The Lowdown: No. 19 Friends University at No. 2 Grand View University

* NAIA Football Championship Series Second Round

Location: Des Moines, Iowa – Medicom Stadium     

Kickoff: Nov. 23, 12:00pm

Live Stream https://www.heartconferencenetwork.com/grandviewvikings/

Live Stats: https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2024-25/boxscores/20241130_ierx.xml

What's at Stake: The first-ever NAIA FCS quarterfinal appearance for the Falcons.   

Flying with the Falcons: The No. 19-ranked and 16^th-seeded Friends University Falcons captured their first-ever NAIA FCS victory with a 47-35 win over No. 15-ranked and 17^th-seeded OUAZ last Saturday (Nov. 23) at Adair-Austin Stadium. It was a high-octane matchup featuring two of the top three rushing teams in the NAIA that the Falcons showed a decisive edge. The Falcons rumbled for 526 rushing yards in the win over OUAZ, just five yards shy of the NAIA postseason record. Friends' rushing defense was just as stout, holding the Spirit to a negative five yards rushing.  Click HERE for the full game recap!

K'Vonte Baker (1074 yards), Elias Pino (876 yards) and Nick Cordova (707 yards) anchor the top rushing unit in the NAIA this season, with Baker rushing for a team-leading 14 touchdowns.

Defensively, Barrett Roads leads the Falcons with eight sacks, with Marco Torres (5.5), Leshaon Davis (5) and Demarieo Sims (5) ranking right behind. Nolan Ewing (64), Brock Zerger (51), Cooper Skrobecki (45), Marquis Willoughby (43) and Andrew Arnold (33) are the leading tacklers overall this season for Friends, while Braden Gordon has hauled in a team-high two interceptions.

The winner of four KCAC Special Teams Player of the Week awards this season, Cole Thompson has hit 9-of-13 field goals and 58-of-64 extra-point attempts for the 11-1 Falcons.

Scouting the Vikings: The undefeated and No. 2-ranked Grand View University Vikings are 10-0 on the season and were 6-0 in the Heart of America Conference. The Vikings boast the top-ranked scoring defense in all levels of college football, holding their opposition to just eight points per game.

Jackson Waring has thrown for 1739 yards and 18 touchdowns, with three interceptions and nine rushing scores for the Vikings. Dalten Van Pelt leads the Grand View ground game with 688 yards and has also scored nine rushing touchdowns. Aisea Toki paces the Viking receiving core with 476 yards and five touchdowns.

Jackson Filer leads the Viking defense and ranks fourth in the NAIA with 10.5 sacks and is also the team's leading tackler with 51 stops on the season. Daviere Jones is tops on the Vikings with three interceptions.

The Series: This will be the first meeting on record between Friends and Grand View.

Tickets and Live Stream: Tickets are available to purchase online at this LINK and are $10.00 for adults and $5 for Seniors, Military and Students. Cash only tickets will also be available at the gate.

Championship Apparel: Interested in owning a piece of championship memorabilia? Click HERE to purchase Friends University Football and Women's Soccer KCAC championship shirts and let everyone know the Falcons are on top!

SCHEELS: We are proud to have Scheels as a sponsor of Friends University Athletics this season!  Click HERE for more info on the Scheels store in Wichita.

Irresistible Force Meets the Immovable Object: The FCS second round clash between the Falcons and Vikings is truly a case of something's got to give. The Falcons are the NAIA's top rushing team (423.2 yards per game), with the Vikings ranking as the nation's top rushing defense (42.3 yards per game). Ranking right behind the Vikings in rush defense is none other than the Falcons at 71.4 yards per game.

Rushing to History: The Falcons have accumulated 5,078 rushing yards this season for the highest single-season total in NAIA history, eclipsing Reinhardt's 5,040 yards in 2016. The 526 yards by the Falcons against OUAZ in the FCS first round victory was just five yards shy of an NAIA postseason record.

11 is a Natural: The Falcons are now 11-1 on the season for the program's first 11-win season in the modern-era.

Sack Masters: With eight sacks in Saturday's 47-35 NAIA FCS first round victory over OUAZ, the Falcons set the program's single-season modern-era record and are now tops in the NAIA with 44 sacks on the season.

Top of the League: Friends University quarterback K'Vonte Baker was named the KCAC Kessinger Division Co-Offensive Player of the Year, while Terry Harrison earned Coach of the Year honors and Eric Kelly was selected as the Assistant Coach of the Year. Read the full release with all of the Falcon All-KCAC Kessinger Division honorees HERE!

So Offensive: The Falcons have accumulated more total offense than the opposition in 10 of 12 games so far this season, with a perfect 10-0 record in those outings.

Good Beginnings: The Falcons have entered the locker room with a halftime lead in 11 of 12 games this year, with the lone exception being a win at McPherson (Nov. 9) that Friends trailed 28-23 at the break.

