Saints flip the script on Northern

The Montana State University-Northern Lights had started the 2017 on fire offensively. The Carroll College Fighting Saints had not.

Saturday in Helena however, that all changed.

Both the Lights and Saints came into their showdown at Nelson Stadium searching for their first win of the new season, and after running 59 times and rushing for 312 yards, it was the Saints who got into the win column with a 34-3 victory over the now 0-3 Lights.

Carroll's Major Ali led the ground assault, piling up a career-high 161 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Ryan Walsh added 69 yards and a score, Ryan Arntson had nine carries for 43 yards, and quarterback Tanner Gustavsen scrambled for 19 rushing yards. Northern's defense held early, as the Lights trailed just 3-0 after the first quarter. But Walsh scored twice in the second stanza to send the Saints into halftime with a 17-0 lead.

Tommy Langley pulled the Lights to within 17-3 with a 43-yard field goal in the third, but, Carroll answered with a Shane Snipes, 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the very next play. The Saints tacked on 10 more points in the final quarter, while the Lights' offense just couldn't muster anything against a resurgent Carroll defense.

Northern, which came in averaging 472 yards of total offense, got just 201 on the day. Junior Tommy Wilson threw for 153 yards, but also threw two interceptions as Carroll's defense smothered the Lights. Marvin Williams caught five balls for 40 yards, while Trey Blanchard gained 35 yards on nine carries.

Defensively, the Lights got INT's from both Jarrod Lucas and Dequincy Bergen, and Bergen racked up a career-high 18 tackles. But Carroll, which came into Saturday's game seventh in the Frontier Conference in rushing, and last in total offense, tallied 401 yards to improve to 1-2.

Northern will return to Blue Pony Stadium this Saturday, looking for its first win when the Lights battle the UM-Western Bulldogs.

Carroll 34, Lights 3

MSU-Northern 0 0 3 0 - 3

Carroll College 3 14 7 10 - 34

CC – FG Dylan Torgerson 22

CC - Ryan Walsh 20 pass from Tanner Gustavsen (Dylan Torgerson kick)

CC - Ryan Walsh 6 run (Dylan Torgerson kick)

MSU-N – FG Tommy Langley 43

CC - Shane Sipes 85 yd kickoff return (Dylan Torgerson kick)

CC - Major Ali 7 run (Dylan Torgerson kick)

CC – FG Dylan Torgerson 38

Individual

RUSHING – MSU-N, Trey Blanchard 9/35, B.J. Peters 7/6, Tommy Wilson 4/2; CC, Major Ali 24/162, Ryan Walsh 13/69, Ryan Arnston 9/43, Tanner Gustavsen 7/19, Kyle Harrington 3/12, Eric Dawson 1/5, Henry Hill 2/3.

PASSING – MSU-N, Tommy Wilson 18/35/2/153, Bryce Missey 1/2/0/3; CC, Tanner Gustavsen 8/18/2/100.

RECEIVING – MSU-N, Marvin Williams 5/40, Bryce Bumgardner 2/28, Seth Roemmele 3/24, Caymus Thomas 2/20, Trey Blanchard 1/5, Sam Mix 1/8, Donovan Garner 1/11, Jess Krahn ½, Kagen Khameneh 1/3, Kitell Willingham 1/4; CC, Shane Sipes 5/58, Ryan Walsh 1/20, Kyle Pierce 1/17.

Frontier Conference Standings

Conf. All

W-L W-L

Montana Tech 3-0 3-0

Southern Oregon 3-0 3-0

Rocky Mountain 2-1 2-2

Eastern Oregon 1-1 1-2

Carroll College 1-2 1-2

College of Idaho 1-2 1-3

UM-Western 1-2 1-3

MSU-Northern 0-3 0-3

Saturday, Sept. 16

Carroll College 34, MSU-Northern 3

Montana Tech 34, Rocky Mountain 28

Southern Oregon 52, UM-Western 28

College of Idaho 28, Eastern Oregon 20

Saturday, Sept. 23

MSU-Northern vs UM-Western

Rocky Mountain vs College of Idaho

Southern Oregon vs Carroll College

Montana Tech vs Eastern Oregon