Welcome to the playoffs MidAmerica Nazarene football.</p><p>Technically, the Pioneers, 8-1, have a bye week and the playoffs start Nov. 21, but for all intents and purposes the NAIA playoffs arrive Saturday in Marshall, Mo.</p><p>MidAmerica, which is ranked 10th in the nation, squares off with No. 9 Missouri Valley, 7-1, at 1:30 p.m. It&rsquo;s the final game of the regular season for the Pioneers, and the final chance to leave an impression on those who will select the 16-team field for the 2009 tournament.</p><p>&ldquo;I think you have to treat this week like a playoff game, because there are no guarantees,&rdquo; MidAmerica coach Jonathan Quinn said. &ldquo;This potentially could be the last game for our seniors and that&rsquo;s the way we&rsquo;re approaching it.&rdquo;</p><p>With both teams currently residing in the top 10, there&rsquo;s a chance both squads are playoff bound. But that&rsquo;s not how the Pioneers are approaching it.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not so sure both teams get in and we&rsquo;re not approaching it that way,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;Whoever loses this game could be a bubble team, and you definitely don&rsquo;t want to put your fate in the hands of a rater or voter or anybody else for that matter. What we do know for sure is that whoever wins this game is in. That&rsquo;s one fact we know.&rdquo;</p><p>The last time MidAmerica hit the road for a showdown against a top-10 foe, it didn&rsquo;t turn out good for the Pioneers. Lindenwood trounced MidAmerica 55-14 on Sept. 26 in St. Charles, Mo.</p><p>&ldquo;That game (against Lindenwood) hurt,&rdquo; junior Ashford Johnson said. Some people cried even, but we took our beating. We were embarrassed, but it made us even stronger. That&rsquo;s not happening again.&rdquo;</p><p>Just like MidAmerica, the Vikings have won five consecutive games entering Saturday&rsquo;s showdown.</p><p>Missouri Valley is always a strong defensive team and their fans create a hostile environment for visitors.</p><p>But the Vikings have a dangerous offense too led by quarterback Chris White, who ranks 11th in the nation in passing efficiency. He has completed more than 63 percent of his passes, going 148-for-234 for 1,886 yards with 20 touchdowns and four interceptions.</p><p>MidAmerica isn&rsquo;t a one-trick pony anymore either. Known primarily for its offense, the Pioneers are 11th in the nation in total defense this season.</p><p>&ldquo;We had a great team last year, but we&rsquo;re on another level this year with Jake Duren, who came in and took charge of the defense, and Brady too,&rdquo; cornerback Will Griffin said. &ldquo;Those two guys put us on another level. We&rsquo;re a family now and they make sure we keep competing.&rdquo;</p><p>The next game is always the most important game for a football team, but that&rsquo;s especially true in this case.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely the biggest game of the year,&rdquo; quarterback Tyler Herl said. &ldquo;We want to come out and hit our peak like coach wants us to do. It&rsquo;s never good to go into the playoffs on a losing note, so we don&rsquo;t want to risk that.&rdquo;</p><p>Everything the Pioneers have worked for throughout the season, really beginning in the offseason after last year&rsquo;s playoff loss at home against Langston, Okla., is now on the line.</p><p>&ldquo;Going back to two-a-days and camp, this is everything we&rsquo;ve wanted, but those guys do it too,&rdquo; Griffin said. &ldquo;Those guys are on scholarship just like we are. But we&rsquo;re hungry this year and we&rsquo;re ready right now.&rdquo;</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">MNU football streamed live </span></strong><br /> CollegeFanz.com selected Saturday&rsquo;s Heart of America Athletic Association showdown between MidAmerica Nazarene and Missouri Valley as its NAIA Football Game of the Week.</p><p>The game starts at 1:30 p.m. in Marshall, Mo., and will be broadcast live via Web cast powered by Livestream at <a href="http://www.CollegeFanz.com">www.CollegeFanz.com</a>.</p><p>The Web site also will broadcast the live pairings for the first round of the NAIA Football playoffs when they are announced on Nov. 15 at 1:30 p.m.</p><p></div>