WAVERLY, Iowa—The No. 3/3 Wartburg football team (10-0 overall) will host Illinois College (9-1) in an NCAA Playoff First-round game Saturday, Nov. 18 at noon at Walston-Hoover Stadium.

The Knights won the American Rivers Conference Championship for the automatic bid, and the Blueboys won the Midwest Conference title for the automatic bid.

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Tickets
$10 adults
$7 seniors/students/children (5-18)
Free: Children under 5
No presale of tickets
Ticket window will open at 10:30 a.m.
No passes accepted

The Series
This will be the inaugural meeting between the programs.

Monday press conference
Coach Winter


Owen Grover, Nile McLaughlin


Press clippings
Preview from the Waverly newspaper.

Wartburg
This marks the 16th appearance in the NCAA Playoffs for the Knights and second-straight.

Hunter Clasen has rushed for 1,193 yards and 18 touchdowns. He surpassed the 1,000 rushing yards mark for the second-straight year.

Nile McLaughlin has thrown for 2,338 yards and 26 touchdowns. Three receivers have over 500 yards as Thor Maakestad had 556, Drake George follows at 554, and Carter Henry is at 526. Maakestad leads the group with six TDs.

Owen Grover leads the defense with 86 total tackles. Jordan Downing has a team-high 11.5 TFLs and 8.0 sacks.

Career Record Watch
Clasen is second in total TDs (532) and points (318), all purpose yards (5,180), tied for second in rushing TDs (49), fourth in rushing yards (3,626) and eighth in kick return yards (908).

McLaughlin is tied for fifth in passing TDs (6), sixth in pass completions (459)  and in passing yards (5,817). Cael O'Neill is third in field goals (23) and tied for seventh in PATs (105).

Ben Bryant is second in punt return yards (786) and seventh in punt returns (54).

Rochford is tied for first in interception return TDs (4). Grover is first in total tackles (337), tied for third in assisted tackles (153), and tied for fourth in solo tackles (14).

Downing is first in sacks (28.5), second in fumbles forced (5), and eighth in TFLS (44.0).

Season Record Watch
Clasen is tied for fourth in rushing TDs (18), total TDs (20) and in points (120). McLaughlin is seventh in passing TDs (26).

O'Neill is eighth in PATs (45). Kanan Morris is tied for sixth in fumble returns (2). 

Rochford is first in interception return TDs (3) and tied for ninth in INTs (6). Downing and Justin Grieff are tied for sixth in forced fumbles (2).  Grieff is also tied for ninth in quarterback hurries (6).

On the season team lists, this squad is tied for first in pick-sixs (4), tied for sixth in passing TDs (27), seventh in points (431) and PATs (51)

National Stat Rankings
The Knights rank in the top 50 of 24 different national statistics. They are tied for 1^st in winning percentage (1.000), tied for 1^st in blocked punts allowed (0), 1^st in rushing defense (38.4), 3^rd in sacks allowed (0.40), 5^th in scoring defense (8.9), 7^th in passes intercepted (18), 10^th in defensive touchdowns (4), 11^th in total defense (228.7), 15^th in scoring offense (43.1), 16^th in first downs defense (132), 16^th in team passing efficiency defense (96.83), 17^th in turnovers gained (24), 27^th in punt return defense (3.11), 31^st in blocked punts (2), 34^th in fourth down conversion percentage defense (0.348), 34^th in total offense (447.9), 36^th in turnover margin (0.90), 39^th in rushing offense (198.8), 41^st in team passing efficiency (154.27), 41^st in punt returns (11.86), 41^st in third down conversion percentage defense (0.319), 42^nd in kickoff return defense (16.40), 44^th in kickoff returns (21.56) and 46^th in third down conversion percentage (0.469).
 
Individually, the Knights have 11 players ranking in the top 100 of various national statistics. 
 
Hunter Clasen is 4^th in total touchdowns (20), 5^th in rushing touchdowns (18), 7^th in total points scored (120), 8^th in scoring (12.0), 13^th in rushing yards (1,193), 17^th in rushing yards per game (119.3), 25^th in rush yards per carry (6.38), 28^th in all-purpose yards (135.40) and 95^th in points responsible for (120).
 
Nile McLaughlin is 28^th in passing touchdowns (26), 44^th in passing efficiency (154.5), 44^th in points responsible for (162), 51^st in passing yards (2,338), 51^st in points responsible for per game (16.2), 53^rd in yards per pass attempt (8.20), 59^th in passing yards per game (233.8), 63^rd in passing yards per completion (13.44), 74^th in completion percentage (0.611), 76^th in completions per game (17.40) and 77^th in total offense (235.0).
 
Cael O'Neill is 93^rd in field goals per game (0.56)
 
Kanan Morris is 25^th in fumbles recovered (2).
 
Parker Rochford is 7^th in interceptions per game (0.6) and 52^nd in passes defended (1.2).
 
Thane Alexander is 83^rd in interceptions per game (0.4).
 
Blake Janssen is tied for 10^th in punt return touchdowns (1).
 
Jagger Schmitt is tied for 10^th in punt return touchdowns (1).
 
Jordan Downing is 41^st in sacks (0.80).
 
Owen Grover is 79^th in total tackles (8.6).
 
Thor Maakestad is 22^nd in yards per reception (19.86).

Illinois College
The Blueboys enter the weekend on an eight-game winning streak. Their lone loss was against Lake Forest, 37-6, on Sept. 9. Illinois College won its first Midwest Conference Championship, and will make the first appearance in the NCAA Playoffs sinc 2011.

The Blueboys swept the conference MVP awards as Destin Chance earned offensive MVP honors, Charlie Patterson was named defensive MVP, and Coach DeFrisco earned coach of the year. 

Thomas Little has rushed for 1,001 yards and seven TDs. Quarterback Destin Chance has thrown for 3,696 yards and 46 TDs. Collin Brunstein leads the receivers with 2,001 yards and 28 TDs. 

Charlie Patterson leads the defense with 91.0 yards and 24.5 TFLs. Garrett Bearden has a team-best 9.5 sacks.