The Carroll College football team knew it was in for an emotional afternoon Saturday when it hosted Rocky Mountain College on Senior Day.

The relief the No. 2 Saints felt in the end, however, wasn't what they had in mind.

One big drive and an equally important turnover on special teams helped Carroll (9-0, 8-0 Frontier Conference) rally from a 27-20 deficit with 6:36 left in the game to beat the last-place Bears 34-27 at Nelson Stadium.

"It was exciting here on Senior Day," said senior running back Gabe Le. "Knowing it could be my last game in Nelson Stadium, emotions were were running high."

Perhaps none higher than when Le cut left behind the Saints' offensive line and ran 10 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 1:26 left on the clock.

Until that moment, the Saints - who clinched at least a share of their 10th straight Frontier Conference championship with the win - weren't sure which team would end up on top.

Slicing and dicing the Saints' secondary, Rocky senior quarterback Kasey Peters completed 34-of-61 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns - two to senior receiver Brian Guisti - as the Bears led the way through most of the back-and-forth scoring.

"He's a great quarterback and they have great weapons," said Saints senior safety Cody Lamb. "I don't even want to know how many passing yards they had."

Carroll, which refused to give up any big passes, allowed Rocky's receivers to cut under the defensive coverage. Peters' stats would've been even better if it weren't for seven dropped passes, including one by Connor Maloney in the end zone, in the first half alone.

The receiving cleaned up after Carroll pounded its way to a 14-10 lead at the half, and the Bears (2-7, 1-7 Frontier) repeatedly turned to Guisti, who finished with 13 catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Guisti's second score came on a 4-yard touchdown pass over the head of Carroll junior cornerback Mike Waldenberg to give Rocky its final lead.

Trailing in the fourth quarter for the first time this season, the Saints engineered a 66-yard drive that included a fourth-down conversion by sophomore receiver Matt Ritter - who ran the ball out of the Wildcat formation - and a 31-yard pass to junior tight end Bubba Bartlett that set them up for the tie.

"That was amazing," said Saints senior guard Alex Pfannenstiel. "We got the ball with six and a half minutes to go and it was like, 'It's time.' "

Bartlett's catch landed the Saints on Rocky's 6-yard line. Three plays later, Wagner rolled out to his right and let go a pass to Ritter, who stepped his way into the end zone to make it 27-27 with 2:23 left on the clock.

Then came the key turnover that helped the Saints pound the final nail in the coffin.

Bears junior receiver Nathan Barnett, who finished with six receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown, ran the ball out from the 3-yard line, turned to his left and ran into the Saints' special teams' wall.

Sticking his hand into the scrum, Carroll sophomore safety Tucker Vezina stripped Barnett of the ball and junior running back Jeff Deal recovered the fumble to give the Saints back the ball on Rocky's 22-yard line.

"Nate Barnett, there's a guy that dropped a few balls and battled his way back into the game," said Rocky head coach Brian Armstrong. "We can't blame him. We wouldn't have been in that game without Barnett."

Freshman running back Chance Demarais ran 7 yards on second down to put the Saints on the 10-yard line, and Le - along with some blocks by junior John Camino and receiver sophomore Lat Wipplinger - did the rest from there.

Le finished with a team-high 97 yards rushing on 18 carries as the Saints ran for a total of 287 yards. Camino rushed for 93 yards on 13 carries while Demarais scored on a 31-yard TD run, which accounted for a majority of his 59 yards rushing.

Wagner needed to complete just seven of his 14 pass attempts to throw for 101 yards and two touchdowns, including a 5-yard TD pass to Bartlett.

Bartlett led the Saints with four receptions for 53 yards while Le caught two passes for 44.

"We knew Peters would come in and throw the ball, killing the clock," Le said. "We didn't get the ball as much as we would like, so we had to capitalize."

The Saints burned up just over five minutes on their final two drives. With 1:19 left to march 75 yards, Rocky converted on a fourth down but couldn't break past the 37-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.

"They played their hearts out, so did Carroll," Armstrong said. "It was a great game. Too bad someone had to lose, especially us."

For the Saints, who play their final two games of the regular season on the road - next week at Montana Western, before a finale at second-place Eastern Oregon - the close outcome made for a memorable occasion.

"Coach (Mike Van Diest) was saying before the game, 'You'll remember Senior Day for the rest of your life,' " senior defensive end Garrett Thompson said.

"I think this game will stand out for me," said his senior teammate on the line, Mason Siddick.

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NOTES: Rocky's Bjorn Nelson completed field goals of 30 and 18 yards, the second tying the game up 20-20...Peters scrambled his way to a team-high 63 yards rushing while junior Michael Thomas added 46 on 11 carries...Montana Tech defeated Eastern Oregon 28-24 to send the Mountaineers to two games behind Carroll in the Frontier standings.... 15 seniors will graduate.