HELENA — Carroll College, at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Frontier, has accomplished its goals for the first half of the season and now, ranked No. 9 nationally, travels to MSU-Northern this week to try to keep it going.
“We wanted to be able to start fast versus ranked teams in the conference and in the nation, and we have been able to accomplish that goal, now we’re getting close to the second half, that run down the backstretch is going to be intense, we need to finish strong,” coach Troy Purcell told MTN Sports.
Last week, Carroll came away with another home win over Frontier opponent Arizona Christian for homecoming.
“The first sequence of plays there at the beginning (of the ACU game) were not where we wanted them to go, and depth wise, I think, just stay the course, there wasn’t really any changes from this year to next year to next year you know, we’re always going with the same mind set going in, still prepare, they’re a very well coached team,” said Purcell.
Purcell expressed how this year’s Saints have continued to start fast as they try to finish strong during their lookahead to a road matchup with Northern.
“Stay the course, like we always say, never too high and never too low, continue to get better, you know, if we do that, then we’ll have a good outcome to the game, if we don’t do that, if we don’t get better this week, ‘cause everybody else is getting better, because there is no such thing as staying the same,” Purcell said.
Entering Saturday's game, Caroll holds an overall record of 43-7 against the Lights, who are coached by Jerome Souers.
The Lights have scored just two touchdowns this year versus conference foes. Carroll's defensive unit, led by the likes of Daxon Graham, Tug Smith and Elijah Larson, will look to continue that trend. The Lights have maintained a two-quarterback system this year, utilizing both Brendan Medina and Kaymen Cureton.
“Offensively, they’re going to throw the ball around, they like to get into big packages, 13 personnel, and they like to spread it out. Coach Souers will have them ready up there, so we expect a great battle,” Purcell said.
Purcell emphasized that his team is heading into the game “0-0, (it’s an) opportunity to grow, an opportunity to get better."
