Four Frontier teams ranked

Four Frontier Conference football teams remain ranked in the NAIA Top 25. But there was a major shift in the new NAIA Coaches Poll, which was released Monday afternoon.

After Carroll College defeated Rocky Mountain College last Saturday in Billings, the Fighting Saints moved up from No. 7 to No. 5. RMC, which suffered its first loss of the season, dropped five spots to No. 10.

Southern Oregon, the only remaining unbeaten team in the Frontier, moved up two spots in this week's poll, jumping from No. 9 to No. 7. The fourth Frontier squad in the Top 25 is Eastern Oregon, which moved up to No. 21 in this week's poll, following the Mounties thrashing of Montana Tech last Saturday.

UM-Western quarterback Tyler Hulse was named the Frontier's Offensive Player of the Week. Hulse is a 6-0, 200-pound, senior quarterback from Helena. In Western's 50-30 win over Montana State-Northern, Hulse was 15 of 27 passing for 255 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries.

Southern Oregon's Laurence Calcagno was named Defensive Player of the Week. He is a 5-11, 227-pound, senior linebacker, from Canby, Oregon. In then-No. 9 Southern Oregon's 56-28 win over College of Idaho, Calcagno recorded 11 solo tackles and four assisted tackles, three tackles for loss and one quarterback sack.

Rhys Felton, a 6-0, 220-pound punter from Carroll College was named Special Teams Player of the Week. In then-No. 7 Carroll's 33-8 win over then-No. 5 Rocky Mountain College win, Felton had six total punts including a 70-yard punt.

Montana State University-Northern's Trevor Baum and Tyler Craig were also nominated for Frontier honors this week.

For the fifth time this season, Rocky Mountain College's Yang Yang was named Frontier Volleyball Player of the Week. Yang is a 6-0 senior middle blocker from Yongan, China. Rocky Mountain went 2-0 over the weekend with two road wins. The Bears beat Montana State-Northern 3-0 and the University of Great Falls 3-0.

Yang averaged 6.50 kills with .514 attack percentage. She also averaged two digs per set, and added five solo blocks and five assisted blocks. Yang has averaged double figure skills in all of Rocky's matches thus far.

NAIA Football Poll

The Associated Press

Rec. Pts Pvs

1. Morningside (Iowa) (14) 3-0 340 2

2. Baker (Kan.) (1) 3-0 327 3

3. Tabor (Kan.) 3-0 312 4

4. Faulkner (Ala.) 4-0 296 6

5. Carroll (Mont.) 2-1 281 7

6. Georgetown (Ky.) 2-0 274 8

7. Southern Oregon 4-0 264 9

8. Grand View (Iowa) 2-1 261 1

9. Saint Francis (Ind.) 2-1 227 12

10. Rocky Mountain 3-1 215 5

11. Missouri Valley 1-1 209 13

12. St. Francis (Ill.) 3-0 205 14

13. Saint Xavier (Ill.) 2-1 167 10

14. Benedictine (Kan.) 2-1 163 17

15. William Penn (Iowa) 3-1 149 20

16. Northwestern (Iowa) 2-1 144 18

17. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 3-1 142 19

18. Cumberland (Tenn.) 2-1 115 21

19. Robert Morris (Ill.) 3-0 105 -

20. Marian (Ind.) 2-1 94 -

21. Eastern Oregon 2-1 78 25

22. Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 2-1 63 15

23. Cumberlands (Ky.) 1-2 38 11

24. Kentucky Christian 3-1 34 -

25. Ottawa (Kan.) 1-2 32 16

Others Receiving Votes: Sterling (Kan.) 11; Bacone (Okla.) 10; Avila (Mo.) 7; Concordia (Neb.) 3; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 3; Langston (Okla.) 3.