ASHLAND – The 10th-ranked Southern Oregon football team heads to Davenport, Iowa, for its first NAIA Football Championship Series contest in 10 years this weekend, taking on No. 8 St. Ambrose on Saturday at 1 p.m. CST.

Southern Oregon closed out the regular season with an 8-2 record to earn a share of the Frontier Conference Championship after defeating Montana Tech 46-28 in Saturday's regular season finale at Raider Stadium. A win on Saturday would tie the 2012 team for the most in program history, as the 1983 and 2001 teams each won nine games.

Live video will not be available Saturday, but a live audio feed will be accessible online along with live stats. Links to both will be available through the SOU Athletics website.

“We've got to play the best football of our season in the playoffs to advance,” SOU head coach Craig Howard said. “We're excited to represent the Frontier Conference; we're excited to represent the state of Oregon and Southern Oregon University as we head to Iowa to face St. Ambrose.”

The Raiders will take their record-breaking offense on the road and look to continue a streak of eight straight games with at least 45 points. Southern Oregon leads the NAIA and has established new program records in passing offense (4,634), total offense (6,570), sacks allowed (two) and scoring (544).

Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) has set SOU records and leads the nation in passing yards (4,326), total offense (4,419), touchdown passes (36), completions (292) and attempts (447). Patrick Donahue (Los Angeles, Calif./Franklin) leads the NAIA in all-purpose yards (1,944) and has set a new SOU record with 86 receptions. His 1,305 receiving yards rank behind only Cole McKenzie (Red Bluff, Calif./Red Bluff) in SOU annals, as McKenzie has 1,357 yards with a school-record 15 scoring grabs out of 75 total catches.

Colin Amsler (Stevenson Ranch, Calif./West Ranch) leads the nation in kick scoring with 96 points, and his 12 total field goals rank sixth in the NAIA. Mike Olson (Colfax, Calif./Colfax) has scored 21 total touchdowns this season, and his 128 total points ranks third in the NAIA. On defense, Kalii Robinson (Los Angeles, Calif./Dorsey) leads the team with 96 total tackles, including seven for loss and a pair of forced fumbles. Heston Altenbach (Coquille, Ore./Coquille) ranks second on the team with 72 tackles, while Mike Seifert (Springfield, Ore./Thurston) has added 61. Robinson has been named Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Week three times this season.

“We're healthy, we're hungry and we're excited,” Howard said. “It's a great time right now in Ashland, Ore., and we're just having the time of our lives coaching these young men.”

Saturday's game will be against a 9-1 St. Ambrose team that earned a share of the Mid-States Football Midwest Conference championship in 2012. The Bees have won six straight games since a narrow 29-26 loss to Grand View on Sept. 29. They have thrown for 34 passing touchdowns and added 12 more on the ground, averaging 437.4 yards per contest while giving up 321.9 yards per game. Opponents have scored only 12 touchdowns through the air and nine more on the ground against St. Ambrose this season.

“They're a well-coached team with a big, physical offensive line and a solid defense,” Howard said. “Their quarterback is very impressive, and they have other weapons in their backfield as well. They're going to present some problems for our defense, and our defense has to be prepared for this game.”

Quarterback Eric Williamson has put together one of the best seasons in the nation this year, throwing for 2,676 yards and 34 touchdowns with only eight interceptions while completing 63.1 percent of his passes. Nearly half of his completions have been to Zach Grant, who leads the NAIA with 87 receptions and has totaled 1,132 yards and 16 touchdowns. In the red zone, Williamson also looks for Andrew Friederich, who has seven touchdowns among his 23 receptions this year.

Defensively, Jeremy Wallace leads a St. Ambrose unit that has limited opponents to only 16.3 points per game. Wallace ranks fourth in the NAIA with 123 total tackles, including eight for loss and 3.5 sacks. Ryan Chambers has added 70 tackles and the Bee defensive line ranks among the nation's top 20 with 27 sacks this season.

Saturday's game will be the first meeting between these two teams and only SOU's fourth all-time appearance in the NAIA Football Championship Series. In all three previous appearances, the Raiders won the first round contest before falling in the quarterfinal round.

“Our goal every week is to be 1-0 at the end of the game,” Howard said. “So as we start this playoff run, hopefully on Sunday morning we'll get up 1-0 after we play St. Ambrose.”