NCAA Division III Football Championship | 2nd Round | vs. Wesley | Saturday, Nov. 26 at 12:05 pm |  Video  -  Audio  -  Stats

Note: Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will televise the second round NCAA Division III football playoff contest between John Carroll and Wesley on Saturday, November 26, at noon. The live telecast can be seen exclusively on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, channels 1311 & 311.  

John Carroll will make history simply by stepping on the field Saturday. The Blue Streaks have never before hosted a second round game in the NCAA Division III Football Championship and therefore have never won in a second round postseason game at home (although they are 2-0 in that situation on the road since the tournament field expanded to 28 teams in 1999).

Wesley will be making history by adding to its program record of playing in the second round of the Division III playoffs for the eighth consecutive year. The Wolverines also have a streak of seven consecutive quarterfinal round appearances, last failing to stand among the final eight teams in 2008.

A berth in the national quarterfinals awaits the winner of this clash of these regional giants as #6 John Carroll (10-1 overall, 9-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) hosts #18 Wesley (9-2, 8-1 New Jersey Athletic Conference) at Don Shula Stadium at Wasmer Field on Saturday.

Kickoff is set for 12:05 p.m.

Headlining the day's action will be two star running backs in the realm of Division III football: JCU's Ro Golphin (123 carries, 937 yards, 10 touchdowns) and Wesley's Jamar Baynard (226 carries, 1,189 yards, 17 touchdowns). With the weather likely settling in the low-40s on Saturday, a battle in the trenches would be an unsurprising occurrence. Between the two programs, there is a culminated tally of 900 carries, 58 rushing touchdowns and 4,402 rushing yards.

Besides a reliance on the run game, there are several other similarities between the two teams. Both teams fell in their season opener (JCU to #4 ranked UW-Oshkosh, Wesley to Delaware Valley), and both bounced back to receive an automatic bid to the the NCAA Division III tournament. Both also had 15 players earn all-conference honors in their respective leagues.

The two teams also rely on very strong defenses. JCU, which is 36-0 in the Tom Arth era when holding an opponent to under 20 points, is ranked sixth in the nation in total defense (221.8 ypg) and seventh in scoring defense (12.4 ppg). The Blue Streaks landed five defensive players on the All-OAC first team, including linebacker of the year Mason McKenrick and defensive back of the year Jovon Dawson.

Wesley survived some early bumps to close the season ranked 42nd in total defense (309.0 ypg) and 26th in scoring defense (16.8 ppg). The Wolverines had two players -- linebacker Samer Manna and defensive back Andre Connally -- amed to the NJAC first team defense. 

John Carroll is 2-1 all-time as a playoff host, including last week's 37-12 win over Olivet College. The 2016 OAC champion Blue Streaks, by virtue of their 31-28 win over then #1 ranked Mount Union, are 7-5 all-time in six NCAA playoff appearances. Prior to this season, John Carroll had qualified for Division III postseason play in 1989, 1997, 2002, 2013 and 2014. 

Wesley is 28-12 all-time in the NCAA Division III playoffs, with the multitude of those wins occurring since 2005. Wesley made its first NCAA postseason appearance under head coach Mike Drass in 2000, and than have made the field every year since 2005.

This will be the first football matchup ever between Wesley and John Carroll.