Around the NAIAtion for September 28, 2024: Four Featured Games and Rivalries in NAIA Football.

We’re heading into one of the biggest weeks of the NAIA football season, featuring four Top 25 matchups and several other games that could alter the trajectory of numerous programs. Last week didn’t look stacked with marquee games on paper, but a few turned out to be far more compelling than expected.

Southern Oregon made a statement with a non-conference win over College of Idaho in a Frontier matchup. If that sounds confusing, it’s because the game didn’t count towards the conference standings—their final regular-season game will. SOU’s offense exploded, led by Gunnar Yates, who rushed for a stunning 293 yards against COI’s defense. Quarterback Blake Asciutto also shined, completing 20-of-32 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns, with Sawyer Cleveland hauling in 137 yards. SOU’s defense forced three turnovers and nearly had two more interceptions. Ashland, Oregon, is notoriously tough for visiting teams, and SOU made sure College of Idaho felt that.

In another thrilling finish, Friends University pulled off a dramatic comeback against Kansas Wesleyan, clinching victory with a 40-yard game-winning field goal. If the game had ended one minute earlier, we’d be praising KWU’s special teams for their dominance—highlighted by a kickoff return for a touchdown, excellent field position battles, and an 11-point effort from their kicker and a blocked field goal. However, Friends marched from their 1-yard line to the KWU 23 and sealed the deal.

Kansas Wesleyan is now 1-3, which might seem like a blow to their postseason hopes. But it’s important to remember that they haven’t played a single divisional game in the KCAC yet. The Bissell Division is wide open, with no team holding a better record than 1-3, so KWU could still make a run for the divisional crown and an automatic postseason bid.

No. 7 Marian University continues to win, but their recent performances have been puzzling. After a dominant 31-9 victory over Siena Heights, they squeaked by unranked Concordia-Ann Arbor and Lawrence Tech. This week, they face undefeated Taylor on the road, a game that could provide another serious test. While wins are wins, NAIA fans, myself included, are watching closely to see how Marian performs in the coming weeks.

The biggest upset of last week? Faulkner toppling Pikeville 35-28. Pikeville has faced a tough slate this season, losing tight games to Campbellsville and Georgetown, and on paper, this looked like the game where they’d get back on track. Faulkner, however, had other plans. After a close loss to Reinhardt the previous week, Faulkner bounced back, led by quarterback Thalamus Marshall, who threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 89 more.

Featured Games This Week:

No. 4 Montana Western (-6) at No. 14 Southern Oregon: I love this game. Both teams have big wins this season over a quality opponent in College of Idaho. Both teams have offenses capable of big plays and huge individual performances. Both also have physical defenses that can force turnovers. UMW’s QB Michael Palandri is one of the best in the NAIA when it comes to slinging it to his WRs like Eli Nourse and Dylan Shipley. But what is overlooked is his ability to run the football in physical situations. In three games this season, he’s ran for seven touchdowns with the longest being 6 yards and all the others being 1-2 yards plunges.

SOU’s offense as previously mentioned in this blog has the ability to run it and sling it as well. They aren’t as deep at wide receiver as UMW but the Bulldogs don’t have a running game as good as SOU’s. It’s cliche to say, but this game will come down to the defense that can force turnovers and slow down the other teams best athletes. SOU will win this game if they get pressure on Palandri and force him to make mistakes. Given what I’ve seen so far this year, it’s tough for me to pick against Montana Western, even on the road in a place like Raider Stadium.
Prediction: Montana Western 42 Southern Oregon 35

No. 16 Baker University at No. 13 Benedictine (-4.5): As we stated on Sunday’s “NAIA Football with Dannelly and Donley”, it doesn’t get any more blue blood for programs in NAIA football than Baker and Benedictine. Add in the fact this is one of the best rivalries in NAIA football and this game will be a doozy. Baker leads the series 22-17-1. Just hearing the names of these two teams harkens me back to the names of Charlie Richards and Larry Wilcox.

