Northwestern opens the N-A-I-A playoffs at home this weekend against Black Hills State. The Raiders are 10-1 and ranked sixth nationally.

Northwestern coach Orv Otten says they’ve played well all season and done some things to improve and get better at the end of the season. He says they’re also healthy and playing well on defense. Black Hills State enters the post season riding an eight game winning streak and six of those opponents never reached the endzone.

Otten says they have a strong defense that’s aggressive and have built their success on that. The Raiders will attack that defense with a balanced offense that is averaging about 40 points per game.