Nov. 30—BUTTE — Trey Yates scored a crucial fumble recovery in the fourth quarter of No. 4 Montana Tech's 31-21 victory over 14th-seeded Carroll College in the NAIA Football Championship Series on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Coliseum.
Polson product Jarrett Wilson threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns on 11 for 16 passing. On the ground, Wilson racked up 94 yards on 17 carries. Orediggers (12-0) receiver Levi Torgerson caught two touchdowns on 6 grabs for 124 yards.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCarroll (9-3) quarterback Kaden Huot left the game due to injury. Backup Quinn Stamps finished the game with 187 yards and three scores. Carson Ochoa hauled in three touchdowns and led all receivers with 125 yards.
Carroll outgained Tech 411-397 but were 4-of-12 on third down and 1-of-4 on fourth down attempts.
Torgerson caught two touchdowns in the first quarter. The first was a 15-yard score on a drive that lasted just over one minute. And the next, a 66-yard connection with Wilson to give the Orediggers a 14-0 lead.
Casey Kautzman extended the lead to 17-0 with a 13-yard field goal with 8:33 remaining in the first half.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCarroll scored all its 21 points in the third quarter with the three touchdowns coming from f Stamps to Ochoa. They connected on plays 14, 23, and 28 yards.
Torgerson caught his second touchdown of the game in the third quarter on a 21-yard strike from Wilson. Tech entered the final period with a narrow 24-21 lead.
Kautzman's punt pinned the Saints at the one-yard line to start the fourth quarter. Three plays later, Tyler Kovick stripped Stamps, and Yates recovered the ball in the endzone, giving Tech a 10-point lead with just over nine minutes remaining.
The Orediggers defense forced a turnover on downs on the next Carroll drive, and Nate Milanowski ran out most of the time remaining to secure the Tech Victory. Milanowski finished with 67 yards rushing on 16 attempts.
Montana Tech hosts No. 8 College of Idaho next Saturday in the Quarterfinals, after the Yotes defeated No. 9 Morningside (Iowa) 37-19 on Saturday.
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