HELENA, Mont. -- After University of Saint Francis quarterback Jeff Wedding and Bo Thompson combined to give the second-ranked Cougars a 7-0 lead over No. 5 Carroll College, the Fighting Saints retaliated with 23 unanswered points to end USF's 10th season 23-7 on a Saturday afternoon.

  'Frozen tundra' was no exaggeration at Nelson Stadium where wind chills were minus-2 when the two perennial NAIA

powers got their fourth meeting underway at 2:07 p.m. Fort Wayne time. With the exception of that Wedding to Thompson 72-yard TD pass, USF could never mount a serious threat against a CC defense that has only yielded one rushing TD all season. USF struggled with the footing throughout the contest.

  CC's Marcus Miller kicked field goals of 24, 27, and 27 yards in the second quarter to put the Fighting Saints (14-0) in front 9-7 by the end of the first half. In the second half CC QB John Barnett ran for a 1-yard TD and passed for a 65-yard score to Brian Sloan in the second half. He was named NAIA Offensive Player of the Game. CC linebacker Owen Koeppen was named Defensive Player of the Game.

  "I didn't think they would be able to control the line of scrimmage against our defensive line, but they did," USF coach Kevin Donley said, his words hanging in the air in clouds of breath. "We weren't able to make plays on offense and keep our defense off the field and that kind of compounded the issue."

  CC's Gabe Le led all rushers with 170 yards on 39 carries. Taylor Vieck led USF with 34 yards on five carries. Wedding connected on 14 of 28 passes for 166 yards. Barnett hit on 14 of 24 passes for 177 yards. CC had 383 yards of total offense on 79 plays, USF 253 yards on 54 plays.

  Though USF didn't intercept a pass, CC had one interception in the first quarter. CC did fumble three times, and USF's Donavon Evans recovered one fumble. LB Carl Thomas sacked Barnett for an 8-yard loss in the first quarter.

  USF's best opportunity to regain the lead came after a CC snap to punter Zach Thiry went over his head. He recovered at the CC 31, where the Cougars took over. Wedding threw high to Zach Rainey on first down. Marcus Rush picked up four yards to the CC 27. Wedding threw high on third down and on fourth down his pass attempt to Rainey was broken up by Cody Zimmerman.

  Carroll will wait to see who it will play in the NAIA FCS Championship Game until at least Sunday. The No. 9 Missouri Valley at No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) game was postponed to Sunday due to inclement weather.