KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Northwestern College football team (9-0, 8-0 GPAC) remains ranked No. 2 after a dominant win over No. 20-ranked Dordt, holding down the second-ranked spot for the eighth straight regular season poll, as announced the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Monday afternoon.
The Raiders tallied 426 points for the second consecutive week. Also, for the eighth-straight regular season poll, the defending national champions Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) Blue Raiders (8-0, 5-0 MSC) hold down the top spot with 444 votes and 18 first-place votes. The Mustangs of Morningside received the final first-place vote, but hold only 411 points to hold down the No. 3 ranking.
This last week saw Tyson Kooima (Sr., Hull, Iowa/Western Christian) make his first start since the semifinal game this last spring against Morningside. He didn’t miss a beat going a perfect 13-13 for 283 yards and a career-high six touchdowns. Kooima led the offense on eight total possessions on the afternoon, as he led the Raiders to eight touchdowns on the day.
Kooima’s performance against the Defenders landed him both Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) and NAIA Offensive Player of the Week honors. He marks the first Raider to earn national player of the week honors since Eli Stader (So., Cedar Grove, Wis./Oostburg) on November 9, 2020.
The Northwestern offense continues to be ranked top-10 nationally in total yards per game (7th, 479.4 per game), passing yards (5th, 317.6 per game), and points per game (3rd, 49.7 per game). The Raiders are second in total touchdowns scored, just behind Morningside, with 61 on the year. They also sit second with 36 passing touchdowns on the season, five behind Bluefield University (Va.), as Blake Fryar (Jr., Waukee, Iowa/Van Meter) is responsible for 24 of them.
The Raider defense is still on fire, making it nine-straight games with an interception, as they still sit third in the nation with 17 interceptions as a team. The Raider defense prevailed over a Dordt squad that averaged 50 points per contest, holding them to 28 and moving up to fourth in the nation, only allowing 12.2 points per game. A Defender offense that puts up eye boggling offensive numbers each week (500+ yards of offense per game) was held in check by a Raider defense that ranked third nationally, only allowing 220.9 yards per game.
Both Northwestern and Morningside held onto their previous rankings. Dordt dropped out of the top-25, but is receiving 25 votes in this week’s poll, two points out of the No. 25 spot.
| RANK | LAST | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | WON | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) [18] | 8-0 | 444 |
| 2 | 2 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 9-0 | 426 |
| 3 | 3 | Morningside (Iowa) [1] | 8-0 | 411 |
| 4 | 4 | Grand View (Iowa) | 9-0 | 393 |
| 5 | 5 | Baker (Kan.) | 8-1 | 371 |
| 6 | 6 | Kansas Wesleyan | 9-0 | 358 |
| 7 | 7 | Indiana Wesleyan | 7-1 | 347 |
| 8 | 8 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 7-2 | 325 |
| 9 | 9 | Marian (Ind.) | 6-2 | 307 |
| 10 | 10 | Concordia (Mich.) | 6-1 | 287 |
| 11 | 11 | Bethel (Kan.) | 8-1 | 278 |
| 12 | 12 | Keiser (Fla.) | 6-2 | 256 |
| 13 | 15 | Southwestern (Kan.) | 7-1 | 230 |
| 14 | 18 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 5-3 | 219 |
| 15 | 16 | Ottawa (Ariz.) | 6-1 | 206 |
| 16 | 21 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 6-2 | 173 |
| 17 | 13 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 6-2 | 166 |
| 18 | 14 | Langston (Okla.) | 7-1 | 137 |
| 19 | 25 | College of Idaho | 6-2 | 130 |
| 20 | 24 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 6-2 | 128 |
| 21 | NR | St. Francis (Ill.) | 5-2 | 84 |
| 22 | NR | Culver-Stockton (Mo.) | 7-2 | 59 |
| 23 | 22 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 6-3 | 51 |
| 24 | NR | Arizona Christian | 6-2 | 49 |
| 25 | NR | Montana Western | 6-3 | 27 |
Dropped from the poll: Olivet Nazarene (Ill.); Faulkner (Ala.); Dordt (Iowa); St. Thomas (Fla.)
Receiving Votes: Dordt (Iowa) 25; Faulkner (Ala.) 20; St. Thomas (Fla.) 20; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 13; Central Methodist (Mo.) 7; Southeastern (Fla.) 7; Valley City State (N.D.) 4; Texas Wesleyan 4; Cumberlands (Ky.) 3
