Number 6 Baker to Host Number 12 Georgetown (Ky.) in NAIA-FCS First Round

Press Release Tyler Price, Sports Information Director 

---

BALDWIN CITY, Kansas – The number six ranked Baker University football team has qualified for the NAIA Football Championship Series for the fifth time in the past six seasons, as the NAIA announced the 16 teams that will be competing in the 2017 NAIA-FCS Playoffs on Sunday.

Baker will host No. 12 Georgetown (Ky.) next Saturday, November 18 at 1:07 p.m. inside Liston Stadium in a game that will be produced by Niles Media and will be broadcast worldwide on the ESPN App/ESPN 3 and locally on KSMO-TV.

This year’s field includes 12 automatic qualifiers – one from each conference – and four at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that won their conference regular-season title and were ranked within the top 20 of the final regular-season NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll announced Sunday.

This will be the first-ever match up between Baker and Georgetown on the gridiron. The Wildcats are 10-1 and captured the 2017 Heart South Division Championship for the third-straight season this past Saturday in a 26-6 win at No. 23 ranked Evangel

Georgetown is 8-1 this season and went 5-1 in the Mid-South Conference, their only loss came at number four Lindsey Wilson on November 4, 37-14.

The Tigers feature the No. 8 ranked scoring defense in the country, as they allow just 18.1 points per game.

They also rank No. 6 in the NAIA in yards allowed per game at 286.1. Offensively Georgetown College is No. 22 in the NAIA in scoring, averaging 36.2 points per game.

Kishawn Walker leads the defense with five interceptions, ranking No. 9 in the NAIA in that category.

Quarterback Riley Hall leads the Tigers in passing with 1,618 yards and 12 TD passes with four interceptions. He has also rushed for five TD’s.

The Tigers are plus three in the turnover margin and this marks their 21^st appearance in the NAIA-FCS and are 24-17 in the playoffs all-time. Their 21^st appearance is more than any other team competing in the 2017 NAIA-FCS.

This is Baker’s 16^th appearance in the NAIA-FCS, as they have a 16-15 record and have appeared in five of the last six ( 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017) including a trip all the way to the 2016 NAIA-FCS National Championship game.

The Wildcat offense is No. 2 in the NAIA in passing yards with 3,587 and is No. 3 in the NAIA in scoring with 523 points, good for 47.5 per game.

JD Woods still ranks No. 1 in total scoring with 150 points and is the nations second leading rusher with 1,592 yards.

Nate McLaurin now has five interceptions on the season and ranks No. 3 in the NAIA in pass deflected per game at 1.9.

Clarence Clark has now eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the third-straight season, as he now has 1,085 yards this season with 58 receptions and 10 touchdowns.

In five games this season at QB, Marco Aguinaga has thrown for 891 yards on 90-of-134 passing and four TD’s with just one pick.

Indie Allen has now eclipsed the 100-tackle mark in 11 games, as he has 103 tackles, with 12 tackles for loss and four sacks. Two-time defending Heart South Co-Defensive Player of the Year Josh Kock, leads Baker in sacks with seven.

2017 NAIA Football Championship Series – First Round Schedule
Saturday, November 18 | Campus Sites
Game 1 – Benedictine (Kan.) (9-2) at Saint Francis (Ind.) (10-0)
Game 2 – Concordia (Mich.) (9-1) at Reinhardt (Ga.) (9-0)
Game 3 – Sterling (Kan.) (9-2) at Morningside (Iowa) (11-0)
Game 4 – Southeastern (Fla.) (8-1) at Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (10-0)
Game 5 – Dickinson State (N.D.) (9-1) at Southern Oregon (10-0)
Game 6 – Georgetown (Ky.) (8-1) at Baker (Kan.) (10-1)
Game 7 – Northwestern (Iowa) (9-1) at Langston (Okla.) (10-0)
Game 8 – Grand View (Iowa) (9-2) at Saint Xavier (Ill.) (9-1)