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About The Prospector (Helena, Mont.) 1916-2015 | View This Issue
The Prospector (Helena, Mont.), 10 Dec. 2001, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/TheProspector/2001-12-10/ed-1/seq-1/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
Carroll College Student Nev H elena, M ontana WINTER WONDERLAND: New snow means a bunch o f fun new winter activities for students. Page 5 DANCING TO A DIFFERENT DRUM: Numerous students will be featured in the final presentations of choreography pieces. Page 9 LEADERSHIP SKILLS: Four new ASCC officers take their positions for 2002. Page 11 Fighting Saints make it two straight NAIA final fours THE FIGHTING SPIRIT: Carroll runningback Heath Wall turns the comer in the second half. Defending national champions, Georgetown, Ky, held off the Saints 31-22 in a NAIA semi-final playoff game on Saturday, December 1. Congratulations to the football team on an outstanding season and making it to the final four two years in a row. By Brent Northup For the Prospector Three years ago in 1998, our Carroll Fighting Football Saints walked slowly off the field in Butte after losing their final game of the season to Montana Tech. That close loss completed the team’s less-than-memorable one-win-eight-loss season. The freshmen that endured that solemn bus ride back to Helena must have wondered just how long the next four years would be. Three seasons later, 12 of those freshmen are now graduating, having just set a new stan dard for a graduating class - two straight Final Four finishes in the NAIA playoffs. Although both the 2000 and 2001 seasons ended with losses to undefeated Georgetown (the best NAIA team in the country), the players and coaches are heading for winter hibernation with their heads held high. And so, as the purple pads get packed and the bruised muscles get massaged, it seems a good time to reflect on just how our Saints managed to turn it all around in four years. Just how does a team go from one win to 10 in less time that it takes many to graduate? Conversations with coaches and players uncovered three key ingredients that character ized this special group of players and coaches: body, heart and leadership. Undeniably, the bodies of our Saints are more compact than most faculty frames, thank goodness. The fitness of the teams is reflected in few major injuries- few knee or shoulder casualties and no neck injuries this year, for example. And how did they get in such shape? Coaches said it was done through discipline and commitment that rivals that of a pre-med student who just aced organic chemistry. First, let’s talk hours. Football began August 5 with three weeks of two-a-day practices adding up to more than 100 hours of practice before the first day of classes on August 27. The arrival of classes reduced the daily prac tice to three hours - plus weight training before breakfast. Each week ended with game-day Saturday, which (at home) began at 8:30 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. And, on the seventh day, the team rested - until 6 p.m., when they all gathered for detailed analysis of game films from the day before. In the off-season - which includes the holi days, summer and the spring semester - strength coach Jim Hogan has developed an individualized program for each student-ath lete. And of course, in March comes a 15-day Spring Training session that resumes the three- hour-per-day regimen. The team’s fitness attests both to their self- discipline and to their willingness to sacrifice time. “We tell them discipline means what you do when nobody’s watching,” said Steve Jones, defensive line coach. “It’s easy to be disci plined when a coach is breathing down your neck. It’s tougher when you’re alone.” Coming to that first fall practice in shape sets the stage for the second quality- their heart. Jones sees their heart in their never-say- die intensity- the kind of contagious spirit Carroll Professor and Helena tree-cutter John Downs brings to every psychology class he teaches. “The personality of this team is defined by the tenacious way every single player ran to the ball on every single down- even when they were nowhere near the play,” said Jones. \We’ve had many opposing coaches tell us they’ve never seen a team play at such a high level of intensity- every play of every game until the whistle blows.” Southern Oregon, who sported the top rush ing offense in NAIA football, found out just what Saint intensity felt like. “After losing to us,” recalled coach Steve Jones, “a Southern Oregon senior player pub lished statements on an Internet forum stating they figured they could push these under-sized guys up and down the field all day, but then he said he ‘found out what the Saints lacked in size they made up for in heart and effort.’”. The nation’s top rushing team managed zero points in the first half - and ended with only 40 yards rushing. So much for pushing the “under-sized Saints” up and down the field. But what makes a player work so hard in the off-season and play with such intensity in every game? There’s no doubt that student and coach leadership provided the inspiration that rejuvenated the team. Leadership is an intangible spirit that isn’t easily defined - but that team spirit seems to Continued on page 16 Van Diest and Horne earn top honors Carroll College head coach Mike Van Diest and linebacker Joe Home received top honors from the Frontier Conference. Van Diest, who just completed his third year as Carroll’s head coach, was named the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year while Horne, a senior, was named the Frontier Conference defensive MVP. In his three years at the Fighting Saints’ helm, Van Diest has collected a 27-12 record and has guided his team to the NAIA semifinals two years in a row. Horne, a linebacker listed at 5-foot-9, 180, has played larger than his size since coming to Carroll. During the regular season he collected 66 tackles, an interception and had 3.5 sacks. He holds the Carroll record for the most tackles with 146, which he set in 2000. At the end of the 2000 season he set l Y, DECEMBER 10, 2001 VOLUME 85,
