WICHITA – The NAIA Football Championship Series continues in the NAIA's version of the Sunflower Showdown, as (5) Benedictine renews its series with (4) Friends University at 1 p.m. Saturday in Adair-Austin Stadium.
Kickoff: The last time the two Kansas schools met each other was 2013 when Benedictine earned a 28-15 win over Friends at Adair-Austin Stadium – site of this year's Quarterfinals meeting between the two programs. ... The appearance in the FCS Quarterfinals is the first-ever for Friends while Benedictine is appearing in its second straight FCS Quarterfinals and fifth overall as a program. ... Benedictine is 2-0 against its last two FCS opponents from the KCAC – beating Southwestern in 2022, 35-7, and beating Kansas Wesleyan in 2018, 43-21. Friends is 0-2 in their previous two FCS games against a Heart opponent - losing to Grand View last year, 21-17, and losing to Missouri Valley in 2007, 34-21 (at home). ... Today's game is a contrast in offenses – Benedictine is ranked 7th in the NAIA in total offense with their split of run-pass sitting at 48.6 to 51.4 percent with a total of 5,844 yards. Friends run-pass split sits at 89.8 to 10.2 percent with a total of 6,281 yards. ... Each team comes out a conference that is divided into two conferences for NAIA FCS berth appearances. Friends' opponents win percentage this season stands at .445 before their win over William Penn. Benedictine's opponents win percentage stands at .466 before its win over Campbellsville.
About Friends: Friends quarterback K'Vonte Baker was named the KCAC Player of the Year. Headed into the match up with Benedictine, he is averaging 91.6 yards rushing per game with a 7.7 yard per carry average and 29 touchdowns. He has a total of 511 yards passing with 7 touchdowns. ... Friends has only been forced to punt the ball a total of 18 times this season and becomes the second program that Benedictine has faced this season that has yet to give up any punt returns. MNU entered the regular-season finale having not allowed a punt return. ... Friends Tyson Wallace is coming off a 13-tackle game last week in the win over William Penn. He leads the Falcons this year with 60 tackles with 10 tackles for a loss of 44 yards and 1 sack. Friends finished the win over the Statesmen with a total of 11 tackles for a loss of 55 yards. ... Today's game features the top two kickers in the NAIA. Friends Truitt Bosher is ranked 6th overall in the NAIA in scoring with 91 PATs and 9 field goals. Benedictine's Christian Klobe ranks 17th overall in the NAIA in scoring with 72 PATs and 9 field goals.
About Benedictine: Of the quarterbacks playing in the FCS Quarterfinals this weekend, Benedictine's Jackson Dooley is the top passer, averaging 241.7 yards per game at a total of 2,900 with 33 touchdowns. Keiser's Shea Spencer has the top passing average, but the Seahawks are not active this weekend after benefiting Marian withdrawing from the FCS. ... While Friends rushing attack will be garnering all of the headlines this week, Benedictine's running game has become a calling card since the third game of the season. The Ravens have rushed for at least 200 yards in their last 8 games with an average of 293 yards per game and 7.0 yards per carry. ... Benedictine's Isaiah Hasten currently has 8 interceptions this season – including 1 of 2 for the Ravens in the Second Round last week. He is one of 2 active players remaining in the FCS ranked in the top 10 in interceptions, tied for second. The Ravens single-season record for interceptions stands at 9 and is held by Shem Johnson during the 1995 season.
Up Next: Saturday's winner advances to the NAIA Football Championship Series on the campus site of one of the two highest remaining seeds of the four qualifying teams. Due to the withdrawal by Marian University earlier in the week, (2) Keisar has already advanced to next week's semifinal round.
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