Carroll College head coach Mike Van Diest wanted his offense scoring faster and earlier, and the No. 2 Saints did just that on Saturday.

Carroll scored touchdowns on its first two drives, setting themselves up for a 42-0 rout over Rocky Mountain College.

"We talked about it, we wanted to give our offense the chance to do the things that they wanted to do. They're so good physically, we wanted them to establish themselves early," Van Diest said. "It was good to see them take that drive, to get yardage and get scores."

"I give all the credit to the offense for this win today, for setting the tempo."

In perfect weather conditions it was a near-perfect day for the Saints, who would end up with 487 yards of offense while shutting out their opponent for the third straight game.

Saints senior quarterback John Barnett went 5-for-5 through the air on the first drive of the game before carrying it 10 yards into the end zone, putting the Saints ahead in just under five minutes.

After forcing the Bears offense to punt in six plays, Barnett then carried three straight times, breaking tackles beyond the line of scrimmage and running for 65 yards on his final carry.

After he was finally brought down on Rocky's 4 yard line, running back Sean Herrin would punch it in two plays later on a 2-yard dive.

Barnett was thrilled to see the offense working so well so soon in the game.

"Coach Van Diest told us today that we were going to try to get the ball first," he said. "The first drive was really fluid and really, I think one of our best drives of the season. I don't think we made one mistake."

The quarterback finished the game completing 15-of-21 passes for 224 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

After giving up his first interception on a ball tipped at the line and caught by linebacker Daniel Worley, Barnett led the offense back on a 71-yard, seven-play drive that would end in the end zone.

During the drive, the Saints quarterback quickly converted into a fullback as he handed off to Gabe Le and suddenly became a lead blocker. Twice Barnett came out of the backfield to give running backs room. He first broke open a hole that gave Le 20 yards along the boundary line before Christian Prosperie, running out of the backfield for the first time since high school, was able to gain six off the shoulder of his quarterback.

Van Diest said that putting different players in motion and using Barnett in different offensive situations has been necessary as the Saints play their Frontier Conference teams for a second time around.

"They've seen us five or six games on film, and we've got to do a good job mixing things up, especially in this second half of the season," the coach said.

Le finished the drive with 39 yards off three carries, but the running back's performance was eclipsed by a 20-yard touchdown pass to fifth-year senior Dan Lovin.

The Saints wide receiver sped left and burned two receivers to receive a pristine pass in the near corner of the end zone.

"I saw the linebacker coming," he said, "next thing I know Travis (Browne) is downfield blocking a guy, but honestly I don't know how I got open.

"As soon as I got off the corner it was the perfect ball."

It was the first touchdown of his career and put the Saints up 21-0 with 13:13 left in the first half.

Carroll's defense held the Bears to their second three-and-out of the game on the next possession. They would force Rocky to punt eight times for 287 yards and allow just seven first downs.

The Saints offense used the next possession to prove that even when they aren't perfect, they can still sustain a drive.

Carroll had two penalties pulling them back 10 yards apiece and a fumbled snap that Barnett jumped on, but they were able to drive 52 yards for their fourth touchdown.

Le forced it in following the lead block of Bubba Bartlett to make it 28-0 with 6:28 in the second quarter. They wouldn't score again until the end of the third quarter.

The Saints spent that time defending Bears attacks. While Carroll has had the No. 1 defense in the nation - they averaged just 160 yards per game heading into Saturday - Van Diest said he would like his players to force more turnovers.

On the first drive of the second half, they answered the call, returing an interception for a touchdown.

After Mondrell Lathan was stuffed by the defensive line for a one-yard gain, Carroll's linemen got in the face of quarterback Casey Gregersen. On the very next play, Gregersen's pass attempt was blocked by defensive end Phil Lenoue. When Rocky's quarterback tried throwing it again, defensive end Nick Gilchrist tipped it high into the air and linebacker Brandon Day was able to pull it down.

Day turned upfield and found open room for Carroll's first defensive touchdown of the year.

"We had two or three blocked passes at the line of scrimmage, and we were there and opportunistic," Van Diest said. "It was great to see, these guys wanted to score."

