GAME 9 – SOU (3-5, 2-2) vs. No. 8 Carroll (6-1, 3-0)
1 p.m. Saturday | Ashland, Oregon | Raider Stadium (Laurel Field)
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ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University football team is home for the last time to face No. 8-ranked Carroll (Mont.) in a Frontier Conference West Division matchup on Saturday at Raider Stadium's Laurel Field.

SOU's penultimate game of the regular season is set for a 1 p.m. start. Carroll (6-1 overall, 3-0 FC West) will be the third top-eight opponent to visit the Raiders (3-5, 2-2) in their five home games. They'll try to win back-to-back for the first time after last week's 38-14 rout of Arizona Christian, where they ended the night with 17 unanswered points. The Saints are riding a five-game winning streak and tied in first place with College of Idaho.

THE MATCHUP: The Raiders are 9-10 against the Saints in a series that includes three NAIA playoff tilts, and the teams have split 16 conference games dating back to 2012. Eleven of their last 15 matchups have been decided by one score, including last year's 21-17 decision in Helena that the Saints won despite committing four turnovers by blanking SOU in the second half. This year's Carroll squad started the season ranked No. 25 and has shot up on the strength of a prolific offense led by University of Montana transfer Kaden Huot. The junior quarterback has passed for 16 touchdowns compared to one interception over Carroll's last four games and is completing 71% of his attempts for 281 yards per outing.

SENIOR DAY/HALL OF FAME WEEKEND: Starting 35 minutes before kickoff, SOU will honor 22 players appearing at Raider Stadium for the last time as part of its Senior Day recognition ceremony. It's also SOU Sports Hall of Fame Weekend, and the six newest inductees will be recognized at halftime. The class comprises four-time national champion distance runner Eric Avila (2011-14), national champion wrestlers Brock Gutches (2011-15) and Matt McDowell (1990-94), four-time All-American track and field thrower Max Perry (2011-12), two-sport star and softball All-American Kelsey Randall (2014-18), and the top scorer in SOU men's basketball history, Eric Thompson (2011-15).

QUICK HITS:

• Fresh Ison last week rushed for season-highs of 100 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries, two weeks after Coen Coloma netted 146 yards and a score on 18 attempts. On the FC West leaderboard, Ison is third in rushing yards per game (50.3) and first in yards per attempt (5.7) among those with at least 50 carries.
• Safety Spencer Kuffel collected the eighth and ninth interceptions of his career at Arizona Christian, notching his second multi-pick game as a Raider. With one more interception, he'd become the first Raider since Karrington Jones (2014-15) to compile 10 in a career.
• With another sack last week, Gabe Foster climbed to No. 8 on SOU's career list with a total of 17 ½. (Only one person ahead of Foster needed, like him, just two seasons to get there.) The senior defensive end led the Frontier with 10 sacks last season and is tied atop the list again this year with 7 ½. Dating back to 2024, he has at least assisted one in 10 of his last 11 outings. He is also second among FC West players in tackles for losses with 13.
• Dom Montiel had his sharpest outing as a Raider last week, completing 22-of-25 pass attempts for 171 yards and two TDs. In SOU's wins, he has thrown for nine TDs without an interception. The junior's average of 248.4 passing yards is the 18^th-highest in the NAIA.
• Brandon Barthel is one of just 17 players across the country pulling in over 85 reception yards per game, sitting at 86.9 with three 100-yard performances. The senior is also top-10 nationally with nine touchdown catches, attempting to become the first Raider since Jordan Suell in 2019 to reach double figures.
• SOU is 118-72 all-time at Raider Stadium and has a 41-19 record in Frontier games as the designated home team. Against Top 25 teams under third-year coach Berk Brown, the Raiders are 3-4 at home.
• Brown's teams are 17-1 when they score at least 25 points.

AROUND THE FRONTIER: The Frontier boasted four ranked teams in this week's NAIA Top 25 poll: No. 5 Montana Tech from the East Division, and No. 8 Carroll, No. 15 College of Idaho, and No. 20 Montana Western from the West. College of Idaho visits Carroll next week in Helena. The Yotes stayed unbeaten in divisional play last week by stealing a 7-0 win at Eastern Oregon in which they blocked a 49-yard field-goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown with a minute left.

MORE ON CARROLL:

• The Saints have been a surprise after being picked fourth in the FC West preseason poll. They set themselves up for a run at the title in large part by upsetting then-No. 8 Montana Western, 42-34, three weeks ago on the road, and their only loss came against unbeaten Montana Tech. They're trying to get back to the NAIA playoffs for the first time in three years. Excluding the COVID-abbreviated spring 2021 season, that's been their only appearance since losing a national quarterfinal game to SOU in 2014.
• The aforementioned Huot is seventh on the NAIA's TD-pass leaderboard with 22 and has thrown fewer interceptions (4) than every quarterback in front of him. His favorite targets are receiver Chris Akulschin (80.6 yards, 6 TDs) and tight end Carson Ochoa (64.9 yards, 3 TDs), both seniors who were All-Frontier picks a season ago.
• The Saints defense is conceding just 2.4 yards per rushing attempt and has totaled more interceptions (7) than touchdown passes allowed (5). Denavion Ali is a player to watch on the defensive line with team-highs of seven sacks and 10 tackles for losses, and defensive back Gunner Giulio leads the FC West with four interceptions.
• Seventh-year Saints coach Troy Purcell owns a 43-20 record. He is 5-2 against SOU and his teams have allowed 17 or fewer points every game during an active five-game winning streak against the Raiders.