Rush Hour: The Falcons have led the NAIA in rushing in both years of head coach Terry Harrison's tenure and are poised to do it again for a third straight season. The Falcons are first in the nation with 423.2 rushing yards per game this season, over 100 yards ahead of second-place Taylor (311.7).  K'Vonte Baker (1074 yards), Elias Pino (876 yards), Nick Cordova (707 yards), Treylan Gross (618 yards), Kaden Rigsby (358 yards), Jett Cheatham (355 yards, Jud Cheatham (305 yards), Michael Lopez (170 yards) and Laken Clowdus (160 yards) have given the Falcons an unbelievably deep and well-rounded rushing unit this season. This rushing success particularly correlates with Harrison, as he's now coached the last five NAIA team leaders in rushing (his last three years at Bethel and both seasons at Friends).

Hometown Hero: A Wichita Heights HS product, K'Vonte Baker was named KCAC Player of the Year last season after leading the NAIA in rushing scores (25) and ranking third in rushing yards per game (115.3). His 1268 total rushing yards were the most by a Falcon since 2016 (Jesse Rogers). This season, Baker has accumulated a team-leading 1074 yards on the ground, bolstered by a career-high 214 rushing yards in a 56-10 victory at Avila University (Sept. 14). Baker was recently named the KCAC Kessinger Division Co-Offensive Player of the Year for the 2024 campaign and was named the Offensive Player of the Game after leading the Falcons with 179 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown in a 47-35 victory over OUAZ last Saturday (Nov. 23) for Friends' first-ever NAIA playoff win.

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 11-1

KCAC Kessinger Division: 4-1

Home: 5-1

Away: 6-0

The Falcons record when …

Scoring 0-6 points: 0-0

Scoring 7-13 points: 0-0

Scoring 14-20 points: 0-0

Scoring 21-27 points: 1-1

Scoring 28 points+: 10-0

Allowing 0-6 points: 3-0

Allowing 7-13 points: 2-0

Allowing 14-20 points: 2-0

Allowing 21-27 points: 1-1

Allowing 28 points+: 3-0

Scoring first: 9-1

Opponent scores first: 2-0

Leading at halftime: 10-1

Trailing at halftime: 1-0

Tied at halftime: 0-0

Committing fewer turnovers: 4-0

Committing more turnovers: 5-1

Turnovers are even: 2-0

Leading in total offense: 10-0

Trailing in total offense: 1-1

Winning time of possession: 7-1

Losing time of possession: 4-0

The Coaches:

Terry Harrison is in his third season as the Friends University head football coach and has masterfully rebuilt the Falcons into an NAIA national contender.

Harrison appeared to be the perfect choice to lead the Falcon program and has done nothing to change that perception now in his third season at the helm.

In his two seasons thus far, Harrison has overseen the NAIA's top rushing offense in total yards and yards per game.

Last season, Harrison guided the Falcons to their first winning record since 2014 (9-2) and coached 20 All-KCAC players, including KCAC Player of the Year K'Vonte Baker along with NAIA All-American and Rimington Award winner Keegan Martin.

Harrison arrived on campus after transforming fellow KCAC member Bethel College into a conference and national power.

After taking over a Bethel program in 2018 that was 1-9 and at the bottom of the league the previous season, Harrison's impact was felt immediately as he installed the flexbone offense and guided the team to finish third in the NAIA in rushing offense (274.4) per game.

The following season, Harrison would begin to affect the wins column by leading the Threshers to a second-place showing in the KCAC with an 8-3 overall record. Bethel continued to climb the leaderboard nationally, finishing tops in the NAIA in total rushing offense (4,084) and rushing offense per game (371.3) while ranking third in passing efficiency (180.3).

The best was yet to come as the next season, Harrison and the Threshers captured a Co-KCAC regular season championship and an NAIA national playoff berth to wind up No. 13 in the final NAIA FirstDown PlayBook Top 25 poll. The conference championship was the Threshers' first since 2007 and the national playoff appearance represented the first since the 2006 campaign and only the third in school history.

Joe Woodley is in his sixth season as head coach of the Grand View University Vikings and 17^th overall with the program.

Woodley has yet to lose a Heart of America Conference game and has won the conference championship all five seasons at the helm. He guided the Vikings to the NAIA National Championship game in 2021 and an NAIA FCS semifinal appearance in 2019.

Prior to taking over the head coaching role, Woodley served as the offensive and defensive coordinator, where he was a critical part of a 2013 NAIA National Championship.

Woodley played collegiately at Iowa State University and was a team captain and played in the Insight, Independence and Humanitarian Bowls.

Up Next: Should the Falcons win over Grand View, they would advance to the NAIA FCS quarterfinal round next Saturday (Dec. 7), with opponent and game time to be determined.