REDDING, Calif. — No. 11-ranked Carroll College forged a 17-point first-quarter lead Saturday on the way to a 45-31 victory over Simpson (Calif.) in a Frontier Conference West division game.
Beau Butner scored on a pair of 7-yards runs for Carroll in the opening quarter after Kaden Huot threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Triplett as the Fighting Saints grabbed a 21-3 advantage. Butner added another rushing TD in the second quarter and Huot finished the day with 271 passing yards and a pair of touchdown throws and Carroll improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the West.
Simpson fell to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the division.
The game was matchup of two coaches with deep Montana ties who both helmed high school football teams at Eureka among their coaching stops.
Carroll's Troy Purcell was the head coach at Eureka from 1994-99 before going on to win high school state championships at both Havre and Bozeman High. Simpson's Trevor Utter, a former player at the University of Montana, led Eureka from 2012-24, where he won state titles in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Tight end Ty Wilkinson also caught a touchdown pass from Huot. Butner finished with 74 rushing yards on 16 attempts. Gavin Vandenacre caught three passes for 92 yards.
Defensively, the Saints finished with five quarterback sacks. Bridger Fleming led the way with two. Max Grady had Carroll's defensive interception.
