Ready for Another Run: Mustangs keep expectations high

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Fall camp turned into game week for the Morningside University football team, but the focus throughout the summer hasn't changed.

The No. 3-ranked Mustangs start out the season Saturday with a Top 5 matchup, facing No. 4 Benedictine to start the third consecutive season. Knowing what the Ravens bring, head coach Steve Ryan says his team has been locked in from the start.

"I think it is a real positive in terms of the energy and the effort that you get throughout Fall camp and allows you maybe to start a little bit higher," Ryan said. "You play this game to grow up fast so you can get into your schedule fast. So that's the first thing. The second thing is it's fun to play big games, so let's just get after it."

Morningside is also the favorite to win the Great Plains Athletic Conference, just as it did last season by winning all 10 league games in 2024. The Mustangs finished 12-2, with losses to the Ravens and Grand View in the national semifinals.

Offensively, the Mustangs led the NAIA last season with 7,064. Most of that came in the air – 4,857 yards – led by senior quarterback Zack Chevalier. He agrees that having an opponent like Benedictine to start the season with is a perfect tone-setter.

"We learned a lot about ourselves and I think there's a huge advantage to playing a program like Benedictine, because they got guys and we got guys and they know it and we know it," Chevalier said. "If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. So our expectations are incredibly high. There's really no better way to get ready for a playoff run in a conference championship run than to play a team like Benedictine."

Chevalier had 4,682 passing yards, and threw for 45 touchdowns. The Santa, Clarita, Calif., native also led the NAIA with 334.4 passing yards per game. He completed 67 percent of his passes, en route to an AFCA NAIA First Team All-America nod.

"I'm trying to be the best version of myself. Throughout this whole off season, throughout fall camp, I hold myself to a very high standard," Chevalier said. "The way I see it is that if I continue to grow and get better than last season, there's really going to be no way to slow us down. If all of us do that, it's going to be even harder. So my expectations for myself have been very high. The coaches' expectations have been very high and that's exactly how they should be."

Chevalier had plenty of help piling up those yards — and four of his top five targets return in 2025. Leading the group is Drew Sellon, who hauled in 120 catches for 1,813 yards. Lennx Brown made the switch from quarterback to wideout and finished just 64 yards shy of 1,000. Meanwhile, Jakob Nelson and Kelynn Jacobsen combined for 60 receptions and nearly 900 yards.

On the ground, Morningside finished 15th nationally in rushing yards (2,207) and scored 29 times. Max Hough emerged as a freshman with 1,171 yards and 12 touchdowns on 186 carries. He's back as the lead rusher, while sophomore Jaylen Burch and redshirt freshman Juven Hudson are also in the mix.

"I think we're going to take a step forward in terms of running the ball just in terms of what I'm seeing in practice, but a lot of it's going to be with how fast our tackles can get ready to go," Ryan said.

Defensively, the Mustangs lose graduates Isaac Pingel, My'kell Barnett, and Dijion Walls, but do return several impact players.

Cade Harriman was second behind Pingel in tackles with 98, including 44 solo tackles as a defensive back. Harriman also forced two fumbles, broke up five pass attempts and intercepted a pass.

Harriman said that with the defense having new guys this season, communication is key. Some of those new guys are transfer senior DB Jordan Pippion, sophomore Victor Atupra, and freshman AJ Matthews.

"I've really tried to step up and be a lot more vocal on the defense," Harriman said. "Just coming back after starting last year, I'm a lot more comfortable with what's going on, what we're doing on defense. I'm a lot more confident in what we're doing, so I've definitely tried to kind of step up and be a more vocal leader."

Landry Phipps returns for his senior season following a junior campaign where he picked off five passes at linebacker.

Up front, Cale Pittenger collected 11.5 tackles for loss, while Chase Harden had 9.5 and Austin Jurgens 8.5. Pittenger also had eight total sacks.

"Cale has taken things to a whole new level and he's really playing with confidence," Coach Ryan said.

After Morningside opens the season against the Ravens, it'll stay on the road Sept. 6 at Briar Cliff. The home opener is Sept. 20 against Midland, then other home opponents will be Waldorf (Oct. 4, 1:30 p.m.), Concordia (Oct. 25), Mount Marty (Nov. 8), and closing out the season Nov. 15 vs. Dordt.

All kickoff times, except Homecoming, are at 1 p.m.