Carroll College turns back Morningside gridders
By Jeff Windmueller, Lee News Service | Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2007
HELENA, Mont. -- The Saints just keep on marching.
Through the blistering cold and over icy terrain the No. 2 Carroll College football team advanced past their toughest competition yet, No. 11 Morningside College 27-16 Saturday in Nelson Stadium.
The quarterfinal win puts the 13-0 Saints one step closer to their shot at a fourth national title in five years, and one game further than they were last year when they were halted in the snow by St. Xavier.
"It feels good to be able to play another week with those seniors," said Carroll sophomore running back Gabe Le, who earned offensive player of the game. "They're some of the greatest guys I've ever met, and I'm glad to continue on."
Le led the Saints charge with a 131-yard performance on 26 carries, scoring a touchdown and keeping the Mustangs on their heels.
But in a close match-up that wasn't truly decided until the final minutes, it was a botched kick that Carroll's senior quarterback Marcus Miller returned in the final minutes that sealed the deal.
With Carroll still winning 21-16 after the Mustangs scored two consecutive touchdowns in the second half, both teams lined up for the onside kick. Mustangs kicker C.J. Gradoville, however, let a long one loose to Miller.
He bobbled the ball initially, then picked it up and ran straight down field, breaking through both lines for an 85-yard return.
"We joked all season, if they kicked it back there we weren't going to take a knee on it, we're going to take it to the house," Miller said. "Our receivers and everybody blocked real great, they opened up a big hole and it was just a scramble, I was hoping to get to that end zone."
Morningside head coach Steve Ryan said that he told the Gradoville to kick away, thinking they would get the advantage with Carroll in their onside kick formation.
"If I had a second chance, would I do it differently? Definitely," he said.
The play gave Morningside just 3:21 to score 11 points, but their next drive would end after senior defensive end Nick Gilchrist collected his second sack of the game and junior linebacker Owen Koeppen intercepted a ball by Mustangs quarterback Ian Gilworth.
Up to that point it was a game of run-and-chase. The Saints kept running the ball and score while the Mustangs tried to catch up.
The first quarter ended scoreless even though both teams had chances. The Saints went for it on fourth-and-4 on Morningside's 12. They called the perfect play, a pass left to junior receiver Travis Browne, but the ball popped out of his hands after the receiver slipped on a patch of ice.
After the Mustangs picked off a pass by Carroll senior quarterback John Barnett -- their NAIA-leading 31st interception on the year -- they made it all the way down to the Saints 19-yard line. But when Gradoville attempted a field goal from 36 yards out, 6-foot-5 senior receiver David Withmoyer leapt over the top of the pile and got his big paw on the ball, causing it to fall short of the posts by nearly six yards.
On the very next possession, Saints senior quarterback John Barnett orchestrated an 80-yard drive that ended in the Mustangs' end zone. The quarterback completed all six of his passes, including his final two to junior receiver Travis Browne. Browne's first went 16 yards and landed Carroll on the 26-yard line. The next went right back to Browne as he found open room over the middle with 8:17 left in the second quarter.
"Travis had a good route, he's been hurting all week, but he sucked it up today and had some huge catches," Barnett said. "I just had to float it out there and he snapped it."
Barnett ended up connecting on 19 of his 30 pass attempts for 211 yards and the touchdown.
"I thought he did a great job again with his feet," said Carroll head coach Mike Van Diest. "Vintage Barnett has to be able to create things to happen either by his feet, by play design, today it was about scrambling, getting first downs and keeping drives alive."
On the Saints next scoring drive, he would have to do little work except punch the ball in for a touchdown.
On first down, Le burned his way around the left side of the line and erupted for a 45-yard sprint down the sideline. He cut in with about 10 yards to go to the end zone but was finally brought down on the 1.
"The O-line was fired up this week and they played real well today, I give all the credit to them," Le said.
The Saints tried to set him up with the touchdown, but when he wasn't able to break past the line of scrimmage, they turned to Barnett to push it in. Carroll led 14-0 with 4:07 left in the first half.
Morningside was only able to answer with a 31-yard field goal by Gradoville with 20 seconds left in the half. The field goal was a school-record 12th of the season for Gradoville, a freshman from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
During those first two quarters it was apparent the connection between Gilworth and fellow junior Antuan Bloom. Bloom, a 5-11 wide receiver out of Miami, Fla., had eight receptions for 60 yards in the first half and would end the game with 14 catches for 134 and a touchdown.
"He's got great speed and played well in our big games this year," Ryan said. "We missed on him early in the game."
Gilworth, meanwhile, ended with a school single-game record 34 completions (out of 54 attempts) for 353 yards, breaking a mark set out by Craig Fobbe in the 2005 quarterfinals.
"We've got to come back and play better pass defense, I was disappointed in that part of our game," Van Diest said. "We gave up a lot of big plays and some plays that we shouldn't have.
"We've just got to do a better job next week."
Still, the Mustangs were behind the Saints, who started off the second half by orchestrating a 68-yard scoring drive.
Barnett connected with Whitmoyer on a 33-yard pass, landing them on Morningside's 2-yard line. From there, Le followed a block by offensive guard Alex Pfannanstiel around the shoulders of left tackle Bryan Camino and tight end Marshall McEwen to waltz into the end zone.
The Saints led 21-3 with 11:49 left in the quarter.
"We start out the second half and drove the ball down and scored, but then we had to hang on," Van Diest said. "That's tough, that offense is so explosive and No. 1 Bloom is just a tremendous player."
Gilworth connected with Bloom on the first of two consecutive touchdowns. Gilworth scrambled to his right on a first-down play, giving Bloom enough time to get open over the middle. The touchdown came with 8:51 left in the third. The second came after both teams went scoreless for more than 20 minutes.
On the scoring drive, Gilworth connected on seven of his 11 pass attempts, including a 36-yard pass to Beau Kildow on third-and-10. While Kildow caught the ball about 15 yards downfield, he broke four arm tackles to take it the rest. A screen pass to Pete Lewis dropped the Mustangs on Carroll's 1-yard line and Gilworth connected with receiver Chris Becker on a play-action pass. That put the score at 21-16 and left the Mustangs up for their kick-gone-awry and the interception by Koeppen.
Koeppen ended up winning defensive player of the game honors for his excellent play including 16 total tackles, six of them unassisted. He was the main stopping power that kept the Mustangs to just nine yards rushing.
"Owen Koeppen was everywhere. Owen had a tremendous game and that was a real key," Van Diest said.
Miller, who also received defensive player of the game, missed his first field goal of the season, dropping him to 16-for-17, and missed the PAT after his own touchdown, also a first.
Whitmoyer, along with blocking the field goal, had his best game of the season, though finishing without a touchdown. He led the receivers with five catches for 65 yards while Browne followed up with four for 60.
All-American safety Chad Hustedt led the Mustangs defense with 13 total tackles while Brett Nickolite had nine and an interception, his team-leading eighth on the season.
Carroll College will face off with either No. 9 Missouri Valley College or No. 5 St. Francis in the semifinal. St. Francis, a team the Saints has met up with three times in the playoffs, including the 2004 and 2005 national championship games.
The Saints will find out who they face today.
MC 0 3 7 6 -- 16
CC 0 14 7 6 -- 27
Second Quarter
CC -- Browne 26 pass from Barnett (Miller kick), 8:17
CC -- Barnett 1 run (Miller kick)
MC -- FG Gradoville 31, 00:20
Third Quarter
CC -- Le 2 run (Miller kick), 11:49
MC -- Bloom 7 pass from Gilworth (Gradoville kick), 8:51
Fourth Quarter
MC -- Becker 1 pass from Gilworth (2-point no good)
CC -- Kickoff by Gradoville returned by Miller 85, (Miller kick no good)
MC CC
First downs 21 17
Total yards 362 364
Rushes-yds 23-9 37-153
Passing 353 211
Punt Returns 2-19 4-28
Kickoff returns 5-94 4-118
Interceptions 1-15 1-0
Comp-Att-Int 34-54-1 19-30-1
Sacked-yards 1-2 4-26
Punts 6-29.8 5-189
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-0
Penalties 2-10 4-30
Possession 26:40 25:32
Individual Statistics
RUSHING -- Morn, Childress 7-15, Richard 1-5, Lewis 7-4, Gilworth 8-(-15). CC, Le 26-131, Herrin 3-18, Barnett 6-18, TEAM 1-(-1) Camino 1-(-4).
PASSING -- Morn, Gilworth 34-54-1-2 353. CC, Barnett 19-30-1-1 211.
RECEIVING -- Morn, Bloom 14-134, Kildow 6-84, Anderson 6-75, Becker 3-7, Lewis 1-14, Alfredson 1-8. CC, Whitmoyer 5-65, Browne 4-60, McEwen 3-20, Prosperie 2-25, Le 2-6, Lovin 1-17, Sloan 1-13, Curtis 1-5.
