Their opponent was the Carroll Fighting Saints, the defending national champion who was appearing in the title game for the 8th time in the past 10 years.
Placement in the tournament was based on the final edition of the NAIA Coaches' Poll[1] with the exception of #16 William Penn and #17 Northwestern (IA) being passed over for #18 Grand View, who qualified by winning the Mid-States Football Association Division Championship.
Southern Nazarene managed several scores along the way, including Jarod Martin catching a 64-yard pass from Brady Wardlaw for a touchdown.
[9] Ottawa University (from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference) completed the regular season ranked #10 and was invited to play #8 Azusa Pacific.
[11] Benedictine started quick when Nick Rudolph ran a 22-yard interception for a touchdown and the first score of the game after only 21 seconds had expired.
[14] Top-ranked Marian rolled past St. Francis of Illinois, having taken the lead in the first quarter and held it through the entire game.
[15] Saint Xavier's Wes Gastel caught a 9-yard pass from Jimmy Coy for six points in the first quarter to take the lead.
Carroll managed a field goal in the second quarter to bring the score 14–10, but trailed until Chance Demarais made a 1-yard carry for a touchdown with only 01:51 left in the game.
[18] With 7:16 on the clock in the first quarter, Carrol's Anthony Hogan caught a 20-yard pass from Dane Broadhead for the first score of the game.
Tom Yaremko's extra point kick was good and Carroll led 7–0, and held the lead for the remainder of the game.
Carroll enjoyed a comfortable lead through the entire game, having put up 447 yards of total offense, 27 first downs, and five touchdown.
[19] Fifth-ranked Saint Xavier upset and eliminated top-ranked Marian in the semifinal round of the NAIA National Championship game.
Tom Lynch kicked a good 20 yard field goal and later teammate Jimmy Coy pushed an 8-yard run to the end zone for a touchdown.
[21] Carroll took possession after a punt and with 5:17 on the clock in the second quarter, Dane Broadhead completed a 20-yard pass to Matt Ritter for a touchdown, and Tom Yaremko's extra point kick was good to bring the score within three.
Ten plays later, Saint Xavier's Jimmy Coy threw an 11-yard pass to Shane Zakery for a touchdown, and Lynch's second extra point of the game put the score to 17–7.
Tom Yaremko's extra point kick was good and the score at the half ended Saint Xavier 17, Carroll 14.
In the next possession at 11:45 on the clock, KJ Franklin carried the football 4 yards for a touchdown to take back the lead for Saint Xavier.