And for the second straight season, the Knights will be huge underdogs. But that doesn’t seem to matter to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference champions, who will travel to Wheaton College (10-0) to take on the No. 3-ranked team in the country on Saturday in Wheaton, Illinois.

Last year, the Knights qualified for their first-ever NCAA tournament game and it didn’t go very well. MLC traveled to St. John’s and lost 84-6.

This year as the defending conference champions, the Knights (9-1, 8-0 UMAC) had the target on their backs all season. They accepted that challenge and rolled to another unbeaten season in the conference. Their lone loss on the season came to Gustavus Adolphus College in a 50-19 loss at St. Peter in the opening week.

“I would say it was different this year,” coach Mark Stein said. “I think if you ask the boys, they would answer the same way. It’s different with a target on your back, teams game plan for you a different way, they make adjustments, they study you. And because we’re a young team, I think they’re looking for new or creative ways to move the ball or stop us.”

The experienced defense has as many as eight seniors starting. That group has been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, losing all of their games in their freshman season, only to see improvement the next year. This year’s senior class went 0-10 in 2016, 5-5 in 2017, then qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2018 (9-2).

Senior defensive end Jacob Schmidt has been there through it all and he said that the defensive unit has been cohesive all season.

“We’ve been playing together for four years and that’s been great,” Schmidt said. “Every experience with the guys has been awesome. There’s a unity between all of us that I think is really important and it’s show on the field this year.”

Schmidt said that the defense has also taken great pride in working well together and rooting each other on. The Knights are second in the country with 21 interceptions in 2019.

MLC had to make an adjustment this year at the quarterback position after Zach Bloomquist was unable to play because on an injury. The next man up, Ethan Aguilar, fit in just fine and has been a threat both passing and running the ball.

Aguilar has rushed for 368 yards and five touchdowns while throwing for 1,333 yards and 16 touchdowns.

“We missed Zach, having him as a part of the team and still as an assistant coach has been a real blessing to Ethan,” Stein said. “Zach and Ethan are totally different quarterbacks. Ethan is a lot taller, he has a bigger arm and he might be a little faster, so he has some good upside. Zach had a lot of moxie, he had a lot of confidence, he’s just one of those guys who has played with his heart. But coming into this year, I was more confident I think than some of the other coaches because I though Ethan was going to be OK. He did a great job.”

Senior wide receiver Micah Jarvis, who is in his third year of playing competitive football, is excited about playing in the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. He said that the offense felt comfortable with a new starting quarterback from the beginning of season.

“I think we rolled with it because during practice, we got a lot of reps in with Ethan,” Jarvis said. “Ethan is very poised and confident in what he’s doing, watching him, it builds that confidence too.”

The Knights have relied on the running game this year with their power and speed attack of Austin DeNoyer and Joshua Kren. DeNoyer has rushed for 1,298 yards and 11 touchdowns and Kren has 1,010 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. Kren is also the team’s leading receiver with 474 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

Defensively, the Knights have been strong as well. Senior safety/linebacker Ian Paulsen leads the team with 66 tackles and he also has three interceptions. Tristan Pankow, a senior linebacker, has 54 tackles.

As for the No. 3 team in the country, Wheaton quarterback Luke Anthony has thrown for 2,121 yards and 24 touchdowns this year. Adam Terrini leads the Thunder with 821 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns while Phillip Nichols has 690 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

On the ground, Ethan Williams has rushed for 817 yards and six touchdowns.

“Saturday we’re just super excited about,” Stein said. “Saturday is another opportunity to redeem ourselves, if you will. We didn’t play well last year [against St. John’s] and St. John’s is a good team and Wheaton is a good team, we’d like to see how we play if we play well.

“We know that they’ve got some tremendous athletes and some tremendous football players, a great scheme and a great tradition,” Stein said. “But the interesting thing is, though, we have more playoff experience than they do. Not that that’s going to make any difference, but I just think most of our guys being there, understanding what it’s going to be like, is a big deal.”

Schmidt knows that Wheaton will be a challenge.

“They’re a good team,” he said. “They’ve got a great offensive line, but we’ve got a good offensive line too. I’m excited for the opportunity, I know the guys are excited for the opportunity. It’ll be fun to go out there and competing at a high level against a good team.”