Game Day Notebook: Two great backs were on display Saturday

When the Carroll College Fighting Saints scored on a Mac Roche touchdown with just :15 seconds left in the first half of Saturday’s Frontier Conference game, it seemed harmless enough.

In fact, it seemed like the Lights were well within reach of the No. 2 team in the country, only down 28-13. But what happened in the 15 minutes of the third quarter was vintage Carroll College, and it left the Lights on the wrong end of yet another blowout loss at the hands of their bitter rival as the Saints went on to win at Blue Pony Stadium, 55-13.

Carroll scored four times in the third period, starting with a great pass from Roche to Anthony Clark in the right side of the endzone. The dust didn’t settle on the third-quarter onslaught until Roche carried for a six-yard score, and the Saints went from leading by 15 points at the break, to leading 52-13.

“We came out in the third quarter, and they hit a big run (on) us; they ended up scoring,” said Northern interim head coach Jake Eldridge. “And then we just couldn’t move the ball on offense at all. So it was a really tough third quarter.”

It was actually a huge third quarter for the Saints on offense, but an even bigger one for Carroll’s defense. Northern didn’t pick up a first down in the period, and on just three possessions, the Lights gained a total of 23 yards. And that’s all after Zach McKinley had rushed for more than 100 yards in the first half against a vaunted Carroll defense, which finished the day with interceptions by Dawson Osborn, Matt Wiest and Vince DiGiallonardo, as well as sacks by Bryan Graupman, Daniel Simmons and Sean Condon.

“I thought our No. 1 defense came out and played in the second half extremely well,” Carroll head coach Mike Van Diest said. “I thought, in the second half, we became a better football team.”

Tough start

Northern senior quarterback Travis Dean will play his last game at Blue Pony Stadium this Saturday when the Lights take on the UM-Western Bulldogs. But against Carroll College Saturday afternoon, all Dean could do is watch, and help from the sidelines.

Dean suffered a knee injury in last week’s loss at Eastern Oregon, which meant that MSU-N freshman Jess Krahn got his first career start Saturday. And for Dean, it would bring back memories. He made his first career start for the Lights five years ago, in Blue Pony Stadium, against Carroll College, which was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time.

Saturday, he had to watch another young Light make the same kind of first start. Krahn, a 6-3, 220-pound, big-armed quarterback from little know Bush Prairie, Washington, was certainly thrown into the fire against the Saints, but what better way to get acclimated to Frontier Conference football.

“Jess has wanted to play this season,” Eldridge said. “We just didn’t get into any situations where we could get him into the game. But he was fine with burning his red-shirt when he had to go in against Eastern.”

Krahn played well against the Mounties, and at times, he did Saturday as well. Playing against the top defense in the Frontier isn’t easy, and he was intercepted three times. But he also showed a good command of the offense, and he showed off his live arm on his second-quarter TD pass to Jake Messerly.

“That’s a tough situation for a freshman quarterback to put in,” Eldridge said. “But I thought Jess played well. He did some really good things against a really good, physical defense. I wasn’t disappointed with how he played at all.”

The chase is on

Saturday’s game was certainly a showcase of two of the top running backs in all of NAIA football, and also, two of the best offensive lines. Carroll’s massive offensive line has led the way for Dustin Rinker all season long, while a very good Northern offensive line plows the way for McKinley.

And McKinley and Rinker are locked in a battle for the Frontier rushing title, and Saturday’s game certainly saw the best from both. McKinley rushed just 20 times, but racked up over 140 yards and his 14th touchdown of the season. He now has 1,163 yards on the year and is averaging more than 121 yards per contest.

Meanwhile, the Northern defense held Rinker to 88 yards, which is nearly 50 below his average. But he still showed off his speed and his power on several tough runs in the middle of the field, and on the goal line. Rinker 1,068 yards and 13 scores in what his senior season, which means McKinley has the edge in rushing and touchdowns. But, with one less game played, Rinker is still leading the way with a 130-yard per game average.

So it will be interesting to see what happens with these two great backs over the next two weeks.