Nov. 27, 2010

Contact: Chad Waller, NAIA Director of Sports Information & Media Services, cwaller@naia.org

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Championship Series Scoreboard) All four host schools were victorious today in the NAIA Football Championship Series Quarterfinals. Sioux Falls (S.D.), Carroll (Mont.), Saint Xavier (Ill.) and MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) will advance to play in the Football Championship Series Semifinal round to be competed on Dec. 4. Sioux Falls hosts MidAmerica Nazarene, while Saint Xavier travels to Carroll.

Since 2000, the home teams in the FCS Quarterfinals improve to 32-11 overall. All four hosts won last year by an average margin of over 32 points.

No. 1-ranked Sioux Falls won its 41^st-straight game with a 27-7 victory against McKendree (Ill.). The Bearcats end their season with a 9-3 record after making their second trip all-time to the Quarterfinals. The winning streak for Sioux Falls (12-0) is the longest active streak in any level of collegiate football and is just one shy of tying the all-time NAIA record set by Texas A&I.

Carroll, who improves to 11-5 in the Quarterfinals, took down newcomer Marian (Ind.) by a score of 38-6. The Fighting Saints (12-0) shut down the Knights, one week after Marian scored 35 points in the First Round win against Ottawa (Kan.). Marian completes its season with a 10-3 record.

Saint Xavier won for the second time this year against Saint Francis (Ind.) with a 40-21 victory. SXU handed St. Francis a 30-6 defeat back on Nov. 6. The Cougars, who fall to 6-3 all-time in the Quarterfinals, wraps up their year with a 10-2 mark. With a 13-0 record, St. Xavier earns a spot in its third Semifinal game, all since 2006.

MidAmerica Nazarene (12-0) advances to its first-ever Semifinal after a 34-10 triumph against Morningside (Iowa).  Before the victory today, the Pioneers were 0-3 all-time in the Quarterfinals. The Mustangs end their campaign with a 10-2 record.

In one Semifinal, Sioux Falls hosts MidAmerica Nazarene. The Cougars are 6-4 all-time in the Semifinals, including 5-2 at home. They have won four straight home semifinal contests and have now appeared in five straight fab four’s.  The Pioneers head into their first Semifinal contest. The two teams will be facing each other for the first time in postseason history.

In Helena, Mont, a city that has hosted six Semifinals, Carroll welcomes St. Xavier to Nelson Stadium in the other Semifinal. The Fighting Saints are 5-1 at home in the round of four and are 6-5 all-time. Carroll has competed in 10 of the last 11 Semifinals, with 2006 being the exception. In the 2006 Quarterfinals, St. Xavier dealt Carroll a 14-7 loss in Helena in the lone postseason meeting between the two teams.

The 55th Annual Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship is scheduled for Dec. 18 in Rome, Ga. Rome-Floyd County and Shorter (Ga.) College will host the event at Barron Stadium. The event will be televised live on CBS College Sports Television with kickoff slated for 4:30 p.m. EST. For ticket information, call 1-800-858-7601.

For complete Championship history and records, click here.

For more information on the 2010 National Championship, click here.

Championship Series Quick Facts:

• Defending national champion Sioux Falls is playing for its fifth National Championship and third consecutive. Only one team has won at least three straight titles, with Carroll (Mont.) winning four in-a-row from 2002-05. Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) holds the most NAIA Championships with seven overall.

• Carroll (11) holds the longest active streak of postseason appearances, followed by Sioux Falls (10) and Morningside (Iowa) (7).

• Sioux Falls boasts the most wins all-time in the Football Championship Series with a 35-11 record. The next team with the most wins is Carroll with a 34-13 mark.

• Six teams made their 10th-plus trip to the Football Championship Series.

• Azusa Pacific (Calif.), Georgetown (Ky.), Marian, Northwestern Oklahoma State and Saint Francis (Ind.) all are new compared to the 2009 field.

• Five programs all own at least 10 wins in the Football Championship Series, led by the 35 victories from Sioux Falls.

 • Marian (Ind.) is making its first trip to the Football Championship Series.

• Not including newcomer Marian (Ind.), Azusa Pacific is a team that is breaking the longest playoff drought. The Cougars last played in the 2005 postseason when they hosted Montana Tech, only to lose 24-17.

• Since 2005, four of the past five national champions led the NAIA in total defense. Currently, Sioux Falls (214.0 yapg) is a close second in the country in that category.

• The Mid-States Football Association Mideast League (MSFA – Mideast) boasts the most teams in the 16-team field:  Marian, Saint Francis and Saint Xavier (Ill.). The Great Plains Athletic Conference, Heart of America Athletic Association and Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference each land a pair of teams. Overall, 11 conferences / independents sport at least one team.

• Sioux Falls is riding a nation-high 41-game winning streak heading into the Semifinals. Last year, the Cougars were on a 25-game winning streak heading into the playoffs. In 2008, Carroll was on a 26-game winning streak heading into the postseason.

• After securing the Frontier Conference Championship, Carroll now has won 11 straight (outright and shared) conference titles. The Fighting Saints own the nation’s longest active streak of conference championships.

• Five teams entered the Football Championship Series with an undefeated record: Carroll, McPherson, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), St. Xavier (Ill.) and Sioux Falls. In each of the last three seasons, there have now been at least five schools to finish the regular season with an unblemished record. Sioux Falls has gone undefeated in each of the last five seasons, the longest active stretch.

 2010 NAIA Football Championship Series

• Semifinal Pairings | Saturday, Dec. 4 | All times local and subject to change

Game 1:

• MidAmerica Nazarene (12-0) @ Sioux Falls (S.D.) (12-0), Noon

                (First meeting in postseason series history)

                (MidAmerica Nazarene: 0-0 in Semifinals)

                (Sioux Falls: 6-4 in Semifinals)

Game 2

• Saint Xavier (Ill.) (13-0) @ Carroll (Mont.) (12-0), Noon

                (St. Xavier leads 1-0 in postseason series history)

                (St. Xavier: 0-2 in Semifinals)

                (Carroll: 6-5 in Semifinals)