Former Peninsula High teammates Ali, Kvinsland reunite on Carroll College football team

Perhaps the most impressive statistic from Major Ali’s redshirt sophomore season as the Carroll College running back was the 5.2 yards he averaged per carry.

Couple that with the 961 total yards Ali racked up on the season for Carroll — a Helena, Montana, school which competes in the NAIA’s Frontier Conference — and the nine touchdowns on the year, and it was a successful season.

Ali, a Peninsula High School graduate, immediately deflected credit to his offensive line.

“They were really good,” he said. “We had four seniors, two all-conference and an All-American right tackle,” Ali said. “That definitely makes it a little bit easier.”

Carroll graduated most of its starting offensive line from a season ago, but the competition is fierce and Ali expects this year’s group to pick things up quickly.

“They look good,” he said. “They’re hard workers, physical guys. We’ll wait and see what they do. They looked really good in spring.”

And there’s a chance Ali could be getting handoffs from a familiar face: His high school quarterback, Robert Kvinsland. Kvinsland, also a Peninsula grad, recently transferred to Carroll and is heading into his redshirt junior year, after spending the last three years at Idaho State University.

Moving the chains

Ali, a 5-foot-7, 200-pound back, prides himself on his physical brand of running, helping move the chains for the Fighting Saints.

“I pride myself on that a lot — always falling forward,” Ali said. “Just always driving my feet, working really hard, especially on first and second down, trying to put us into manageable third downs. I just do what I can to keep the sticks moving.”

Ali has been working with former University of Washington running back Willie Hurst to round out his game.

“I’m working on getting quicker, making guys miss, avoiding contact,” he said. “(Hurst) has really helped me working on my spin move, making guys miss, working on my speed a little bit, running smarter, setting up my blocks better. In high school, I could just lower my shoulder and run over guys. I still have a lot of that physicality, but I’m more patient now.”

In the final two games of the season, against Montana Western and Eastern Oregon, Ali rushed for 175 and 176 yards, respectively. Carroll beat Montana Western, 24-13, but fell to Eastern Oregon, 41-34 in overtime.

“That game against (Montana) Western, it was a home game, a snow game,” Ali said. “The ground was frozen so we were just running the ball.”

And against Eastern Oregon, Carroll’s senior back got hurt, forcing Ali to shoulder the load and take most of the game’s carries.

“We were second in the conference in rushing last year,” Ali said. “We were clicking by the end of the season. It was hard to stop us running the ball.”

Changing schools

Idaho State has its starter in Tanner Gueller, who threw for 2,754 yards and 22 touchdowns a season ago for the Bengals. Kvinsland saw the writing on the wall.

“The coaches at ISU wanted the best for me,” Kvinsland said. “They were cool about that, put in a good word for me. I left on good terms.”

Kvinsland explored his options, and after some discussions with Ali — one of his closest friends — he settled on Carroll.

“Major had a big part in that,” Kvinsland said. “I was excited to get a chance to play with one of my best friends and teammates from high school. That was a big part of the decision.”

That, and Kvinsland wanted a chance to compete for a starting quarterback job.

“That was huge — that was the driving factor,” Kvinsland said.

Kvinsland is still competing for the starting job and said he feels confident.

“I feel good,” he said. “I ended spring strong. If I can carry that into fall camp, it should be good things.”

As far as how the offense looks compared to ISU’s, Kvinsland said there are similarities, but also some key differences.

“The concepts are similar,” he said. “But the terminology is a lot different. That’s been the most difficult part to adjust to.”

Carroll opens its season on Aug. 23 against Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.