DILLON — After routing Dickinson State to lock up its first playoff victory in three decades, Montana Western's football team is now set to take on a team that's collected three national championships in the past six years.
The No. 4-seeded Bulldogs will host No. 6 Morningside (Iowa) in the quarterfinal round of the NAIA Football Championship Series this Saturday in the first meeting between the two programs. Kickoff time is still to be determined.
The Mustangs, a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, won the national title in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Morningside advanced to the quarterfinals in 2022 and fell in the second round last season. The Mustangs punched a ticket to this season's quarterfinals with a 35-0 shutout over MidAmerica Nazarene (Kansas) in the second round.
The matchup between Montana Western (10-1) and Morningside (11-1) will see two of the NAIA's top quarterbacks in action. Zach Chevalier, a redshirt sophomore for the Mustangs, leads the nation with 339.1 passing yards per game. Western's Michael Palandri, a redshirt junior, is ranked fifth with 300.2 yards per game.
Both teams will head into Saturday's quarterfinal on lengthy win streaks, with Morningside having won 10 straight games after dropping its season opener and Western reeling off seven consecutive victories.
