The following sentence probably hasn’t been written this century. Carroll College will come to Butte Saturday following last week’s loss.
The 12-time defending Frontier Conference champions fell 38-20 at Portland State, a Big Sky Conference team.
Carroll led 6-0 after a Chance Demarais run. Big plays doomed the Saints after that, as a 46-yard touchdown run by D.J. Adams and a pick-6 by Jaycob Shoemaker put the Vikings on top for good.
The biggest loss for the Saints, potentially, in the non-conference game was a knee injury to Demarais, the reigning NAIA player of the year. Demarais, who ran for 74 yards on 10 carriers, injured his knee late in the second half and wasn’t a factor the rest of the way.
The Helena Independent Record reported that the injury didn’t appear to be serious, but the team didn’t elaborate on the degree of injury. The Saints have a 1,100-yard back as a backup in Dustin Rinker, who rushed for just 26 yards on 20 carries Saturday.
HISTORY DELAYED
Rocky Mountain College forced Dickinson State coach Hank Biesiot to wait at least one more week to tie an NAIA record for wins.
Bryce Baker threw for two touchdowns — both to Mickey Payne — and ran for two more to lead the Bears to a 30-19 win over the Blue Hawks in Dickinson, N.D. Saturday.
Biesiot was trying for his 256th career victory. Former coach Frosty Westering and current St. Francis (Ind.) coach Kevin Donley share the record after St. Francis’ 39-31 over Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday.
ROAD TRIP
Southern Oregon hit the road for its first home game, and the Red Raiders got some good results.
The Raiders played in Medford, Ore., for the first time since 1994 in the inaugural Medford Classic, Southern Oregon rolled to a 54-21 victory over Montana Western Saturday. The victory was the Raiders’ most lopsided win since a they beat Dixie State 42-9 in 2007.
Southern Oregon’s campus is located in Ashland, Ore.
Sophomore quarterback Austin Dodge picked up where he left off last year by lighting up the Western defense for 347 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Raiders had no shortage of offensive stars. Receiver Cole McKenzie caught nine passes for 153 yards and a touchdown.
Western freshman running back Tyrell Braun had a big debut, rushing for 107 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Freshman Kenney Bradley and senior Jeff Logan both saw time at quarterback in the loss.
Bradley completed 10 of 23 passes and was picked off twice. Logan completed 14 of 21 throws for 163 yards, an interception and a touchdown.
Dodge completed 26 of 39 passes.
OFF THE MARK
Freshman kicker Matt Berg missed a pair of field goals in Saturday’s loss to Eastern Oregon at Alumni Coliseum.
His first kick had plenty of leg but sailed wide right on a 32-yard field goal. The kick came during a strong cross wind, and it appeared Berg overcompensated for that wind.
The other kick Berg missed short and left on a 35-yard field goal that would have tied the game as time expired.
The Orediggers had three chances to get the kick off. Officials go blew the whistle as Berg’s kick fell short. The Mountaineers were off sides, moving the ball five yards closer.
A short snap fouled up the second attempt. However, holder Tyson Shriver, a fullback, made a heads-up play to give the Orediggers one more shot. Shrive grabbed the ball and spiked it to kill the clock. The clock read 0:00, but officials correctly said a second remained for the final kick.
Despite the missed kicks, Berg, who was elected a special teams captain after transferring to Tech from the University of Montana, made a positive impact on the game for the Orediggers.
Unlike last season when Tech routinely lost the field position battle because of short kickoffs, Berg showed off a booming leg, sending kickoffs inside the 10-yard line on most of his kicks. Field position alone probably cost the Orediggers at least two wins in 2011.
Berg had a strong fall camp with his field goal kicking after admitting that he struggled to adjust to kicking off the ground instead of a tee during his redshirt year at UM and during spring drills. High school kickers kick off a tee.
Berg also worked with Butte High boys’ soccer coach Eric Zahler, one of the best kickers in Frontier Conference history during his days at Montana Western, during the summer.
BACK IN ACTION
MSU-Northern, which suffered a blowout loss to Carroll at him Aug. 25, was the only Frontier Conference team that didn’t play this week.
The Lights hit the road for a long trip to La Grande, Ore., to take on the Mountaineers this week.
In other action, Dickinson State heads to Dillon to take on Western, while Southern Oregon will be in Billings to battle Rocky Mountain College.
Oh, and Carroll will be in Butte to take on the Orediggers. Reserved tickets for that game are going fast, and Tech officials think the game could sell out.
Some general admission tickets are available, but this year the majority of the seats at Alumni Coliseum are reserved.
