Ravens Football put together a tremendous defensive performance Saturday, earning a second-straight upset win in the NAIA Football Championship Series Quarterfinals.

The No. 9 seed Ravens defeated the No. 3 seed Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcats, 20-9, in Marion, Ind.

The Ravens held a 17-0 lead at halftime and maintained that lead through a scoreless third quarter before the Wildcats were able to score their only touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, trimming the Ravens lead to 17-6 after the extra point attempt failed.

The Ravens were forced to punt on the ensuing drive and IWU drove deep into Ravens territory once again, but Blake Casteel's sack on third down forced the Wildcats to kick a field goal, which cut the lead to 17-9.

With 6:37 on the clock, the Ravens offense put together what amounted to a game-winning drive. The Ravens milked almost 4 minutes off the clock, including a key third down conversion from Jackson Dooley to Jacob Gathright. The play helped set up Harry Balke's 44-yard field goal to put the Ravens back up by 11 points. The field goal try came with the wind in Balke's favor after the Ravens chose the direction of play to open the second half instead of taking possession of the ball.

Jackson Hoskins put the finishing touches on the win as he intercepted a Wildcats pass with 1:43 left in the game, allowing the Ravens to kneel out the rest of the game and move on to the semifinals.

The Ravens defense held the Wildcats to 36 fewer points than they averaged entering Saturday's game. IWU was just 5-of-15 on third down attempts and the Ravens stuffed two of the Wildcats five fourth-down tries.

Javhi Blomquist led the Ravens with 11 tackles and Zachary LaCombe added 10 tackles to go along with a fumble recovery. Isaiah Hasten had 7 tackles and an interception and Cole Johnson added another interception for the Ravens defense.

The first half couldn't have gone much better for the Ravens as they held a 17-0 lead after 30 minutes of action. A combination of stout defensive play, turnovers and successful third downs on offense helped the Ravens build their lead.

The strong defense started on the first drive as the Ravens defense held the Wildcats on a fourth-and-1 attempt. The Ravens offense cashed in on the turnover on downs, driving 70 yards for the game's opening touchdown, a Dalton Witherspoon 3-yard plunge.

On the next IWU drive, Johnson intercepted Kyle Antoine's tipped pass to give the Ravens the ball at the Wildcats 26-yard line. Again the Ravens made the most of the opportunity as Dooley scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

The Ravens forced another turnover on the Wildcats next drive as Hoskins forced a fumble that was recovered by LaCombe. After the teams traded punts, the Ravens scored the only points of the second quarter on a 20-yard Balke field goal.

The Wildcats drove into Ravens territory on the ensuing drive, but again the Ravens defense came up big with another fourth down stop.

The Ravens dominated time of possession in the first half, holding the ball for 23:47 compared to just 6:13 for IWU. The Ravens success on third down played a large part in that advantage as they converted 7-of-11 on third down. The second half was fairly even but the Ravens finished the game with 40:07 in time of possession and just 19:53 for the Wildcats.

Dooley finished with 193 yards passing, with Gathright hauling in 4 catches for 85 yards.

With the win, the Ravens (11-2) snap IWU's (11-2) 25-game home winning streak and avenge 2022's loss at IWU, also in the NAIA FCS Quarterfinals.

Next up for the Ravens is a trip to the FCS Semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 14. An opponent is yet to be determined but check www.ravenathletics.com for updates.