After four years of hoisting the NAIA national championship trophy over their heads, the Carroll College Saints were humbled by the St. Xavier Cougars Saturday at Nelson Stadium.

The No. 9 Cougars barreled through the snow and fought back from a first-half deficit to beat the No. 4 Saints 14-7 in their quarterfinal playoff game.

For the 10-2 Cougars, it means another road trip and another chance to upset a higher-ranked team. For the 11-2 Saints, its an earlier-than-expected good-bye to 11 seniors that have been integral in leading the team this season.

"I'm sure they're on top of the world right now," said Saints senior defensive lineman, Chris Ramstead of his opponents. "But obiously we're down. For 11 of us its the last game, but we went down fighting."

In fact, they started the fight in the snow, scoring in the second quarter of the game.

The sky seemed to know that it would be the Saints' last touchdown, casting a picture-perfect glare down on the field.

The clouds opened up and the flurries ceased for a few minutes as the Saints engineered a 70-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from junior quarterback John Barnett to receiver Travis Browne.

Browne cut through the center of the Cougar defense and with the Saints offensive line stopping a blitz by St. Xavier's middle linebacker, Barnett floated a pass that fell into the receiver's hands right past the goal line.

The 28-yard touchdown pass put the Saints up 7-0 with 5:28 in the first half, and the defense made sure the Cougars wouldn't score before the next quarter.

With possession returning to their hands, the Cougars ran the ball for barely two first downs. They tried the arm of sophomore quarterback Billy Yeo, but a long pass into Carroll's red zone was intercepted by cornerback Nick Milodragovich.

The Saints got a break when Alex Pfannenstiel recovered a fumbled ball from the hands of senior running back Ryan Grosulak. The ball had popped forward, giving the Saints yardage for a first down, but they weren't able to get another one in the series.

St. Xavier finally gained possession with 1:31 left, but any try for a quick drive ended when Saints sophomore linebacker Owen Koeppen streaked from the left side of the field to crush Yeo.

The Cougars starting quarterback didn't get up from the field, but removed his helmet and lay in the snow until trainers walked him off minutes later.

With a 7-0 lead and facing the second-string quarterback, Carroll looked like they would be able to pull the game off easily.

But instead, the Cougars got top-notch performances from backup quarterback Jeremy Zientek and running back Jason Banning.

Zientek stepped into the game and after missing his first three passes completed 14-of-19 for 134 yards.

With 1:45 left in the third quarter, he connected with receiver Andy Ricca for a 15-yard touchdown, the Cougars' first of the game.

Zientek's performance was the real key of the game, said Cougars head coach Mike Feminis. The sophomore quarterback hadn't played since the team's 24-21 loss to Malone more than two months ago.

"I was just so happy for him because he had to bring us back from being down 7 against the best team in the country. For him to do that after not playing for two months, it gave our guys a ton of confidence," Feminis said.

The touchdown tied up the match with 1:45 left in the third quarter and St. Xavier's tough defense pinned the Saints in their own zone.

Possession after possession the Saints were forced to punt, and senior Ben Chaet was able to clear the ball back over the field into the Cougars red zone.

"We were in a hole all the way and we couldn't stop their running game," said Carroll head coach, Mike Van Diest. "In the end we just couldn't do the things we have to do, and that's keep them out of the red zone."

With about five minutes left, the Cougars downed a punt on the Saints' 2 yard line.

Carroll ran the ball, hoping to break away from their own zone without a safety or turnover, but neither of the team's senior running backs, Grosulak and Jed Thomas, could find room to break free.

Chaet was called upon once again, and after eight flawless punts in the falling snow, he let one go short, putting the Cougar's on Carroll's own 36 yard line.

St. Xavier took advantage. Banning, who would slice his way through the Saints defense for 65 yards on 17 carries, was handed the ball and bowled through the Saints defense for two yards, good for the team's winning touchdown.

"We knew coming in that they'd have the most weapons on offense that we've seen," Ramstead said. "We knew everybody had to play their top-notch game today, they just came out a little cleaner than we did."

The Saints tried to keep it going on a late drive, and after a 34-yard kick return by Browne made two first downs to bring them on St. Xavier's side of the field. But after missing three more, Barnett connected with sophomore tight end Marshall McEwen. The ball was downed at more than nine yards, but less than 10.

The Cougars were given the ball, and ran out the clock.

"Going into this game I thought if we could score 14 points we'd have a good chance to win," Feminis said. "We were just hoping to put two scores on the board and leave it to our defense."

The Cougar defense held the Saints to 197 yards while St. Xavier went 288. The biggest hit was on the Saints running game, which went 86 yards on 33 carries.

Barnett led the Saints ground work, scrambling for 31 yards on 13 holds. Grosulak and Thomas had 30 and 28 yards, respectively.

The Cougars, who won their first playoff game ever against No. 7 Georgetown (Ky.) the weekend before, are now heading to No. 1 St. Francis (Ind.) to try to win their third playoff game on the road.

"It's the biggest win I've ever been a part of," Feminis said of Saturday's victory.

The loss ended the Saints' 17-game winning streak in the playoffs. Now, they'll take a break and be looking forward to next year.

"We just got to have an off-season like we never have before," Barnett said. "We have to let this feeling stay in our gut and let it make us work 10 times harder."

St. Xavier 0 0 7 7 -- 14

Carroll 0 7 0 0 -- 7

Second Quarter

CC -- Travis Browne 28 pass from John Barnett (Marcus Miller kick) 5:28

Third Quarter

SXU -- Andy Ricca 15 pass from Jeremy Zientek (Shane Longest kick) 3:36

Fourth Quarter

SXU -- Jason Banning 2 run (Longest kick) 3:08

Team Stats

SXU CC

First downs 8 18

Rushes 36-135 33-86

Passing 153 111

Comp-att 29-18-1 18-10-0

Punts 8-37.6 9-40.1

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-1

Penalties 3-15 3-11

Time of pos 33:13 26:30

Individual Stats

Rushing -- SXU, Banning 17-65, Selby 5-25, Ricca 3-18, Zientek 2-16. CC, Barnett 13-31, Grosulak 9-30, Thomas 10-28, Browne 1-(-3).

Passing -- SXU, Zientek 14-22-0 134, Yeo 4-7-1 19. CC, Barnett 10-18-0 111.

Receiving -- SXU, McKeon 8-60, Ricca 5-61, Gerritsen 2-18, Banning 1-9, Doherly 1-5, Trubich 1-0. CC, Browne 3-54, McEven 3-36, Herrin 2-3, Thomas 1-12, Doak 1-6.