Frontier football: Carroll picked to win another title

Only in the Frontier Conference can a defending national champion NOT be picked to win the league’s football title.

The championship has belonged largely to Carroll College for so long that it seems strange for any other team to earn such lofty respect from preseason pollsters. So it wasn’t all that surprising Tuesday when Southern Oregon, the NAIA defending national champion, was not picked to win the 2015 league title as the Frontier Conference released its coaches poll at an annual Media Day gathering in Great Falls.

“They’re loaded,” Carroll coach Mike Van Diest said of Southern Oregon, which is picked second behind the Saints in the poll. “And everybody’s got so many returning players, but we’ve got Mac Roche coming back (at quarterback) and I feel very good about Mac.”

The Saints have won 14 Frontier titles and six NAIA national crowns since Van Diest took over the program 16 seasons ago. Carroll won the Frontier championship a year ago with a 9-1 mark, but was ousted from the playoffs by Southern Oregon in an epic 45-42 game in Helena.

Roche, a quarterback from Whitefish who passed for 2,942 yards and 28 touchdowns a year ago, is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior who ranked third in the nation in passing efficiency.

“He’s as good as we’ve had at quarterback,” said Van Diest, whose program has produced many top-flight passers. “He’s exactly what we thought he was when we recruited him. We knew he’d have to sit a little bit behind those other guys, but you just hope he had enough resolve to do that. He’s a great teammate and a great competitor.

“And it all starts with that guy under center.”

Carroll finished 10-2 last year, with both losses to Southern Oregon. Van Diest is 186-30 with the Saints in 16 seasons, an astounding .861 winning percentage.

Southern Oregon was 13-2 a year ago, including a 55-31 trouncing of Marian (Ind.) in the national championship game. Coach Craig Howard must replace graduated quarterback Austin Dodge, the NAIA Player of the Year who signed a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Dodge set NAIA records with 154 touchdown passes, 17,250 passing yards, 1,253 completions and 373.7 total yards per game during his college career.

Coaches could not vote for their own teams. Carroll topped the poll with 47 points, including five first-place votes. Southern Oregon had the other three first-place votes and finished with 44 points.

Eastern Oregon, 8-3 a year ago under veteran coach Tim Camp, is picked third in the poll, followed by Rocky Mountain, Montana Western, College of Idaho, Montana Tech and Montana State-Northern.

Rocky (Brian Armstrong), Western (BJ Robertson) and Tech (Chuck Morrell) all have veteran head coaches. MSU-Northern is led by first-year coach Aaron Christianson. The Frontier schedule starts Aug. 22 when Northern travels to Dickinson State.

On Aug. 29, Eastern Oregon is at College of Idaho and Dickinson State is at Rocky Mountain. Then on Sept. 5 a full slate of five games is scheduled, including a powerhouse matchup in Helena as Southern Oregon visits Carroll College.

A year ago, the Saints defeated SOU 42-40, and lost twice to the same team by scores of 38-35 and 45-42.

Frontier commission Kent Paulson opened the meeting with a statement and drew smiles from onlookers by saying he’s feeling great. Paulson, the Plentywood native and former C.M. Russell High basketball coach, suffered severe injuries in an auto accident last November. Paulson, 64, broke his sternum, hip, pelvis and nose.

“I told the coaches it was great to see them and after the year I’ve had even greater to be seen,” Paulson said.

Among the top offensive playmakers returning this fall are Rocky Mountain receiver Andre McCullough, Montana Tech receiver Alec Bray, MSU-Northern halfback Zach McKinley of Great Falls, College of Idaho quarterback Teejay Gordon, UM Western halfback Sam Rutherford, and Southern Oregon halfback Melvin Mason and receiver Ryan Retzlaff.

Carroll’s graduation losses were heavy, as all-time leading rusher Dustin Rinker (1,675 yards last fall) and leading receiver Anthony Clarke (80 catches, 1,289 yards) exhausted their eligibility.

So, too, did All-American linebacker Sean Blomquist graduate.

“With Blomquist graduating I thought I was retiring,,” Van Diest said with a slight grin.

Not likely.

The veteran head coach has a talented defense returning, including star safety James Dowgin in a loaded secondary and linebackers Adam DeBruycker of Choteau and Shayne Durbin of Lewistown.

A veteran offensive front and talented receivers Dylan Simac and Kyle Griffith are also back.

Southern Oregon athletic director Matt Sayre, a former Eastern Washington quarterback, pinch-hit for an ailing Howard at the Media Day function and expressed his school’s gratitude for gaining admission into the Frontier five years ago. He said the football program might not have survived without status in the league.

Certainly it’s true that the Frontier is among the top NAIA leagues in the land.

“I think people realize,” said Rocky Mountain coach Brian Armstrong, “how stressful it is to coach against these guys.”