BILLINGS, Mont. - Looking to build momentum heading into conference play next weekend, the Carroll football team left little doubt on Saturday evening in Billings, rolling to a 45-13 win over Rocky Mountain College on Herb Klindt Field.
Following a disappointing effort in a Week One loss at Montana Tech, the 13th-ranked Fighting Saints (3-1) appear to have turned a corner and done so in a big way. Carroll poured on 45 points against the Battlin' Bears (1-3) on Saturday, bringing their total to 87 over the past two games.
Squaring off with the Bears, led by departed defensive coordinator Randy Bandelow, who took the Rocky head coach job last January, the Carroll offense flexed its power in the blowout victory. The Saints finished with a season-high 534 yards of total offense, led by yet another efficient outing from quarterback Kaden Huot (Helena, Mont. / SR).
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Huot completed 17 of his 23 attempts on the night, throwing for a season-best 336 yards and five touchdowns, matching a career high (5 TD at SOU, 11-1-2025). Surrounded by playmakers all over the field, Huot had a wealth of options in the passing attack and utilized all of them.
Five different Saints receivers finished with at least 30 yards, led by tight end Ty Wilkinson (Pocatello, Idaho / R-SO) with 154 yards and two touchdowns on five catches.
Building off an improved performance against Dickinson State last weekend in Helena, the Carroll ground game found its footing as well. The Saints, averaging just 81 rushing yards per game entering the weekend, finished with a season-best 177 yards on the ground to help open up the aerial attack. Peter Minnaert (Boise, Idaho / JR) finished with a season-high 81 yards and a score to lead the way.
Short of the 98-yard kick return touchdown by Rocky's Ty Battle surrendered in the second quarter, Carroll's special teams helped play a big part in the win for the second straight week as well. Connor Sullivan (Kalispell, Mont. / R-SR) was highly effective in the return game, finishing with 75 yards. Eddie Ballanco (Bozeman, Mont. / FR) went 6-6 on PAT attempts and booted his first career field goal, a 38-yarder, while Kai Golan (Columbia Falls, Mont. / R-SO) sent kick-after-kick into the end zone for touchbacks all night long.
A top-25 unit entering the week in both total defense (No. 25 - 307 ypg) and points allowed (No. 13 - 15.0 ppg), the Carroll defense was every bit as impressive as its counterparts on the offensive end. Led by defensive coordinator Joe Dunning, who spent the last seven years in the same position across the field at Rocky, the Saints defense limited the Bears to just 212 yards of total offense. Rocky entered the week off a 38-32 win over then-ranked No. 21 Montana Western, a game in which it compiled 485 total yards, but was held completely in check by the Saints all night long on Saturday.
The Carroll defense was solid on all three levels, led by five-tackle performances by captain Eli Aby (Laurel, Mont. / R-SR), defensive back Kolbe Coey (Hayden, Idaho / R-FR), and reigning Frontier Special Teams Player of the Week Gage Norslien (Lewistown, Mont. / R-JR).
Carroll's opening drive stalled just shy of the red zone, leading to Ballanco's first career field goal to put the Saints out in front 3-0 following a five-minute drive. From that point forward, the Saints made good on every trip they made into Rocky territory.
Peter Minnaert went for 29 yards on four rushes on Carroll's second drive of the game, an eight-play 70-yard scoring drive in which he eventually walked in around the left side untouched from five yards out to give Carroll a 10-0 lead.
Midway through the second quarter, Connor Sullivan came down with his first career receiving touchdown, a 25-yard strike up the seam from Huot that capped a six-play 55-yard drive to put the Saints up 17-0 and fully in control.
Rocky responded with a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown on the ensuing kick, but a bad snap on the PAT limited the Bears to just six points.
Not wanting Rocky to build some steam heading into the half, Huot and the Carroll offense engineered another scoring drive to curtail any sort of comeback. The Saints marched down the field on a seven-play, 75-yard drive that featured completions of 45 and 23 yards to Ty Wilkinson. Wilkinson's 45-yard catch extended the drive with Carroll facing a third-and-10 scenario in its own territory, while his second grab of the drive resulted in six points.
Coming into the game, the Saints were among the nation's best with nine forced turnovers on the season. They continued the trend on Saturday, as Henry Gross (Helena, Mont. / R-JR) forced a fumble that was pounced on by Bridger Fleming (St. George, Utah / R-SO) to set up a morale-killing Carroll score at the end of the first half.
With just 19 seconds on the clock, and the ball on their side of the 50, the Saints still found a way to score. Huot connected with Gavin Vandenacre (Townsend, Mont. / R-SR) on a 24-yard strike to the sideline, giving the Saints enough time for a shot play ahead of a potential long field goal attempt. With little room for error, Huot found a matchup he liked downfield, lofting a perfectly placed ball to Joshua Johnson (Gardena, Calif. / R-JR), who made a tough contested catch in the end zone. In the blink of an eye, the Carroll lead had ballooned to 31-6 heading into the break.
The first drive of the second half saw Minnaert string together multiple runs for a quick 39 yards, and then the first career touchdown reception by tight end Tanner Larson (Kennewick, Wash. / R-FR). Larson found himself wide open in the flat on the Rocky sideline, then outraced everyone on the field for a 34-yard score to extend the lead to 38-6.
Wilkinson, already with one score under his belt, provided Carroll's final touchdown of the night and did so in spectacular fashion. The 6-5 tight end hauled in a screen pass and proceeded to run through, around and past everyone on the field with a 78-yard touchdown rumble that all but sealed the deal as the third quarter wound down.
Coming home happy, the Saints will now turn their attention toward a Homecoming week matchup with Arizona Christian next Saturday in Helena at 6 p.m.