This is a battle for the Heart South Division as the winner gets the upper hand for later in the season when we are inevitably talking about tie-breaker scenarios. It’s also a battle between two veteran conference QBs in Truman Juelsgaard for Baker and Jackson Dooley for Benedictine. Dooley ranks 3rd in NAIA football for passing yards per game with 330.3 while Juelsgaard averages 258.7 and comes it at No. 11. Juelsgaard’s best statistic is that through the season he’s thrown 10 TD passes and no interceptions. Dooley is right there with him having thrown just one. The more interesting thing (and less sexy) thing to pay attention to in this game is which defense will show up and show out. Neither squad has been locked in this season against better opponents and ultimately the one who can slow down the other squad and force some turnovers will win.
Prediction: Benedictine 31 Baker 24

No. 10 Montana Tech (Even) at No. 19 College of Idaho: COI needs this game to get back on track with a win against a Top 25 opponent or else they will fall to 0-3 against the top of the NAIA. Montana Tech needs this win to continue their hot start to the NAIA season. COI just has not performed at the top of their game yet and has things to sort out on defense and up front on their offensive line. Montana Tech plays a physical brand of football that the Yotes have to be prepared for when the Diggers come to Simplot Stadium.

College of Idaho will win this game if their defense can stop the run. Tech’s offense works because they run the ball so well and a lot of things are predicated from that. Additionally, their offensive line has to give QB Andy Peters time to work against a very strong Oredigger secondary. Tech wins this game if their defense keeps Peters on the run and if their offense can pound the rock.
Prediction: Montana Tech 24 College of Idaho 17

No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan (-13.5) at No. 23 St. Francis (Ill.): I’m more than willing to admit when I was wrong about teams in my preseason predictions. This week is a matchup of two of those teams. IWU looks to be head and shoulders above the Mideast Division and USF moved themselves forward in the rankings with a victory over CUAA last week. This week’s game will feature two of the highest powered offenses in the NAIA and one of the best dual threat QBs in Sam Tumilty.

IWU, outside of a hiccup to Valpo, has been blasting defenses this year. Last week they scored 55 points in the first quarter with their backup QB to improve their points per game to 49.3. USF ranks 3rd in NAIA scoring offense at 53.3 points per game with the help of Tumilty who averages 108 yards on the ground and 250.3 yards through the air.

Defensively, both teams have given up minimal points with IWU at 8.3 and USF at 9.3. If I had to give one squad the edge, I would go with IWU because they have faced better competition in USF (Ind.) and Valpo earlier this year and held those teams to 14 and 17 points respectively. USF will win this game if their offense can move the ball on IWU’s defense and force the Wildcat playmakers into turning the ball over. Home field will help, but I’m not sure it will be enough given what I have seen on tape from IWU this season. Their offense looks good, if not better than last season’s offense who was tops in the NAIA.
Prediction: IWU 42 USF 21

Top Performers in NAIA Football

Here’s some of the top performances in NAIA football from this last weekend.

• RB D’Vaun Bentley of Lawrence Tech finished with 325 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries against Marian
• St. Francis (Ill.) QB Sam Tumilty threw for 268 yards and 1 TD while rushing for 138 yards and 4 TDs
• Adrian Parsons MNU was 25-39 for 263 yards and 3 TDs and rushed for 27 yards and a TD
• St. Francis (Ind.) QB Joshua Kulka was 21-32 for 219 yards and 2 TDs in their 32-10 win over Siena Heights. RB Drew Wheat 4 carries for 93 yards.
• Indiana Wesleyan QB Arjun Lothe was 20-29 for 374 yards and 5 TDs in their 69-0 win over Olivet Nazarene. Issac Smith had 5 receptions for 162 yds.
• Grand View QB Jackson Waring was 16-25 for 232 yards in the Vikings 24-0 win over Missouri Valley. Dalten Van Pelt had 106 yds rushing.
• Campbellsville QB Jagger Gillis was 18-18 for 204 yards 3 TDs in the Tigers 69-37 win over Bluefield. Luke Sheperson had 5 receptions for 71 yds 2 TDs
• Dakota State’s Tyce Ortman had 30 carries for 160 yards and 1 TD for the Trojans in their 19-8 win over Valley City State.
• Montana Western QB Michael Palandri was 17-25 for 289 yards 1 TD, Jake Humphrey 11 carries for 140 yds 2 TDs in their 56-39 win over Lewis & Clark
• Texas Wesleyan RB Ernest Ceasar had 163 yards rushing and Carson Rodgers had 276 yards passing in the Rams 49-21 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State

