NAIA, GPAC powers set for Saturday meeting
SIOUX CITY, IOWA– The top three clash between No. 1-ranked Morningside College and No. 3-ranked Northwestern College has been selected as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' football Game of the Week.
Kickoff is 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at NWC's De Valois Stadium and Korver Field in Orange City. The Mustangs (7-0) earned 366 poll points and 15 of 16 first-place votes to top Marian College of Indiana who remained ranked second with 351 points and one first-place marker on the Week Six poll released Monday, Oct. 15. Head coach Steve Ryan's program has been within the NAIA top 25 in each of the last 145 polls and earned its 23rd number one listing, good for fourth all-time.
Fans, friends and alumni can follow along online via live audio, statistics and video at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/northwestern/.
Game notes: Two of the Great Plains Athletic Conference's most prolific offenses and stout defenses meet up this weekend. Morningside's offense has been amazing averaging 59.6 points per contest, good for tops in the nation, while Northwestern is tallying 39.2 per game. Defensively, the Maroon and White's 11.3 points per allowed leads the conference and is fourth-lowest in the country, and NWC's 17.2 points per outing surrendered is third-best in the GPAC … Ryan pointed out to two key areas for the Saturday matinee. "Turnovers, in my mind, are number one," he pointed out. "By and large, we've done a great job of taking care of the ball for the most part, and (Northwestern) is great at getting takeaways, so that aspect will be huge. The second area would be the ability to create big plays, as both teams can do so. It'll come down to which defense can limit those opportunities." … Individually, the match-up pits two of the top quarterbacks in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. MC senior signal caller Trent Solsma (Dakota Dunes, S.D.) leads the league in total offensive yards per game (409.9) with NWC's Tyson Kooima second at 302.7. A good share of that yardage has been due to receptions from two individuals. Morningside's Connor Niles (Sioux City, Iowa) (216 yards per contest) and NWC's Shane Solberg (99.5 ypg) are one-two on the loop numbers' list. Fans in attendance will also see two of the top three rushers, yardage-per-game wise, in the GPAC, as Northwestern's Jacob Kalogonis is first (121.8 pg), and the Mustangs' standout sophomore Arnijae "AP" Ponder (Omaha, Neb.) is third (106 pg) … The all-time series count is nip and tuck with Morningside holding a 16-10 edge due to winning four straight which includes a 48-20 decision in 2017.
Mustang Marks – Head coach Steve Ryan's crew, sitting 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the GPAC, has its name prominently displayed across the NAIA statistics sheet. Solsma, due to nine straight 300-yards-or-more passing totals, is first in total offense per game (409.9) and passing yards per contest (417.4); Niles, with a stretch of seven successive 100-yards-or-more receiving efforts, is first in that category (216 pg) as well as total scoring (17.1 ppg); touchdowns (20); all-purpose yards (1,722) and all-purpose yards per game (246); and the kicking combination of senior placekicker Jared Amundson (Sioux City, Iowa) and senior punter Spencer Wyant (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) are first in field goal percentage (Amundson – 1.000 – four for four); extra point accuracy (Amundson – 1.000 – 56 of 56); and punting average (45.6 yards per attempt). Amundson has an impressive personal streak of 79 straight made extra point tries … The Mustangs have reeled off five straight 50-point-plus victories. Digging deeper into the annals, MC harbors a 25-game regular season win string and has been victorious in 29 straight conference games.
Home Sweet Elwood Olsen: The Maroon and White return to Elwood Olsen Stadium Saturday, Oct. 27. Concordia University of Nebraska takes an eastern trek for a 1 p.m. start that begins back-to-back home dates.