It was a chilly afternoon in Sioux City, Iowa when the Saint Xavier Cougars came into town to play the Morningside Mustangs in the quarterfinals of the NAIA Football Championship Series.
The Cougars defeated Marian University 34-21 in the first round of the playoffs, while the Mustangs defeated Rocky Mountain College 49-20 in the first round of the playoffs.
In front of 800 people, the game kicked off with SXU getting the ball.
The Cougars were able to get the ball to the Morningside 44 yard line, but the Mustangs stopped them before they were able to get any points.
After both teams failed to do anything on the next two drives, Morningside quarterback Trent Solsma threw a 38 yard touchdown pass to running back Arnijae Ponder to put the Mustangs up 7-0.
Saint Xavier got the ball back and got in field goal range, but missed a 45 yard field goal that would have cut the Morningside lead in half.
The Mustangs immediately took advantage of the missed field goal when Solsma threw a 33 yard touchdown pass to Reid Jurgensmeier to put the Mustangs up 14-0 to end the first quarter.
The second quarter began with the Cougars marching down to the Morningside eight yard line. As SXU quarterback Justin Hunniford went to throw the ball, he was intercepted by Mustangs defensive back Klayton Nordeen.
However, the Mustangs were unable to do much with the ball and were forced to punt it back.
SXU failed to do much and punted the ball back to Morningside, who took advantage of the failed drive when Trent Solsma threw a 17 yard touchdown pass to Connor Niles to put the Mustangs up 21-0.
Saint Xavier were able to cut the lead when Justin Hunniford threw an eight yard touchdown pass to Vance McShane to make the score 21-7 in favor of the Mustangs.
Just before the clock ran out for the second quarter, Trent Solsma threw a four yard touchdown pass to Reid Jurgensmeier to put the Mustangs up 28-7. With that touchdown pass, the second half came to a close with Morningside up 28-7.
The third quarter began with a long Morningside drive, which ultimately culminated with a one yard touchdown run from Arnijae Ponder to put Morningside up 35-7.
After multiple failed drives from SXU, the Mustangs took advantage with a 35 yard touchdown pass from Trent Solsma to Connor Niles to put Morningside up 42-7.
Saint Xavier responded with a long drive that culminated with a one yard touchdown run from Justin Hunniford to make the score 42-14 in favor of the Mustangs. With that touchdown, the third quarter came to a close.
The fourth quarter began with Arnijae Ponder running the ball in for an 11 yard touchdown to put Morningside up 49-14.
After both teams had multiple failed drives, SXU quarterback Justin Hunniford was sacked in the endzone for a safety, putting Morningside up 51-14.
Neither team did much of interest and the game ended with the Mustangs winning 51-14. Morningside advances to the semifinals of the NAIA Championship Series and will play Saint Francis (IN) next week.
The Cougars finish the year with a record of 9-4, which is slightly worse than last year’s 10-2 record, but they did win the MSFA Conference Championship for a second straight year.
The Saint Xavier Cougars season may have ended with a loss, but they played with all their heart and left it all on the field.
Chris Leonchik
Sports Editor