HELENA — All the proverbial cupcakes are stacked together on Carroll’s schedule, and following Saturday’s 43-12 trouncing of MSU-Northern and an open date, the intensity begins ramping up.

A Southern Oregon loss Saturday means Carroll (4-1, 3-0 Frontier) is a game clear of Montana Tech and College of Idaho as the lone remaining undefeated team in Frontier Conference play.

Carroll is one of just three Frontier teams (Arizona Christian, Northern) yet to play a nationally-ranked opponent in league action. The Saints' season-opening loss to Tech was nonconference.

While it wasn’t a third consecutive shutout, Carroll has outscored its last three opponents a combined 123-12 while securing back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2007. Impressive until you consider those teams (Simpson, ACU, Northern) are a combined 1-11.

Now, teams can only play who is scheduled and Carroll didn’t ask for those opponents to be clumped together, but it doesn’t exactly provide the best rehearsal for a season-ending gauntlet of four consecutive nationally-ranked teams, beginning in three weeks.

Carroll College redshirt freshman running back Archie LaFurge scored his second career touchdown, a 3-yarder, in the first quarter of the Saints' 43-12 victory over MSU-Northern on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.

Carroll totaled 282 yards on Saturday, cashing in two short fields when Northern bobbled punts and another turnover on its way to 30 first-half points.

Wide-out Chris Akulschin scored two first-half touchdowns, including his first career rushing score, piling up 103 all-purpose yards (70 receiving, 33 rushing). His 29-yard grab in the second was the result of quarterback Jack Prka’s play-extending ability.

“I ran my initial route, saw Jack was scrambling – it was a heckuva play by him to get out of the pocket and make something happen,” Akulschin said.

“I saw some open field so I just started running to it. Jack threw a perfect ball.”

Carroll College redshirt junior wide receiver Chris Akulschin totaled two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) and 103 all-purpose yards in the Saints' 43-12 victory over MSU-Northern on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.

Nevertheless, Carroll punted three times in the third quarter (two three-and-outs), inviting Northern to snap that shutout streak with a special teams score. Carroll pulled its starters up 36-6, but a Northern score and second-team fumble forced Prka’s reentry.

In his 33rd career start, Prka finished 13-for-16 passing for 181 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a score.

While the numbers are lopsided, Carroll’s uneven second half failed to truly put the game away until defensive lineman Forrest Suero’s scoop and score in the fourth.

So what can Carroll’s offense take away from these three seemingly dominant games?

“I think the biggest thing is just being consistent all the way through a game,” Akulschin said. “We have yet to do that as an offense and as a team…

“The second half of the season, if we wanna be the team that we wanna be, we gotta be able to do that.”

Carroll College players Ryan Rickman (#9) and Archie LaFurge (#3) signal "touchdown" during Saturday's 43-12 victory over MSU-Northern.

Suero’s 38-yard touchdown was the second of his collegiate career and first since Oct. 14, 2023, against Eastern Oregon.

Battling a broken right hand suffered in Carroll’s season-opener against Tech, Suero was out of a club and into a hand/wrist cast on Saturday, an obstacle overcome as a member of the Saints’ punt block unit.

“The punter got the snap, kinda bobbled it, tried to pick it up then kinda bounced it off the ground,” Suero said. “I just scooped it with my good hand and ran it in…

“It was kind of a similar situation as the last one – fumble, I pick it up, and go score. Kinda felt pretty similar to last year’s.”

Carroll’s defense faced four different Lights quarterbacks, including Great Falls High’s Ashton Platt and Fergus’ Chance Fields. Its second unit was chased from the game during an eight-play, 75-yard Northern drive engineered by 289-pound freshman signal-caller Tyson Buckley.

Buckley tossed a 32-yard go route, Northern’s second-longest play from scrimmage, to Frenchtown’s Devin Shelton, setting up a 2-yard Mason Dionne dive.

A host of Carroll College defenders tackle MSU-Northern quarterback Chance Fields in the second half of the Saints' 43-12 victory over the Lights on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.

Dionne, who entered play averaging 103 rush yards per game, piled up 108, surpassing the century for the fifth time in his career. In the first quarter, Dionne burst for 36 yards and completed Saturday averaging 4.9 per carry.

Still, Carroll held Northern (0-4, 0-2 Frontier) to 152 total yards, the Saints’ fourth straight game limiting opponents to 201 or fewer.

Again, though, can anything of substance be gleaned from Carroll’s last three games considering the opponents?

Carroll College redshirt junior linebacker Brett Tommasini tackles MSU-Northern wide-out Jeramiah Benson during Saturday's 43-12 victory over the Lights inside Nelson Stadium.

“We’re doing good stopping the run, we just need to get better at stopping those one big plays each drive,” Suero said. “When we’re getting to third down and fourth down, we need to get those stops…

“Defensive linemen need to get more turnovers, as well.”

An open date might be the best thing for Carroll right now.

All-Conference defensive lineman Garrett Worden did not play Saturday, along with running backs Xzavier Ford (out for season), Max Lehman, and Peter Minnaert.

Right tackle Timothy Sellars was banged up during play, and while he did return at one point, was limited in the second half.

Eastern Oregon (1-3, 1-1 Frontier) awaits after the off week, then a trip to Caldwell, Idaho.

Carroll College junior defensive lineman Forrest Suero, broken hand and all, helps lead the Saints' Fight Song following a 43-12 victory over MSU-Northern on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.

Through four games, Carroll is averaging 32.2 points, 369.2 yards per game, and allowing an average of 11 points. How well the Saints can maintain those numbers during the toughest portion of their schedule will determine Carroll’s success, or lack thereof.