The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the pairings for the 2021 Football Championship Series (FCS) Semifinal round Saturday, as the No. 4-seed Northwestern (12-1, 9-1 GPAC) will have their rematch with No. 2-seed Morningside (12-0, 10-0 GPAC) next Saturday, December 4 in Sioux City, Iowa. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at Elwood Olsen Stadium on the campus of Morningside University.
Northwestern is coming off a thrilling 25-20 victory over Marian (Ind.) to advance to their second-straight NAIA FCS semifinal game. Morningside rolled Kansas Wesleyan University (11-2, 9-1 KCAC) out of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) 58-21 to advance to their second straight semifinal round.
In the other semifinal, it will be the top-seeded Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders (12-0) taking on the No. 3-seed Grand View Vikings (14-0) out of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) in Columbia, Ky.
No. 4 Northwestern (Iowa) 25, No. 7 Marian (Ind.) 20
The tightest scoring contest on the day saw the lead change hands four times in the first 22 minutes of play. Marian got the ball rolling with a Gage Puterbaugh field goal, Northwestern followed with six points on a TD and missed PAT, before the Knights regained the lead on Baron Huebler’s one yard score. NWC took the lead back on a Cade Moser touchdown and added two field goals by Eli Stader before halftime. Trailing 19-10, Huebler got the Knights back in the mix with his second score of the game making it 19-17. At the beginning of the fourth, Marian took a one-point lead on a Puterbaugh field goal from 25 yards out. The game winner was carried by Logan Meyer with 10:13 remaining.
Marian ran 72 yards for 319 plays while the Red Raiders tallied 330 in only 59 snaps. Each team was sacked twice. Knights quarterback Zach Bundalo threw for 167 yards but no touchdowns and two picks. Tyson Kooima passed for 227 and ran for another 58 on 15 attempts.
Defensively, Marian was led by Nate Frey and six his solo stops and two assisted tackles; Trevor Adler and Sir’ion Dance totaled six combined tackles. For the Red Raiders, Tanner Oleson posted game highs in solo tackles (7), assisted tackles (6), and total tackles (13). Northwestern had seven TFL for 27 yards; the Knights had eight behind the line of scrimmage for -26 yards.
No. 2 Morningside (Iowa) 58, Kansas Wesleyan 21
The first quarter was all Mustangs as they scored three touchdowns – one of which was a run. The two passing tosses left the arm of Joe Dolincheck and were caught by Austin Johnson. KWU opened the second quarter with their first touchdown of the game, but Morningside would tack on two more scores and a field goal before the intermission. Leading 38-7, the Mustangs scored three more touchdowns in the second half and the Coyotes recording a pair.
Dolincheck threw a game high 417 yards for five touchdowns, while on the other sideline Isaiah Randalle had 311 through the air and two scores plus running for a third. Drevon Macon and Stevie Williams hauled in the TD receptions for KWU. Johnson went off for 153 yards; Matt Strecker and Ryan Cole ran for three scores.
Coyote defender Juliana Urioste had seven solo and seven combo tackles followed by DeVante’ Gabriel with three solo and nine assisted stops. Jalen Portis was busy for the Mustang with two sacks included in his three solo tackles and five assisted. The same total amount as Tyler Wingert.
No. 1 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 54, No. 12 Keiser (Fla.) 12
Scoring opened up in favor of the Blue Raiders as they ended the first quarter of play with a 12-0 advantage and led by 19 before the Seahawks hit the scoreboard. Lindsey Wilson then scored four unanswered touchdowns. Both teams put up scores in the final period of play.
LWC racked up 457 yards of offense and ran 70 plays. Quarterback Cameron Dukes threw for 268 and four scores as well as rushing for one himself. Jbias Dawson and Jaylen Boyd ran for 69 and 47 yards while each scoring a touchdown. Two of Joshua Lewis’ three catches went for TD’s; D’Mauriae VanCleave and Logan Collier caught the other two.
Seahawks signal caller Shea Spencer tossed two touchdowns but also threw two interceptions. They were caught by Jerson Jacques and Jaden Meizinger. Defensively, Wesley Scott posted a game high five solo tackles, five tackle assists, and a total of 10 tackles.
No. 3 Grand View (Iowa) 31, No. 8 Concordia (Mich.) 16
It began as a back-and-forth affair between the Vikings and Cardinals. The home team started off the scoring with a Nathan Hamilton field goal on the opening drive. Concordia took a 7-3 lead just before the end of the period. In the second, Grand View touchdowns bookended a CCUA field goal by Luis Gomez. The Cardinals had a chance to tie the score in the third, but the extra point was missed. Grand View put the victory away with two Ali Scott rushing touchdowns.
The total offensive numbers are very close between the two sqauds with Concordia putting up 344 on 69 plays while Grand View tallied 349 on 68 snaps. Both teams lost a fumble, but CUAA gave up one more interception.
Gavin Brooks ran up 262 yards passing and a pair of scores which were caught by Seegar DeGayner and Donovan Johnson. Brooks and his main running back both had nine rushing attempts for 34 yards. The Cardinals defense had seven tackle for a loss, and they were listed by Conner Long and his six solo tackles and four assisted. GVU was led by quarterback Johnny Sullivan and his 239 yards passing. Bennet Spry and Nate Willcockson caught the two scoring passes. Nate Wieland posted a team high five solo tackles and Cole Rollinger had four combo stops.