It was the lone touchdown of the third quarter as Carroll would get one more in the fourth. That came off fullback John Camino, who broke through a hole in the right side of the offensive line to run 19 yards nearly untouched.

The Saints replaced Barnett with backup quarterback Gary Wagner to finish the final minutes of the first half and then again with about 13 minutes left in the game.

Wagner would complete three of his six passes for 39 yards, mostly behind the second- and third-string offense.

Carroll's backups on defense played nearly the entire fourth quarter. In fact, aside from starting linebacker Mac Gordon, who had six tackles, the team's next three top tacklers were Chandler Buck, Thomas Dolan and Greg Thompson, all replacements.

The defense held Rocky to 8-of-26 passing for 90 yards and the interception. The Bears had at first planned to start senior quarterback Drew Hedrick for the game before opting for Gregersen. It might have saved Hedrick, who missed the first game against Carroll with a sprained knee. He has yet to run at 100 percent and after the Saints racked up 13 sacks against Tech the week before, using their sophomore backup was probably the better option.

Rocky was able to trudge up 101 yards rushing, thanks to the mobile Gregersen, who led them with 38.

"At first we'd have a little trouble because he'd drop back and he'd just tuck the ball and go," said Carroll nose tackle Will Hamilton. "Once we started playing our lanes and our gaps he didn't have anywhere to go. He started playing the 90s game a little more and our DBs and secondary got after them."

Running back Cavan Cooney would end up with 32 yards on nine carries while Mondrell Lathan had 31 yards on seven carries.

Carroll's quarterback also led his team in rushing with 91 on nine attempts. Le finished with 73 on 14 carries and Camino 26 on five runs.

Junior tight end Marshall McEwen did much of the dirty work for the Saints' receivers, making four catches for 81 yards. Travis Browne and Lovin both had four catches for 78 and 40 yards, respectively.

"We used Marshall early in the game," Van Diest said. "That's a real plus, we spread the ball out again."

Eight players had receptions for Carroll on the day and it seemed as though everyone had seen action by the end of the game.

The Saints (7-0, 6-0 conference) continue their undefeated season next week in La Grande, Ore., where they will face the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers, who are coming off their first win of the season against UM-Western.

The Bears fell to 2-5 overall, 1-5 in conference.

Reporter Jeff Windmueller

447-4070 or

jeff.windmueller@helenair.com

Rocky 0 0 0 0 - 0

Carroll 14 14 7 7 - 42

First Quarter

CC - Barnett 10 run (Miller kick), 10:17

CC - Herrin 1 run (Miller kick), 5:47

Second Quarter

CC - Lovin 20 pass from Barnett (Miller kick), 13:13

CC - Le 5 run (Miller kick), 6:28

Third Quarter

CC - Day 23 off interception of Gregersen (Miller kick), 14:14

Fourth Quarter

CC - Camino 19 run (Miller kick), 6:45

RMC CC

First downs 7 22

Rushes-yds 29-101 41-224

Passing yds 90 263

Return yds (punt) 0 25

Return yds (kickoff) 109 0

Comp-Att 8-26 18-27

Sacked-yds lost 0-0 1-9

Punts 8-287 3-130

Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0

Penalties-yds 3-20 7-47

Possession 21:03 26:45

Individual Statistics

RUSHING - Rocky, Gregersen 13-38, Cooney 9-32, Lathan 7-31. Carroll, Barnett 9-91, Le 14-73, Camino 5-26, Wagner 3-16, Herrin 5-13, Prosperie 1-5, Browne 1-0.

PASSING - Rocky, Gregersen 8-26-1-0 90. Carroll, Barnett 15-21-2-1 224, Wagner 3-6-0-0 39.

RECEIVING - Rocky, Burton 2-25, Hagadone 2-21, Guisti 1-35, Daer 1-7, Harris 1-5, Rundle 1-(-3). Carroll, McEwen 4-81, Browne 4-78, Lovin 4-40, Peterson 2-34, Curtis 2-15, Milodragovich 1-10, Whitmoyer 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS - None