Nov. 15, 2008

In the final regular season weekend for NAIA football, there were many notable games and exciting finishes today (Nov. 15). The final regular season Top 25 poll, which helps determine the 16-team field to the 2008 Football Championship Series, will be officially released by 1 p.m. CST tomorrow (Nov. 16). The pairings of the Championship Series will then be announced later on Sunday.

November 15 NAIA Top 25 Scoreboard | Click Here

Notable Games:

* In the NAIA Game of the Week, No. 2 Sioux Falls (S.D.) stayed undefeated at 10-0 with a 34-31 home win over No. 4 Morningside (Iowa). The game was close throughout despite USF holding a 466-151 advantage in total offense. Sioux Falls quarterback Lorenzo Brown recorded 304 yards of total offense including 152 on the ground. MC took a 31-27 lead early in the fourth only to see USF march the ball in the end zone on its ensuing possession capped by a Ryan Lowmiller three-yard score with 10:12 remaining. In addition to rushing for 314 yards, the Cougars held a dominating 41:02-18:58 time of possession advantage. Morningside stayed close by going +2 in the turnover category. | Full Story | Full Statistics

* No. 5 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) finished its perfect regular season with a 59-22 win over Culver-Stockton (Mo.) and wrapped up its first conference title since 2003. MNU totaled 505 yards of total offense and forced three C-SC turnovers. | Full Story | Full Statistics

* No. 7 Lindenwood (Mo.) held on for a 21-18 victory against No. 12 Missouri Valley, which strengthens LU’s chances to host a first round game in the Football Championship Series. LU led 21-3 before the Vikings scored the next 15 points. MVC was held to 256 yards of offense with just 53 through the air. Lindenwood running back Dario Camacho starred with 153 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns. He was part of a rushing offense to tally 245 rushing yards against a MVC defense that entered the contest allowing just 30.9 yards per contest. | Full Story | Full Statistics

* No. 15 Union (Ky.) held on to its playoff hopes by turning away Belhaven (Miss.) 36-7. UC running back Terence Pollock rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries as he set the single-season school records for most carries (214) and rushing yards (1,235) in a single-season. Also, linebacker Willie Williams set the program single-season tackles record as he finished the regular season with 144. With nine wins this year, UC set a school record.  | Full Story | Full Statistics

* No. 3 St. Francis (Ind.) won its ninth MSFA-Mideast title in the last 10 years getting past No. 18 St. Xavier (Ill.) 47-30. The USF Cougars flexed their muscle offensively going for 457 yards of total offense including 304 on the ground. Defensively, St. Francis picked off four passes and forced five turnovers. | Full Story | Full Statistics

* No. 23 Ohio Dominican sprinted out to a 21-0 halftime edge and won its fourth straight game with a 34-24 victory over No. 13 Malone (Ohio). ODU forced four turnovers and held Malone to 3-of-17 on third-down conversions. The Panthers needed to make some stops on third-down as Malone piled up 452 yards of offense including 314 from quarterback Billy Bob Orsagh. ODU quarterback Cris Reisert was chasing the NAIA national career total offense record but came up just shy – his 215 yards of offense is 111 yards away from the all-time mark of 13,979. | Full Statistics

* Unranked Sterling (Kan.) upset No. 14 Ottawa (Kan.) by a score of 17-13. There were a combined 10 turnovers with each team coming up with five. Sterling led 17-7 before Ottawa recorded a touchdown with :13 seconds remaining to put the pressure on. | Full Statistics

* Another upset occurred in the Mid-South West Division as unranked Cumberland (Tenn.) came back to defeat No. 11 Lambuth 29-26. Trailing 26-20 in the fourth quarter, Cumberland quarterback Matt Eads connected with James McClain on a 94-yard pass play. After holding Lambuth on offense, the Bulldogs moved the ball down the field in the final minutes. Placekicker Michael Hanson hit a 27-yard field goal as time expired to give CU the three-point win. Eads finished with 316 yards passing and one score. | Full Story | Full Statistics