November 22, 2025
Box Score
HELENA, Mont. - Kaden Huot was efficient, needing just 13 completions and 166 yards to throw four touchdown passes, and Peter Minnaert ran for 115 yards on 10 carries with a score, as Carroll (Mont.) topped St. Thomas (Fla.), 42-35, to move into the Second Round in the 2025 NAIA Football Championship Series.
The Saints, now 9-2, intercepted St. Thomas quarterback Keely Watson three times, the only cloud around an otherwise big day for Watson, who threw for 381 yards on 34 completions, scoring three touchdowns, in all - two through the air and one on the ground. The Bobcats end their season at 7-4.
Carroll went to intermission with a four-point lead, taking a 21-17 advantage into the locker room after a 35-yard pass from Huot to Chris Akulschin. That score came 11 seconds after Watson gave St. Thomas a 17-14 lead on a 10-yard touchdown run at the end of a five-play, 45-yard drive, but Carroll's Connor Sullivan returned the ensuing kick 65 yards, setting up the half-ending heave to the end zone.
In the first quarter, the Saints built a 14-3 lead on Huot's first two touchdown tosses, but the Bobcats answered with Watson's touchdowns on back-to-back drives late in the second quarter.
Peter Minnaert extended the Carroll lead late in the third quarter, a 16-yard run set up by a nine-yard scramble from Huot that got the ball into the red zone. That TD was met immediately, though, as Watson engineered a 70-yard scoring drive in 16 plays, throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass to David Hayes, following it with a two-point pass to Jaely Thomas.
Down 28-25 with 13:42 left in the game, St. Thomas tried an onside kick and recovered it, but the Bobcats were offside on the play, returning the ball to Carroll with a chance to chew up fourth-quarter time. St. Thomas forced Carroll to punt, but on STU's next play, Watson was intercepted by Braeden Orlandi, who returned the pick 47 yards to the 1-yard line. Xzavier Ford needed one carry to punch it in, extending the Carroll lead to 35-25 with 10:32 left.
Carroll would add insurance with 3:50 remaining when Huot threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day, this time to Ty Wilkinson, a score that proved important, as Watson led another long drive, covering 87 yards in 10 plays and a touchdown run from the 1-yard line for Isaiah Lopez.
Zach Alvarez booted a 42-yard field goal for St. Thomas to make it 42-35, leaving 12 seconds if the Bobcats could get the onside kick. Carroll recovered, though, allowing Huot to put down a knee to move into the Second Round.