Ramblings of Dannelly

Baker and Benedictine got me thinking this week. . .who are the best rivalries in NAIA football? Which ones have the most history? Which ones are the most competitive? Baker and Benedictine are definitely part of the debate for reasons I don’t need to repeat from previously in the blog. I started making a list off the top of my head, here’s the ones I’ve come up with.

Montana Tech and Carroll: You can’t mention rivalries in NAIA football and not have this game at the top of the list. While Carroll holds a large advantage in the all-time series, you won’t find a game more regularly attended by fans in the area. The biggest rivalry in Montana is Cats vs Griz but this one runs a close second. You won’t find two more rabid fan bases on the weeks these two hook up.

Valley City State and Jamestown: The Paint Bucket. These two teams have battled for the bucket 76 times and faced each other 124 times dating back to 1909. Valley City State leads the all-time series 64-55-5. The teams started playing for the Paint Bucket traveling trophy in 1961 after the presidents got together in an effort to eliminate the vandalism of each team’s field which would randomly get painted by their rival. Valley City State leads the Paint Bucket series 43-33 making it one of the most competitive rivalries in NAIA football.

University of the Cumberlands and Union (Ky.): The Patriots and the Bulldogs first met in 1905, making this rivalry one of the oldest in all of NAIA football. Since that initial meeting, the series has been discontinued and restarted at two different points in history. In the most recent renewal, the two teams have been meeting annually since 1985 with the Brass Lantern being exchanged since 1995. Cumberlands leads the series 31–12 overall, including a 98–0 victory in the 2019 contest in Williamsburg. The two teams will play this Saturday for the lantern.

Saint Xavier and Saint Francis (Ill.): There is no official name for this rivalry, but there should be. It’s a newer one as there is only a 26 year history between the two programs but it’s still a classic matchup. Last year the contest was the ninth one in the last 11 meetings and the 13th one overall between the two teams decided by seven points or less in the 26-year history. Perhaps the reason it’s not recognized as a true rivalry yet is because SXU holds a 25-1 advantage over the Saints.

Northwestern and Morningside: This is a rivalry because these two teams are traditionally two of the best in the NAIA and they now play in the same conference. It’s not the longest standing rivalry in the NAIA as the two only started playing each other in 1977. Morningside holds a 22-12 advantage over NWC. The games are almost always close with 15 of the games decided by 10 points over less.

Ottawa and Baker: Baker holds a 47-34-1 all time advantage between these two schools located less than a country mile apart. They played nearly every year from 1893 to 1981. Since then, the game has come and went sparingly as the two try to match up schedules from different conferences. I’m proud to say I helped bring this game back in 2010 as part of the Victory Sports Network “First Down Classic”.

Bethany and Kansas Wesleyan: Earlier this year KWU defeated Bethany to win this Smokey Hill rivalry. It was KWU’s 10th consecutive victory and 12th in the last 13 games in the 114th game of the series.

Marian and St. Francis and Indiana Wesleyan and Saint Xavier: Yes, it’s weird to have a four team rivalry. All of the programs are less than 30 years old but given their geographic position in NAIA football they always appear to be battling it out with one another, year after year. There’s been years where they all play and literally beat one another in a manner that makes no sense.

There are more, but I don’t have two weeks to write this blog. Let me know the rivalry games that I’ve missed and I’ll include them when I write a bigger article in the postseason. mail@victorysportsnetwork.com

That’s it for now, get out and enjoy some NAIA football!