacked freshman quarterback Nick Petrino seven times. Meanwhile, the Saints’ offense finished with 500 total yards, more than twice Northern’s 237.

 

Saints freshman quarterback Dane Broadhead completed 11-of-16 passes for 222 yards and threw for four touchdowns and an interception.

 

Sophomore running back John Camino rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown, taking over the majority of the hand-off duties for junior Gabe Le.

 

Le injured his right knee during the previous week’s contest against Rocky, but the Saints’ top running back donned a new knee brace and showed the signs of speed that made him the MVP of the 2007 national championship game.

 

He broke away for 86 yards on 14 carries. Sophomore Jeff Deal added 63 yards on three carries, mostly thanks to a 54-yard breakaway as the Saints combined for 278 net yards rushing.

 

“We talked about it all week, you can break one arm tackle and the chances are you’re going to have a big run,” Camino said.

 

Le did just that to start the Saints first scoring drive.

 

After senior cornerback Chase Gill broke up a pass to end a 14-play Northern drive on fourth down, Le took a handoff and followed wide receivers out of the backfield to scoot 26 yards into Northern territory.

 

A third-down reception from Browne went 17 yards and kept the drive alive, landing on the Lights’ 20. Three plays and a sack later and the Saints turned to Camino on fourth down. He powered for 3 yards for the conversion.

 

Carroll scored on the next play when Broadhead hit Bubba Bartlett 9 yards down the sideline for the sophomore tight end’s first touchdown of the season. He might not have known it at the time, but with 3:15 left in the first quarter, Bartlett had scored the game-winning touchdown.

 

The pass came facing into a steady gust that blew about 35 miles per hour throughout the game. While it helped the Saints contain Northern’s offense and keep the Lights stuck in their own end of the field most of the second quarter, the wind didn’t slow Broadhead and the rest of the Saints offense.

 

In the third quarter he connected with senior receiver Kipp Curtis on a 29-yard touchdown pass while senior kicker Zach Thiry also completed a 20-yard field goal facing into the wind.

 

“It affects us a little bit,” Broadhead said. But, “I think we were still able to do the things we wanted to.”

 

Having the wind at his back didn’t seem to hurt when Broadhead threw the ball up for Browne.

 

The two paired up for back-to-back touchdowns, the first a 34-yard reception to make it 14-0, the second a 54-yard completion to make it 21-0 with 2:15 left in the second quarter.

 

Both were big plays from the quarterback who started the season off as a rookie and has since grown into a veteran. After taking over for injured junior Gary Wagner, Broadhead has been making most of his throws close and over the middle to Browne and senior tight end Marshall McEwen.

 

On Saturday, however, Broadhead let loose on some deep balls that had Northern’s defensive backs chasing receivers.

 

“We were clicking in practice and Dane’s building up a lot more confidence,” Browne said. “He threw the ball well and I just did my job.”

 

Browne finished with five receptions for 131 yards to lead the Saints. Senior Brian Sloan had two for 25 yards while sophomore Corey Peterson’s one catch went 30 yards downfield.

 

The Saints capped their scoring on Camino’s 8-yard touchdown run with 5:50 left in the game.

 

Petrino was held to 140 yards passing on a 14-of-30 performance while Coda Tchida led the Lights’ receivers with seven receptions for 73 yards.

 

For the Lights, it was a long bus ride home. Last week they lost 42-14 to Eastern Oregon University and with three losses before the end of the season, it will take some impressive wins for Northern to get a bye into the playoffs.

 

Both teams have two more games left in the regular season.

 

Carroll heads to rival Montana Tech next weekend before hosting Eastern Oregon.

 

The Lights face off with Western and then Tech to finish out the season.

 

Carroll has won their last 24 games, including a 17-9 win over the University of Sioux Falls in the 2007 NAIA national championship, and now have a chance at their sixth national title in seven years.

 

“These guys deserved it, they deserved to do it here today on their home field and they’ve played so well this year,” said head coach Mike Van Diest of their conference title. “If you’re around them everyday you know how hard they work and what a great bunch of players they are.”