When Marian University and Morningside College step onto the field at Barron Stadium in Rome, Ga. on Thursday night, one team will walk away with their first ever NAIA football national championship.  They will join the ranks of the NAIA’s most storied programs like Carroll College, Georgetown College and the University of Sioux Falls.

While each of those teams have won multiple titles, Thursday’s winner will no doubt be the program that fans of small college football will point to as one of the next greatest programs.  Keep in mind that since 2000, only one team outside of that list has won a title and that team, Saint Xavier, was knocking on the door again this year.

Morningside Offense
491.7 ypg of Total Offense 45.5 ppg
C  61  Josh Steinberg
FB  16  Joel McCabe
LG  58  Joe Brummer
LT 57  Byron Klauenberg
QB  10  Joel Nixon
RB  5  Josh Gaedke
RG  78  Nolan Long
RT  60  Cole Albright
TE  31  Austin Klett
WR  88  Kyle Schuck
WR  6  Trav Hantelman

Marian Offense
440.3 ypg of Total Offense 35.7 ppg
C  61  Z. Mitchell  
FB  46  Brad Naffziger  
LG  60  Steve Seculoff  
LT  78  Brody Dixon  
QB  17  Adam Wiese  
RB  10  Tevin Lake  
RG  51  Brad Knipfel  
RT  69  Zach VanDeman  
TE  8  Nathan Jones  
WR  4  John Hasty  
WR  3  Anthony Jones  
 
Morningside Defense
295.3 ypg allowed 11.9 ppg allowed
DB  3  Colby Henderson
DB  7  Ben Rickord
DL  50  Keith Chvatal
DL  96  Bret Doorenbos
DL  92  Marcus Smith
FS  22  Jared Goforth
LB  18  Sean Elliott
LB  41  Aaron Roberg
LB  11  Chris Calvillo
LB  40  Taylor Johnson
SS  20  Cole Boger

Marian Defense
261.3 ypg allowed 17.4 ppg allowed
DB 7  Nathan Toon  
DB 31  Taylor Maxey  
DL 2  Seth Vondersaar
DL  33  Garrett Pritt  
DL  52  Billy Baker  
DL  20  Dan Brunke  
FS 19  Stephen Rogers  
LB  24  Robert Palmer  
LB  44  Ryan Hartnett  
LB  41  John Keevers  
SS 9  T. Howenstine  

The @jdannelly Twitter Analysis of the game: (140 Characters or less)
Marian Offense: “Adam Wiese makes plays. 27TDs and just 7 INTs. RB Tevin Lake is a load averaging 135.8 yards rushing. Wiese is best untold story in the NAIA.”

Morningside Offense: “Joel Nixon is the most athletic QB we’ve seen in the national championship since Patrick Crayton at NWOSU. He makes this offense go.”

Marian Defense: “Faced stiffer offensive competition all year than their counterparts. Will be more seasoned to face the Mustang attack.”

Morningside Defense: “Bend but don’t break.  Whenever their backs were against the wall in the postseason, they’d find a way to get a turnover or score points.”

Marian Special Teams: “Mike Josifovski hit 51 yard field goal for a game winner to send the Knights to the championship game.  I think that says it all.”

Morningside Special Teams: “Colby Henderson has two kick returns for touchdowns, including a 98 yarder in the postseason. He’s dangerous with the ball in his hands.”

Marian Coaching: “Five years ago, Coach Karras started this football program from scratch and it has been born into one of the NAIA’s new national powers.”

Morningside Coaching: “Coach Ryan took over a program that was left for dead and instantly made them competitive. He’s one of the best in small college football.”

Why Marian Will Win: “They’ve played against athletic QBs like Nixon and will limit his ability to get loose and make things happen. Wiese has to make plays.”

Why Morningside Will Win: “Their offense always finds away.  When this team has been down in the postseason, they’ve always battled back. It’s a never say die attitude.”

