Frontier Notebook: Single-game records broken at Carroll, EOU

The game of the year in the Frontier Conference turned out to be not much of a game at all. Last Saturday, Rocky Mountain College blitzed UM-Western 43-14, meaning the Battlin’ Bears are now in the driver’s seat for the Frontier Conference championship.

Of course, nothing is done yet, and with the way this Frontier season has gone, who knows what’s going to happen in the final two weeks. But RMC, for all its ups and downs this season, is now in the best position to claim the league title. Nothing will be a given at this point, however, as RMC has to go to Eastern Oregon this Saturday — playing a Mounties’ squad that had won four straight before a loss last weekend. Rocky then comes home to finish the season with a home game against Montana Tech. So for the Battlin’ Bears, the formula is simple, win out and they’re the Frontier champions and headed to the playoffs. A loss won’t end Rocky’s hopes of winning the Frontier title either, but it would take them out of at-large playoff contention if they don’t win the Frontier’s automatic bid.

Western made things much more complicated for itself with its loss to the Bears. While still tied with Rocky for first place, Western needs to beat both red-hot College of Idaho and Southern Oregon to have a shot at the Frontier title and have any hope of a playoff berth. If Western wins out, but doesn’t win the league’s auto bid, the Bulldogs will be firmly on the playoff bubble at 8-2, and all will depend on where they finish in the final regular season Coaches Poll.

Despite being blown out by C of I last week, Eastern Oregon isn’t out of the picture yet, either. If the Mounties were to beat Rocky and Carroll College to finish the season, and Western loses two straight, then EOU would tie for the Frontier title and would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Rocky.

So with just two weeks to go in the regular season, the Frontier title is nowhere near decided, and in this season of anybody can beat anybody, it’s going to be an interesting next 14 days for sure.

Records Smashed

With all the great running backs to suit up for Carroll College over the years, it’s 5-8 Ryan Arntson who now owns Carroll’s greatest single-game rushing performance. Against MSU-Northern last Saturday, Arntson rushed for 286 yards on just 18 carries to break the single-game Carroll record. The previous record of 278 yards by Tyler Gleason had stood since 1980.

On the other side of the ball, Northern’s young defense has really struggled to stop the run this season. The Lights, who have to play struggling Southern Oregon this Saturday, are allowing 254 yards per game on the ground. Northern, which starts as many as nine underclassmen on defense and has also been dealt a rash of injuries on that side of the ball, is certainly beat up on defense.

“I think you’re seeing some of that,” Rolin said. “We’ve been really young on defense all year, and with the injuries we’ve had, we just aren’t very deep either. I think you’ve seen our defense get worn down some, but that also happens to everybody this time of year, so it’s not an excuse. We know we have to play better. We’ve got to keep getting better, across the board. That’s defense, offense and special teams.”

EOU’s Brendan Kelly also smashed a record this past weekend. In the Mounties’ loss to C of I, Kelly had 281 yards receiving which is now EOU’s single-game record. He also tied the school record for most touchdowns with 29 and broke EOU’s single-season record for receiving yards with 1,140.

Frontier Honors

Kelly was named Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his seven catches for 281 yards. Montana Tech’s Connor Wines was named Defensive Player of the Week and C of I’s Kyle Mitchell was named Frontier Special Teams Player of the Week.

NAIA Coaches Poll

1 1 Morningside (Iowa) [15] 9-0 366

2 2 Marian (Ind.) [1] 8-0 352

3 5 Bethel (Tenn.) 9-0 330

4 3 Reinhardt (Ga.) 7-1 327

5 4 Grand View (Iowa) 7-1 308

6 6 Northwestern (Iowa) 7-1 291

7 7 Kansas Wesleyan 9-0 277

8 8 Benedictine (Kan.) 8-1 262

9 9 Saint Francis (Ind.) 7-2 247

10 11 Evangel (Mo.) 9-1 240

11 12 Langston (Okla.) 7-1 220

12 13 Rocky Mountain 7-2 216

13 14 Cumberlands (Ky.) 9-1 199

14 15 Baker (Kan.) 6-2 188

15 17 Concordia (Mich.) 7-2 174

16 19 Dickinson State (N.D.) 7-2 144

17 10 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 5-3 131

18 22 Saint Xavier (Ill.) 7-3 123

19 20 Georgetown (Ky.) 6-3 120

20 16 Montana Western 6-2 103

21 24 Avila (Mo.) 7-1 89

22 NR Midland (Neb.) 7-2 64

23 21 Siena Heights (Mich.) 6-2 51

24 18 Eastern Oregon 5-3 44

25 NR Ottawa (Kan.) 7-2 39

Others Receiving Votes: Ave Maria (Fla.) 18, Montana Tech 5, Dordt (Iowa) 4, College of Idaho 3.