Shout Carroll to the skies

SAVANNAH, Tenn. – Tyler Emmert ended a memorable career with another memorable weekend, leading Carroll College of Helena to its fourth straight NAIA football championship, 27-10 over St. Francis (Ind.) on Saturday.

Emmert completed 20 of 36 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns as the top-ranked Saints (14-0) rolled to a 17-3 halftime lead and held off the second-ranked Cougars (13-1) for the second straight year in the NAIA title game.

Emmert was selected the offensive most valuable player in the championship game for the third straight year.

That honor came a day after he claimed NAIA Player of the Year honors for the second time in three seasons and two days after he was selected the first-team quarterback on The Associated Press Little All-America team.

“It’s tough to walk off the field, but it’s not about records and not about numbers. It’s about this group of guys and what we’ve been able to accomplish,” said Emmert, who is 74-3 as a starting quarterback dating to his days at Capital High School in Helena.

The Saints, winners of 21 straight games, became the second team in college football history to win four straight national titles. The other was Augustana (Ill.) in 1983-86 in NCAA Division III.

“We haven’t talked about history, or wanting to be part of it, because if we didn’t reach that goal it would have been a big letdown,” Carroll coach Mike Van Diest said. “But this group is obviously special. They play hard, and find a lot of different ways to win.”

Emmert added 20 yards on the ground, and finishes his career with an NAIA-record 13,979 yards of total offense.

He finished with 1,037 completions, two shy of tying the record for any quarterback at any level of college play.

Senior Ryan Grosulak had 83 yards on 17 carries, and junior Jed Thomas added 66 on 16. Marcus Miller (Gonzaga Prep) kicked a pair of field goals.

Saints linebacker Phil Lenoue (G-Prep) sacked St. Francis quarterback Chris Bramell twice, and cornerback Matt Thomas earned defensive MVP honors.

The 5-foot-9 Thomas broke up a second-quarter flea-flicker pass to the 6-5 Bramell that could have made it 10-10 late in the second quarter.

“That was a mistake at first. I saw the reverse (to Cougars’ wideout Andy Papagiannis), and suddenly saw Bramell floating free,” Thomas said. “I just ran as hard as I could and tried to make the jump at the right time.”

Bramell said: “He just made the play on me. They made plays all day.”

Moments after the breakup, Emmert opened up a 17-3 halftime lead as time expired, hitting Bryce Doak on a 32-yard scoring strike at the end of a 62-second, 64-yard drive.

“I thought we were going to run it out, but Jed got a great run and Zach (Bumgarner) took a pass and went out of bounds the next play,” Emmert said. “Doak always said in a situation like that, just put one up and he’d get it. I don’t like to operate that way, but thank goodness he was telling the truth.”

Emmert also found Tyler Peterson for an 18-yard TD toss, their 17th scoring connection this season, in the first quarter and added a 17-yard TD pass to Marshall McEwen late in the third period.

“Defensively, they pinched inside to close off running lanes, and did a great job in coverage,” Cougars coach Kevin Donley said. “Offensively, Emmert is a very gifted athlete, who gets away and makes plays when you think you’ve got him.”

Bramell had closed the gap earlier in the period with an 18-yard TD pass to Bo Thompson. Bramell was 6 for 18 for 56 yards and ran for a team-high 72 yards.

St. Francis has three losses in its last 41 games – all three to Carroll in the championship games and the 2003 NAIA semifinals.

“Our seniors have accomplished an awful lot, but the only thing missing was beating Carroll, or winning a national title,” Donley said.