Thursday night’s tweet from @jdannelly about the outcome of the game: “The Morningside Mustangs take home their first NAIA football national title with a fourth quarter comeback over Marian University, 35-31.”

Final Thoughts
Covering sports for the last 15 years of my life probably got me jaded towards the meaningful things in college athletics.  The NAIA football national championship started to become this “thing” I had to cover every December and I might have started to lose sight of what the game meant for everyone involved.  Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was pretty sweet that I got to travel the country all year and then swoop into the national championship game and have half of the fans hate me as soon as I made a prediction.

The point I am trying to make is that what is going to happen in Rome, Ga. from December 10th – 13th is really special to a couple thousand people.  The guys that get to play in this game will never get the opportunity to feel as special as they do during this event ever again. The people of Rome and the fans involved in this game will metaphorically hoist these athletes upon their shoulders all week and carry them around emotionally like the kings they deserve to be for a few days.

This is special. It’s the one time they can lay it all on the line against their peers in the NAIA and walk away knowing they were the best in the country.  They can celebrate with their friends and family who spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars just to see them play 60 minutes of football.

I make a prediction on this game because that is what I am suppose to do but in no way am I trying to make either side feel any less significant coming into this game.  If anything, I just want everyone involved to know how special these couple of days are to these student athletes and we should go out of our way to let them know it.

Best of luck to Morningside and Marian! We’ll see you in Rome!

(Yeah, that’s me giving Morningside QB Joel Nixon advice after their first round win)

It’s been roughly 18 months since I last wrote anything that had any real sense of my opinion on NAIA football.  Weird to think that each week for about 10 years it was my job during the season to write something, anything, about NAIA football and help keep the conversation going.

If there is one opinion of mine that hasn’t changed in 18 months or really ever since there was a move in venues, it is that Rome, Ga. is a fantastic place to watch the NAIA national championship game and a great community to support the fan interest in the game.

Earlier this fall, I had all but succumbed to the idea that last year’s title game between Saint Xavier and Carroll College was going to be my last for a while.  But as the game has gotten closer, and the semifinals produced two teams to square off for the title there was one thought that kept banging around my head:

I cannot stay away.

My first in person NAIA football championship game was in 2004 when Carroll College played the University of Saint Francis (Ind.), however the previous two games I watched live on TV and still own the VHS tapes I recorded them on. The first year when Carroll College defeated Georgetown College I think I was one of 200 people who actually got the “Empire Sports Network” and watched the entire game with a squiggly black line through the middle of the broadcast.

The dilemma I have is whether or not to brag about this next tidbit of information: I think I have the current streak for most consecutive NAIA football championships attended with this year being my ninth. 

I thought about it the other day as to who has been to more in a row recently?  With the change from Savannah to Rome as a host site, we lost all of the regulars from Tennessee that had been coming.  Then I thought of the NAIA office staffers that were coming and every 3-4 years there had been a different person in charge of the championship taking away any consecutive attendance from the national office.  If anyone else has a longer consecutive streak in tact, shoot me an email.

So being the seasonal Rome resident that I am here is my abbreviated guide of “stuff I like to do in Rome.”

·  At some point you have to hit Jefferson’s downtown.  Either have some oysters, crawfish or whatever they have for a special.  Bring an extra dollar bill, decorate it and leave your mark on Rome. Then step outside and read the marker on the corner about the mom who saved football in Georgia.

·  Spend some time downtown, walk in and out of some of the shops.  The downtown is a throwback to what business districts in towns like Rome all over the country used to be.

·  Need a little exercise? Jog the levee and over to the football field. Again, a great little view of downtown, a good workout and a way see what’s all happening in Rome.

·  Need more idea’s?  Check out: http://romegeorgia.org/ and http://naianationalchampionship.com/

So with that said, I look forward to seeing the many, many fans of Morningside College and Marian University in Georgia next week for the championship game! It should be a great experience for the student athletes and I hope all the fans get to enjoy it too!

For anyone heading to the game, feel free to track me down via email or twitter @jdannelly