For the first time in three weeks, William Woods University (1-4, 0-1 Heart of America Athletic Conference South) plays in front of its home crowd, hosting No. 17 MidAmerica Nazarene University (4-0, 0-0) in its Heart South home opener at 1 p.m. Saturday at North Campus Athletic Conference.

The Owls head into Week 5, coming off a 66-7 defeat at Missouri Baptist University last Saturday in St. Louis. WWU totaled 149 yards of offense (146 passing yards and three rushing yards) to the Spartans' 600 yards (387 rushing yards and 213 passing yards).

Through five games this season, William Woods is averaging 222.6 yards of offense per game, 196.2 passing and 26.4 rushing yards. The Owls are scoring 15.2 points per game. Opponents are scoring 53.2 points per game, averaging 204.8 passing yards.

Gabe Serri leads the Owls in passing yards with 909. He is 76-of-171 through the air, has thrown nine touchdowns and four interceptions, and is completing 44.4 percent of his passes. Jalen Proctor leads Woods in rushing with 78 yards on 17 carries. He has scored one rushing touchdown. Troy Oliver is WWU's leader in receptions with 29. He has 443 receiving yards this season and is averaging 88.6 receiving yards per game.

Carter Holloway is WWU's leader in tackles with 52. He averages 10.4 tackles per game and has one sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Clarence Jackson is second on the team in tackles with 37. Xavier McCoy is third on the Owls in tackles with 29.

In Woods' first-ever, most recent home game, it tallied a season-high 427 yards of offense against St. Ambrose University on Sep. 14. The Owls also notched a season-high 366 passing yards and recorded a season-high 61 pass attempts.

Saturday is the first meeting between William Woods and MidAmerica Nazarene. The Pioneers have been inside the GoRout NAIA Top 25 rating in all four regular-season ratings and the preseason rating this year, and they climbed to a season-high 17th from 20th in the latest rating released Monday; MNU was rated a season-low 23rd in the preseason Top 25.

MidAmerica Nazarene is a private Nazarene (evangelical Christian) university in Olathe, Kan., in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Established in 1966, it has had football since 1979, with an all-time record of 263-204-2 (201-141-2 conference record). The Pioneers have won eight conference titles (most recently in 2023) and made 11 NAIA playoff appearances (most recently in '14), with a 6-11 record in those contests.

William Woods is ranked first in the NAIA in tackles (402) and interception return average (32.8), second in punts (No.- Yards) (40-1,139), third in kicks returns (No.- Yards) (25-450) and interception returns (No.- Yards) (5-164), fourth in completion-attempt-interception rate (80-179-4), penalty first downs (11) and fumbles recovered (three), fifth in defensive touchdowns (one) and sixth in passing yards (981).

MidAmerica Nazarene is 4-0 this season, coming off a 42-0 shutout victory at Saint Ambrose last Saturday.

In the win against the Fighting Bees last Saturday in Davenport, Iowa, MidAmerica Nazarene had 460 yards of offense, 281 yards through the air and 179 yards on the ground. Pioneers quarterback Adrian Parsons completed 12-of-29 passes for 281 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Aiyo'n Carter registered most of MNU's receiving yards, catching three passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns. Shawn Cherry paced the Pioneers' rushing attack with 11 carries for 67 yards and one touchdown. Saint Ambrose had more success through the air versus MNU, tallying 153 passing yards, good for an average of 10.9 yards per completion.

Through four games this season, MidAmerica Nazarene is averaging 506 yards of offense per game, 305.5 yards passing and 200.5 yards rushing. It is scoring 50.5 points per game. Opponents are scoring 9.25 points per game and averaging 309.3 yards of offense per game, 156.5 yards on the ground and 152.75 yards through the air.

MidAmerica Nazarene is ranked first in points per game (50.5) and passing touchdowns (18), fourth in sacks (17), fifth in yards per game (506), scoring (202), passing yards per game (305.5), passing yards per attempt (10.4), first downs per game (26.3) and PATs (26-28) and 10th in passing yards per completion (16.3).

Parsons leads MidAmerica Nazarene in passing yards. He has 1,200 yards this season, completing 62.73 percent of his passes (69-of-110). Parsons has thrown 18 touchdowns and one interception. He is averaging 300 passing yards per game.

Cameron Finley is the Pioneers' leading rusher, rushing for 253 yards on 52 attempts. He has scored one touchdown and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Cherry is averaging 5.3 yards per carry and has scored four rushing touchdowns. EJ Rogers is MNU's leader in receptions with 19. He has 308 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Rogers is averaging 77 receiving yards per game.

MidAmerica Nazarene's co-leaders in tackles are Jonathon Brown and Lance Jones, who have 27. Brown has 3.5 tackles for loss, one interception and 0.5 sacks. Jones has 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one pass breakup. Calvin Broussard is third on the team with 19 tackles.