HELENA, Mont- Montana Tech's first half miscues proved to costly as the Orediggers fell to rival Carroll College, 31-17.
The Orediggers (0-2) trailed 17-0 at the end of the first half but their second half comeback fell short. Carroll College (1-1) got on the board early when Michael Maafu scored on a 1-yard run which was setup by an errant snap on Montana Tech's punt attempt gave the Saints the ball on the goal line.
Carroll's second score of the game came at the end of an 11-play 69-yard drive with 6:40 left in the first quarter. Carroll's Duncan Kraft plowed into the endzone from the 1-yard line.
The Saints increased their lead with a 31-yard field goal by Stephen Powell in the first half.
In the second half, Montana Tech found the endzone on their first drive when
Jet Campbell hit
Trevor Hoffman on a 19-yard score that capped a 10-play 52-yard drive.
The Saints answered back just before the end of the third quarter when Kraft found the endzone again.
The Diggers cut into the deficit with a
Jared Griffith 32-yard field goal and a
Kyle Torgerson 32-yard touchdown reception. The Diggers trailed by just seven points until the Saints put one final rushing touchdown on the board with 1:43 left to play to take the lead 31-17.
Montana Tech finished the game with 300 yards of total offense on 62 plays while Carroll racked up 348 yards on 72 plays.
Jet Campbell finished the game completing 17-of-32 passes for 205 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Kaleb Winterburn gained 38 yards rushing to lead the Diggers.
Trevor Hoffman had six catches for 74 yards and the score while
Kyle Torgerson,
Kiley Caprara, and
Mark Estes finished with three grabs.
Blake Allred led the Diggers with 9 tackles while
Spencer Schock added 8. The trio of
Jordan Washington,
Naoki Harmer, and
Teddy Croft had 7 tackles each.
Cole Wyant and
Zeek Fromel each tallied a sack.
Devan Bridgewater finsished the game 18-for-25 for 168 yards while Duncan Kraft led the rushing attack with 148 yards for the Saints.
Montana Tech has a bye week this week before traveling to take on Rocky Mountain College in Billings on Saturday, September 18th.
