Well, it just figures.

After playing every team in the Frontier Conference twice, the No. 2 Carroll College football team drew another squad that they're all too familiar with for the first round of the NAIA playoffs.

It was announced Sunday morning that the Saints will host No. 16-seed Black Hills State of the Dakota Athletic Conference this Saturday in Nelson Stadium. The teams started off their last two seasons by facing each other and both times the Saints came away victorious.

"It's very appropriate," said Carroll head coach Mike Van Diest about the selection. "We always knew it was going to be a match with either a Frontier Conference school or a DAC school, that's the way it's been pretty much every year."

The NAIA, as a standard, matches teams up by ranking but also by those who are nearest geographically for the playoffs. It is as important to save the schools money as it is to provide them with good competition.

For the same reasons, Carroll has played the Yellow Jackets to start their past two years and with much success. After defeating Blacks Hills 28-3 in Spearfish, S.D., to start last season, the Saints blanked them 17-0 in their season opener and first home game of this year.

Still, Van Diest said that the Yellow Jackets are a much-improved team since losing their first three out of four games. They are on a on a six-game winning streak, and even had a 19-16 upset over co-Dakota Athletic champions Jamestown College, the sixth-seeded team.

"We've had our share of football adversity at the beginning of the year," said Black Hills head coach John Scott.

After losing their starting quarterback because of class requirements, the Yellow Jackets were forced to put in true freshman Drew Hodgs. After a rough start he has been evening out in the season and averages 168.5 yards per game and 132-of-222 pass attempts - roughly 59 percent - while throwing 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Scott said that after making it into the playoffs for the first time, his team was a little uncertain how to represent themselves the next year. Too many flashy plays and overconfidence hampered them and it wasn't until they started getting down to the basics that they began winning games.

That meant cracking down on a tough defense that has allowed an average of just 225 yards and 11 points per game. That rates them just below the Saints, who give up 211 yards and 4.5 points per game.

"They're very, very good," Van Diest. "One of the better defenses, along with Tech's and Northern's, that we've faced this year."

Meanwhile, they're offense has been centered on a tough running game that burns up an average of 190.4 yards per contest. So far, they've averaged 26.4 points and 361.2 yards of total offense per game.

The Saints, meanwhile, are trying to refocus after their offense struggled the past three games, especially against Montana Tech this past weekend. The Orediggers ransacked the Saints, keeping them without a first down in the first half and to just 93 yards of total offense on the game. The 'Diggers had 417 but still lost 17-14 when Saints senior cornerback Marcus Miller returned two interceptions for touchdowns then kicked the game-winning field goal.

"We need to find out who our best players are," Van Diest said. "Defensively, I had a very poor game plan with our nickel package against Tech and Tech took advantage of that with some of their quarterback runs."

Van Diest said that Black Hills State will get film of the game with Tech and likely try to spread out their defense the same way the 'Diggers did.

"I need to do some better game planning when teams are spreading us out," he said.

Scott said that no matter what the scores have been down the stretch, Carroll's most impressive feat is winning 11 straight games, especially against the same teams twice.

"Any time you play teams twice it's really difficult," he said. "We have to play one team twice in a season, and you don't feel right doing it."

Plus, big wins can also lead to big losses as teams react from week to week. For the Saints to keep their energy and focus up for 11 straight, it's a character of their strength, Scott said.

Now the Yellow Jackets hope they can overcome their previous losses to battle with Carroll. Scott said that the last time the team was a little overwhelmed by the Saints and the fans at Nelson Stadium.

"We're not going to be blind-sided by that," he said.

Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 12:07 p.m.