Story by Chance Cook, 406mtsports.com

Dillon, Mont.  — Montana Western took a 13-10 lead over Carroll College at a cold and snowy Vigilante Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and then the Bulldogs' fourth quarter magic continued.

Sparked by back-to-back interceptions by linebackers Riley Martello and Jason Ferris, the Bulldogs scored 17 unanswered fourth-quarter points to down the Saints 30-10, the second Western win over Carroll this season after a 16-10 victory in early September.

"You can't pick and choose the weather, the field, how good the team is you play," Montana Western head coach Ryan Nourse said. "You do what you do, you execute, you do it well and you fight to the end. Hey, sometimes you're going to win."

Five of six times this season it's been Montana Western winning, and largely in close games. Saturday's win over Carroll (3-4, 2-4) puts the Bulldogs alone atop the Frontier Conference standings for the first time this season. No. 7 Southern Oregon, which shared the conference lead, fell to Eastern Oregon 27-17 on Saturday.

Following Martello's interception midway through the fourth quarter, quarterback Jon Jund hit a streaking Walker McKitrick for a 39-yard touchdown, giving the Bulldogs a 23-10 lead.

On Carroll's next drive, Jason Ferris picked a Hunter Bledsoe pass and returned it to the 13-yard line. A few plays later, Jund carried it himself for his second rushing touchdown of the game. The redshirt freshman signal caller finished with 39 yards rushing, and connected on 19 of 36 passes for 203 yards.

In all, Carroll quarterbacks Bledsoe and Kolby Killoy combined for three interceptions in the game, and the Saints lost two fumbles.

"We lead the league in turnovers and our quarterbacks just don't make good decisions," Carroll coach Mike Van Diest said. "I don't know what else to say. It doesn't make a difference who is in there. We've had three quarterbacks play this year and they all throw interceptions, so something is wrong at that position."

In the first half, both side felt turnover woes from under center.

Scoring got started with Western cornerback Kyrin Allen picking a Bledsoe pass and returning it 45 yards for the score.

Then, with Western up 13-0, McBride Galt returned Jund's first of two interceptions 45 yards for a touchdown to bring Carroll back within a score. The Saints got to within three after a Josh Kraft 35-yard field goal in the third quarter, before Western put the game away.

"Don't fool yourself, that's the best defense in this conference," Nourse said of the Saints. Mike Van Diest isn't in the hall of fame because he's a bad football coach, he's one of the best guys around."

A point of contention for Nourse this season has been the way his team, specifically the offense, slogs through the first half before coming alive. Early moments of the game seemed to show Jund and company overturning that trend.

Until the turnovers and a few drops crushed promising drives.

"Again, it was Jon made greedy mistakes that sometimes good, young quarterbacks make," the coach said. "He threw interceptions he didn't have to, and then he didn't in the second half. Defense kept coming up big and that's how we live man, that's who we are."

And with defense continuing to be the identity of the Bulldogs, it's Jason Ferris leading the way. The conference's most prolific tackler had 15 in Saturday's win.

"Ferris is a great player and you could see that today with his interception," Van Diest said. "He hustles on defense, makes tackles, I mean he's just a great player and I think everybody feeds off of him."

Western heads to Montana State-Northern next week, before traveling to Billings to take on Rocky Mountain College on Oct. 27. The Battlin' Bears sit second in the Frontier Conference after downing Northern big on Saturday. Their rematch later this month could decide the conference title.

NOTES: For Carroll, Major Ali led the ground attack with 49 yards on 19 carries, and Troy Arntson had three catches for 81 yards. Defensive back Ryan Beaulieu, who had one of the Saints' picks, was ejected for targeting ... For Western, last year's leading receiver Melvin Walser returned to the field after a few weeks missed due to injury. He caught two passes for 19 yards, and McKitrick led the way with six grabs for 108 yards.