MISSED FIELD GOALS -- Gradoville 31, Miller 43.
Through the blistering cold and over icy terrain the No. 2 Carroll College football team advanced past their toughest competition yet, No. 11 Morningside College 27-16 Saturday in Nelson Stadium.
The quarterfinal win puts the 13-0 Saints one step closer to their shot at a fourth national title in five years, and one game further than they were last year when they were halted in the snow by St. Xavier.
"It feels good to be able to play another week with those seniors," said Carroll sophomore running back Gabe Le, who earned offensive player of the game. "They're some of the greatest guys I've ever met, and I'm glad to continue on."
Le led the Saints charge with a 131-yard performance on 26 carries, scoring a touchdown and keeping the Mustangs on their heels.
But in a close match-up that wasn't truly decided until the final minutes, it was a botched kick that Carroll's senior quarterback Marcus Miller returned in the final minutes that sealed the deal.
With Carroll still winning 21-16 after the Mustangs scored two consecutive touchdowns in the second half, both teams lined up for the onside kick. Mustangs kicker C.J. Gradoville, however, let a long one loose to Miller.
He bobbled the ball initially, then picked it up and ran straight down field, breaking through both lines for an 85-yard return.
"We joked all season, if they kicked it back there we weren't going to take a knee on it, we're going to take it to the house," Miller said. "Our receivers and everybody blocked real great, they opened up a big hole and it was just a scramble, I was hoping to get to that end zone."
Morningside head coach Steve Ryan said that he told the Gradoville to kick away, thinking they would get the advantage with Carroll in their onside kick formation.
"If I had a second chance, would I do it differently? Definitely," he said.
The play gave Morningside just 3:21 to score 11 points, but their next drive would end after senior defensive end Nick Gilchrist collected his second sack of the game and junior linebacker Owen Koeppen intercepted a ball by Mustangs quarterback Ian Gilworth.
Up to that point it was a game of run-and-chase. The Saints kept running the ball and score while the Mustangs tried to catch up.
The first quarter ended scoreless even though both teams had chances. The Saints went for it on fourth-and-4 on Morningside's 12. They called the perfect play, a pass left to junior receiver Travis Browne, but the ball popped out of his hands after the receiver slipped on a patch of ice.
After the Mustangs picked off a pass by Carroll senior quarterback John Barnett -- their NAIA-leading 31st interception on the year -- they made it all the way down to the Saints 19-yard line. But when Gradoville attempted a field goal from 36 yards out, 6-foot-5 senior receiver David Withmoyer leapt over the top of the pile and got his big paw on the ball, causing it to fall short of the posts by nearly six yards.
On the very next possession, Saints senior quarterback John Barnett orchestrated an 80-yard drive that ended in the Mustangs' end zone. The quarterback completed all six of his passes, including his final two to junior receiver Travis Browne. Browne's first went 16 yards and landed Carroll on the 26-yard line. The next went right back to Browne as he found open room over the middle with 8:17 left in the second quarter.
"Travis had a good route, he's been hurting all week, but he sucked it up today and had some huge catches," Barnett said. "I just had to float it out there and he snapped it."
Barnett ended up connecting on 19 of his 30 pass attempts for 211 yards and the touchdown.
"I thought he did a great job again with his feet," said Carroll head coach Mike Van Diest. "Vintage Barnett has to be able to create things to happen either by his feet, by play design, today it was about scrambling, getting first downs and keeping drives alive."
On the Saints next scoring drive, he would have to do little work except punch the ball in for a touchdown.
On first down, Le burned his way around the left side of the line and erupted for a 45-yard sprint down the sideline. He cut in with about 10 yards to go to the end zone but was finally brought down on the 1.
"The O-line was fired up this week and they played real well today, I give all the credit to them," Le said.
The Saints tried to set him up with the touchdown, but when he wasn't able to break past the line of scrimmage, they turned to Barnett to push it in. Carroll led 14-0 with 4:07 left in the first half.
Morningside was only able to answer with a 31-yard field goal by Gradoville with 20 seconds left in the half. The field goal was a school-record 12th of the season for Gradoville, a freshman from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
During those first two quarters it was apparent the connection between Gilworth and fellow junior Antuan Bloom. Bloom, a 5-11 wide receiver out of Miami, Fla., had eight receptions for 60 yards in the first half and would end the game with 14 catches for 134 and a touchdown.
"He's got great speed and played well in our big games this year," Ryan said. "We missed on him early in the game."
