Le, Saints advance to title

HELENA – Gabe Le (Coeur d’Alene High) rushed for a career-high 154 yards and John Barnett passed for one touchdown and ran for another Saturday to lead Carroll College to a 23-7 victory over St. Francis of Indiana in the semifinals of the NAIA playoffs.

No. 2 Carroll (14-0) advanced to the national championship game for the fifth time in six years, after having won four straight titles from 2002 through 2005.

The Saints will play the winner of today’s game between top-ranked and defending national champion Sioux Falls (12-0) and Missouri Valley (10-2). The game was to have been played Saturday, but was postponed because of a winter storm in Sioux Falls, S.D.

No. 5 St. Francis (11-2) had been averaging nearly 276 yards rushing and 42.8 points per game, but the Saints held St. Francis to 87 yards rushing.

Carroll broke the game open on its first drive in the third quarter when Barnett sneaked into the end zone on a quarterback keeper, giving the Saints a 16-7 lead midway through the third quarter. The key play in the drive was a 21-yard pass from Barnett to Travis Browne, who went out of bounds at the St. Francis 4.

Brian Sloan had two catches for 75 yards, and Le had 39 carries for the Saints.