DICKINSON, N.D. -- Woody Hayes used to say if you pass the football three things could happen, and two of them were bad.

Well, the ground-oriented former Ohio State coach would have had egg on his face Saturday as plenty of good things happened to the Carroll College football team when it went to the air in a NAIA quarterfinal playoff game.

The Saints routed Dickinson State 56-17 on a cold and snowy -- albeit clear -- day to earn their 10th straight playoff win and their fifth straight trip to the NAIA semifinals.

Carroll quarterback Tyler Emmert, the reigning NAIA player of the year, was on target all day long completing 12-of-16 passes for four touchdowns.

Emmert's main target was Kevin McCutcheon. The pair, who played together at Capital High School, were on the same page all day long. McCutcheon had seven catches for 143 yards and four touchdowns.

"I love airing it out," McCutcheon said. "That's what I like to do."

The Saints' offensive front afforded Emmert plenty of time in the pocket and he was able to find the open receiver more often than not.

"We put in some new wrinkles offensively and the offensive line did a good job of protecting Tyler early," Carroll College coach Mike Van Diest said.

Carroll scored on three of its first four drives, and the combination of Emmert and McCutcheon accounted for the first two tallies.

The first score was a 29-yard pass in which Emmert checked off three times before he found McCutcheon in the end zone.

The second Carroll tally came after a Blue Hawk blitz was picked up before Emmert and McCutcheon hooked up from 27 yards out.

"They brought a lot of pressure and that forced their safeties and corners to play extremely well," Emmert said.

Emmert also hurt the Dickinson with his feet as early in the second quarter. The junior from Helena, faked a handoff and rolled down the right side line for 34 yards. That set up a 2-yard touchdown by Jed Thomas, his third of the playoffs.

Just for good measure, the Saints scored one more time before the end of the half, and fittingly it was McCutcheon and Emmert who put the points on the board.

McCutcheon was the beneficiary of a good matchup. He beat Dickinson linebacker Mike Staudinger and was wide open for the 34-yard touchdown.

McCutcheon had 116 yards receiving in the first half alone and Emmert threw for 168 yards in the first two quarters.

Facing a big early deficit, the Blue Hawks had to abandon their bread and butter and throw the ball.

Dickinson State quarterback Michael Spargo was fairly efficient, completing 15-of-27 for 160 yards but passing the ball wasn't the Blue Hawks' strength going into the game.

Running the ball was, and Dickinson found yards hard to come by in the game. The Saints' three-man front filled gaps well and Dickinson's top running back Jace Schillinger could never get untracked.

Schillinger, who had rushed for almost 1,300 yards this season only had 79 in the game.

"We picked up early whether they were going to run or pass," defensive lineman Kevin Cicero said.

Mistakes compounded Dickinson's offensive woes early in the second half with two turnovers that translated into points for Carroll College.

Mark Esponda picked up a fumble by Schillinger and one play later McCutcheon and Emmert combined for their fourth score of the game.

On the next drive, a high snap was too hard for Adam Eckert to handle and he was stuffed for no gain on fourth down.

Seven plays later, Emmert put the Saints up 42-3 with a 6:05 left in the third quarter.

The win was the 10th in the series between the two schools.

It was the second time in the last three years that Dickinson has been eliminated from the NAIA playoffs by the Saints.

The Saints' next opponent will be announced at 11 a.m. today. Speculation Saturday centered around a game against Azusa Pacific, but it now appears Azusa and Carroll will head east to play the two undefeated teams left, St. Francis, Ind., and Georgetown, Ky., both 12-0.

The Saints downed the Cougars 12-0 earlier in the season in Azusa, Calif.

"We are going to play a good team so we are going to have a tough week of practice," Emmert said.

If Carroll gets a home semifinal game, tickets will go on sale at 2 p.m. today.

Saints 56, Blue Hawks 17

Carroll 14 14 14 14 -- 56

Dickinson St. 3 0 10 14 -- 17

First Quarter

CC-McCutcheon 27 pass from Emmert (Miller kick),11:55.

CC-McCutcheon 27 pass from Emmert (Miller kick),6:33.

DSU-FG O'Brien 22, 1:13.

Second Quarter

CC-Thomas 2 run (Miller kick),12:04.

CC-McCutcheon 34 pass from Emmert (Miller kick),2:31.

Third Quarter

CC-McCutcheon 25 pass from Emmert (Miller kick),12:40.

CC-Emmert 12 run (Miller kick),6:05.

Fourth Quarter

DSU-Espinoza 6 run (O'Brien kick),8:10.

CC-Barnett 39 run (Miller kick),8:02.

DSU-Davis 96 kickoff return (O'Brien kick),7:43.

CC-Grosulak 12 run (Miller kick),3:02.

A-3,000

CC DSU

First downs 19 21

Rushes-yards 35-158 50-104

Passing 199 186

Comp-Att-Int 12-19-0 17-34-1

Return Yards 105 224

Punts-Avg. 3-47 5-39.8

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 3-49 9-69

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-CC, Grosulak 15-53, Thomas 12-45, Barnett 2-36, Emmert 5-34, Peterson 1-(-10). DSU, Schillinger 29-79, Espinoza 3-36, Wolfe 10-31, Eckert 1-(-10), Spargo 7-(-32).

PASSING-CC, Emmert 12-19-0-199. DSU, Spargo 15-29-0-160, Espinoza 2-5-1-26.

RECEIVING-CC, McCutcheon 7-143, Michaelis 1-34, Barnett 1-8, Bumgarner 1-7, Wigen 1-4, Thiry 1-3. DSU, Eckert 7-81, Schillinger 3-33, Espinoza 3-22, Greff 2-30, Woolsey 1-16, Wolfe 1-4.