Gilworth, meanwhile, ended with a school single-game record 34 completions (out of 54 attempts) for 353 yards, breaking a mark set out by Craig Fobbe in the 2005 quarterfinals.
"We've got to come back and play better pass defense, I was disappointed in that part of our game," Van Diest said. "We gave up a lot of big plays and some plays that we shouldn't have.
"We've just got to do a better job next week."
Still, the Mustangs were behind the Saints, who started off the second half by orchestrating a 68-yard scoring drive.
Barnett connected with Whitmoyer on a 33-yard pass, landing them on Morningside's 2-yard line. From there, Le followed a block by offensive guard Alex Pfannanstiel around the shoulders of left tackle Bryan Camino and tight end Marshall McEwen to waltz into the end zone.
The Saints led 21-3 with 11:49 left in the quarter.
"We start out the second half and drove the ball down and scored, but then we had to hang on," Van Diest said. "That's tough, that offense is so explosive and No. 1 Bloom is just a tremendous player."
Gilworth connected with Bloom on the first of two consecutive touchdowns. Gilworth scrambled to his right on a first-down play, giving Bloom enough time to get open over the middle. The touchdown came with 8:51 left in the third. The second came after both teams went scoreless for more than 20 minutes.
On the scoring drive, Gilworth connected on seven of his 11 pass attempts, including a 36-yard pass to Beau Kildow on third-and-10. While Kildow caught the ball about 15 yards downfield, he broke four arm tackles to take it the rest. A screen pass to Pete Lewis dropped the Mustangs on Carroll's 1-yard line and Gilworth connected with receiver Chris Becker on a play-action pass. That put the score at 21-16 and left the Mustangs up for their kick-gone-awry and the interception by Koeppen.
Koeppen ended up winning defensive player of the game honors for his excellent play including 16 total tackles, six of them unassisted. He was the main stopping power that kept the Mustangs to just nine yards rushing.
"Owen Koeppen was everywhere. Owen had a tremendous game and that was a real key," Van Diest said.
Miller, who also received defensive player of the game, missed his first field goal of the season, dropping him to 16-for-17, and missed the PAT after his own touchdown, also a first.
Whitmoyer, along with blocking the field goal, had his best game of the season, though finishing without a touchdown. He led the receivers with five catches for 65 yards while Browne followed up with four for 60.
All-American safety Chad Hustedt led the Mustangs defense with 13 total tackles while Brett Nickolite had nine and an interception, his team-leading eighth on the season.
Carroll College will face off with either No. 9 Missouri Valley College or No. 5 St. Francis in the semifinal. St. Francis, a team the Saints has met up with three times in the playoffs, including the 2004 and 2005 national championship games.
The Saints will find out who they face today.
MC 0 3 7 6 -- 16
CC 0 14 7 6 -- 27
Second Quarter
CC -- Browne 26 pass from Barnett (Miller kick), 8:17
CC -- Barnett 1 run (Miller kick)
MC -- FG Gradoville 31, 00:20
Third Quarter
CC -- Le 2 run (Miller kick), 11:49
MC -- Bloom 7 pass from Gilworth (Gradoville kick), 8:51
Fourth Quarter
MC -- Becker 1 pass from Gilworth (2-point no good)
CC -- Kickoff by Gradoville returned by Miller 85, (Miller kick no good)
MC CC
First downs 21 17
Total yards 362 364
Rushes-yds 23-9 37-153
Passing 353 211
Punt Returns 2-19 4-28
Kickoff returns 5-94 4-118
Interceptions 1-15 1-0
Comp-Att-Int 34-54-1 19-30-1
Sacked-yards 1-2 4-26
Punts 6-29.8 5-189
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-0
Penalties 2-10 4-30
Possession 26:40 25:32
Individual Statistics
RUSHING -- Morn, Childress 7-15, Richard 1-5, Lewis 7-4, Gilworth 8-(-15). CC, Le 26-131, Herrin 3-18, Barnett 6-18, TEAM 1-(-1) Camino 1-(-4).
PASSING -- Morn, Gilworth 34-54-1-2 353. CC, Barnett 19-30-1-1 211.
RECEIVING -- Morn, Bloom 14-134, Kildow 6-84, Anderson 6-75, Becker 3-7, Lewis 1-14, Alfredson 1-8. CC, Whitmoyer 5-65, Browne 4-60, McEwen 3-20, Prosperie 2-25, Le 2-6, Lovin 1-17, Sloan 1-13, Curtis 1-5.
MISSED FIELD GOALS -- Gradoville 31, Miller 43.
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