The Prospector (Helena, Mont.) 1916-2015, December 02, 2005, Image 10

10 The Prospector www.carroll.edu Football knocks off Tech, marches into semis By Tom Cotton Helena IR With its passing game put on ice, the Carroll College football team turned to a red-hot running game Saturday and it was more than enough for the Saints to move on to the NAIA’s final four for the sixth straight year. The Saints bullied Montana Tech 24-0 Saturday in a NAIA quarterfinal playoff game, due in large part to a running game that was led by Jed Thomas. “He kept his balance and got a lot of yards after the first hit,” said Carroll College coach Mike Van Diest. “He did a great job of breaking tackles. He ran very hard.” The junior from Burley, Idaho ran for 219 yards and two touch­ downs in the contest. That was his career high as a Saint and it came in conditions that were less than ideal. With the wind chill, the temper­ ature hovered around zero as a strong west wind whipped through Nelson Stadium for the entire con­ test. It made throwing the football not entirely impossible, but very difficult. It didn’t matter to the Saints, who went to the run early and often. After mixing the pass and the run on its first drive of the game, Carroll went exclusively to the run on their second drive and for most of the rest of the game. Thomas, who was hampered with the flu a day earlier, looked sharp. He carried the ball four times on the march which ended with a 19-yard field goal by Marcus Miller in the first quarter. Defenses would dominate the rest of the half, except for a few moments early in the second quar­ ter, when Thomas struck again. He turned a simple off-tackle play into a 48-yard touchdown scam­ per. His cause was helped by strong' blocking downfield as All American center Kyle Baker delivered a key block to spring Thomas. “We just got on our blocks and stayed on our fits,” said senior offensive lineman Jason Ostler. “We kept our feet moving. We have great backs and they came out and made the right reads and made the right cuts.” Tech had been very stingy against the run all season, but they have been gashed by Carroll in their three meetings, giving up an average of 264 yards per game. “They are the only team to run the football on us all year and you have to give them credit for it,” Montana Tech coach Bob Green said. The Orediggers would regularly put eight men in the box to shut down the Saints running attack, but Carroll continued its bruising ways. On the first drive of the second half, they ran the ball 11 times in 12 plays, before passing for the Saints’ second touchdown of the game. “That first drive of the second half, they just put a hat on a hat and blocked us,” Green said. Tyler Peterson once again was able to race past man coverage and hauled in a 29-yard touch­ down pass from Tyler Emmert. It was Peterson’s 14th touchdown reception of the season. “We blitzed everybody and the call was on me,” Green said. “Maybe we should have been dropping a few.” The touchdown was moot, because the Saint defense wasn’t about to let Tech reach the end zone. The Orediggers have scored 19 points in the last three meetings between the two teams and Tech’s blue-collar offense was held in check all afternoon. The loss of starting quarterback Aaron Johnson put a crimp in their plans. Converted receiver Brian Styck got the start at quarterback and he hurt the Saints a few times hitting receivers on short roll-out passes. However, he spent most of the afternoon handing the ball off to running backs Teague Egan and Josh Johnson. Those two were among the Frontier Conference’s best this year, but they simply couldn’t get untracked against the Saints. The pair combined for 97 yards rush­ ing, far below their Saint counter­ parts. “They play well when they have to play and that is the thing I am most impressed about with these guys,” Van Diest said about his defense. “We shut down their run­ ning game other than a couple drives in the second half.” The Saints now move on to the semifinals where they found out Saturday night they will play the University of Sioux Falls, S.D. The Cougars whipped Tabor, Kan. 48-13 in another quarterfinal contest. “All we want is the opportuni­ ty,” Van Diest said. “We know that there are a lot of good teams out there. There is four of us left. I am sure the four teams teams there are outstanding so there will be a great battle for the next spot.” Friday, December 2, 2005 Photo by Helena IR Ty Peterson snags a pass in the Saints’ 24-0 win over Montana Tech. The Saints will play Sioux Falls at Nelson Stadium on Saturday at noon. Parker is NAIA Athletic Director of the year By Ann Goldes Staff Writer Carroll's very own Athletic Director, Bruce Parker, has been selected for the NAIA-ADA, National Athletics Director of the Year. \This trib­ ute is in recognition of Bruce's dedication to the ideals of intercolle­ giate athletics and commitment to scholarship, sportsmanship, and leadership,\ said Steve Baker, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAIA. It is not only the national title that Bruce Parker has won, he first had to be selected by the Frontier conference who then submitted his name to the regional chair, Joel Schuldheisz. The next step was to win the regional athletic director of the year, and then his name could be submitted on the national level. Parker was honored for the second straight year as the Frontier Conference AD of the Year as well as the Region I Athletic Director of the year award. \For the past two years, Bruce Parker has distinguished himself as a leader among leaders. Bruce's dedication to promoting the total growth of the student-athlete through intercollegiate athletics is outstanding. He has instilled a sense of pride and class to the Saints athletics depart­ ment and positively influenced the schools in his conference and region,\ said Joel Schuldheisz, Athletic Director at Concordia (Oregon) University and the Chairman of the NAIA Region I Management Council. Parker does not take all of the credit, however, \ft is humbling and I am very proud to have earned this honor, ft may sound trite, but there is no question that this is in large part due to the great staff and out­ standing student athletes that I am so fortunate to work with here at Carroll College,\ says Parker. \We have a great staff here,\ Parker says, \you can see it by all that we have accomplished.\ Parker is referring to record attendance at home athletic events, adding a new event ticket system, hosting an NAIA National Playoff Game, a record-setting year with Corporate fund raising, a 40 percent increase in funds generated by the Saints' Athletic Association, and a record-setting year at the SAA auction. Another recent improvement is an upgrade of 2,800 new seats including over 300-premium stadium seats in the Carroll PE center. \We as a department, have tried to take Carroll Athletics to the next level, to be the best of the best. I am very fortunate to be able to work with and direct the people that participate in Carroll College athletics,” more BRUCE PARKER on page 16 VOLUME 89, NO, 3