NAIA Football National Championship Series Quarterfinals Recap
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [FSC Schedule | Experience NAIA Championships App] The 2020 NAIA Football National Championship Series First Round took place on Saturday April 24, 2020. Four teams advanced to the semifinals and four had their seasons come to an end.
The full field features 12 automatic qualifiers and four at-large berths. In order to qualify for an automatic bid, teams must win their conference regular-season title. At-large berths were determined by the NAIA Football National Selection Committee. Teams earning an at-large berth must be ranked in the Top 20 of the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, which can be accessed here.
Saturday, April 24th
Game 1 – Morningside (Iowa) def. Baker (Kan.), 45-29 | Box Score
Game 2 – Northwestern (Iowa) def. Grand View (Iowa), 27-24 | Box Score
Game 3 – Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) def. Concordia (Mich.), 49-27 | Box Score
Game 4 – Keiser (Fla.) def. Reinhardt (Ga.), 42- 14 | Box Score
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Semifinals Highlights
- Defending national champions, Morningside (Iowa) maintained their undefeated season after defeating Baker (Kan.)
- Northwestern (Iowa) knocked off No. 2 Grand View (Iowa) on their home field in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday.
- Northwestern (Iowa) earned their victory on a 21-yard field goal with 1:03 left and the Raider D stopped Grand View on fourth down in the final seconds to give No.6 Northwestern a thrilling 27-24 road win
- Northwestern (Iowa) now 10-1 on the season, advances to play in the national semifinals for the eighth time in program history and first since the 2000 season.
- Lindsey Wilson (9-0) produced 524 yards of offense, the second-highest total yards in a game this season, and limited the Cardinals (6-1) to just 313.
- The Blue Raiders dominated time of possession with 38 minutes and 36 seconds compared to 21 minutes and 24 seconds for the opposition.
- Concordia wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, as the Cardinals’ Seeger Degayner took the opening kickoff 96 yards to the house.
- Keiser (Fla.) defeats Reinhardt (Ga.) 42-14.
- The Seahawks have clinched a spot in the NAIA FCS Semifinals in only their third season.
- There was 21-point offensive explosion in the third quarter to help the Seahawks clinch the victory.
- Reinhardt was making their fourth playoff appearance
- Keiser has now won six straight home games
- Mathews surpassed 5,000 passing yards for his career with a 256-yard performance
- Walls hauled in his 10th touchdown pass of his career in the win
- The four remaining schools will battle it out again next Saturday at two different campus sites. For pairings click here