No. 9 Mustangs host Dordt with postseason implications

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — While the NAIA Football Championship Series may not start until next week, the Morningside football team has shifted into "playoff mode" this week in a conference championship game.

Ninth-ranked Morningside hosts No. 6 Dordt at 1 p.m. Saturday in Elwood Olsen Stadium with high stakes on the line. The winner claims the GPAC's automatic bid into the playoffs, while the other will likely earn an at-large bid into the playoffs. The selection show is at 6 p.m. Sunday.

"We talk all the time about what we can control, and our guys have done a great job on focusing on that," head coach Steve Ryan said. "We need to make sure every day is not wasted, and we get better."

The Mustangs are 16-1 all-time against the Defenders, and got back in the win column last season with a 31-21 win, in large part to Dijion Walls' three-interception game. This series started in 2008.

Morningside enters this week with a three-game winning streak. The Mustangs last week defeated Mount Marty 63-20, thanks to a defensive performance that included six turnovers and amassed 600-plus yards offensively.

The Mustangs boast the No. 1 offense in NAIA with 5,505 yards, averaging 550 per game. In four of the last five weeks, they've attained 500-plus yards. Even with an explosive offense, quarterback Zack Chevalier realizes that execution will be paramount to beat the Defenders.

"The coaches have given me the keys to this offense, and we go as far as I go," Chevalier said. "We need to be sharp with the ball, and if we do that, everything else will take care of itself."

The Mustangs haven't turned the ball over in the last two weeks.

"My guys are better than their guys," Chevalier added. "When we're playing well with each other, we're really tough to beat. We've put in a good week of prep already, and this is what we live for."

One of the areas where Chevalier has seen improvement this season, he says, has been with the offensive line. The Mustangs have earned a triple-digit figure in rushing yards in all 10 games, and have surpassed 200 yards in each of the last three.

Morningside's season high in rushing yards for a single game came last week, when the Mustangs scurried for 312 yards in the snow. Ty Cozad led the Mustangs in rushing with 211 yards.

Morningside also leads the country in first downs with 289.

"The O-Line has been phenomenal," Chevalier said. "You see it in how we run the ball, but you see it in how they protect me. It all starts with the guys up front. As a quarterback, that's everything. You can't do much without an O-Line. Our guys are so assignment sound, and that's what makes us a championship-contending program."

Defensively, the Mustangs have added takeaways to their total lately, and rank fourth going into Saturday with fumbles recovered (10) and have also the same number of interceptions.

Just like last year's game in Sioux Center, Coach Ryan hopes the Mustangs can hold the Defenders at bay.

"They do run the ball very well, and we just have to not allow them to control the game," Ryan said. "We have to find ways to create turnovers and get off the field."