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DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. —In its three-year postseason history, Reinhardt has found only one team in the way every year: Saint Francis (Ind.).

But the Eagles added to their problems early Saturday, sometimes getting in their own way during the early portion of the 62nd NAIA national championship game.

Reinhardt committed two turnovers before the offense took the field, allowed a fourth-and-14 conversion, missed a 31-yard field goal and an extra point and didn’t complete a pass for positive yardage until midway through the third quarter. That put the Eagles in a 24-point hole three minutes into the second quarter, allowing the Cougars to take their second consecutive national title with a 24-13 victory at Municipal Stadium.

The past two seasons, topranked Saint Francis (14-0) has ended Reinhardt’s year, beating the Eagles by 11 in the 2015 first round and 18 in the 2016 semifinals.

As good as the Cougars are, No. 2 Reinhardt (12-1), only in its fifth season as a program, contributed to its woes. The Eagles’ defense forced a turnover on the game’s first possession but fumbled it away at the Saint Francis 10 during the return. After again stopping the Cougars and quarterback Nick Ferrer, the NAIA player of the year, a muffed punt gave Saint Francis the ball at the Eagles’ 30.

After seemingly again halting the Cougars, Ferrer hooked up with Sean Boswell on a 24-yard pass on fourthand-14 from the 34. Saint Francis kicked a field goal, and then its offense went into overdrive following a missed 31-yard field goal attempt on Reinhardt’s next possession.

The Cougars, who have the NAIA’s top scoring offense, were held in check for the most part except for the next eight minutes. Justin Green gashed the NAIA’s top defense, which had allowed only 13.8 points per game, with an 80-yard touchdown run, then the team added a three-play touchdown drive that culminated with Ferrer hitting Duke Blackwell for a 16-yard score and then had Green cap a five-play possession with a 10-yard TD run.

That led to a 24-0 deficit against a team that was a wire-to-wire unanimous No. 1 in the NAIA poll and has a 23-game winning streak.

The Eagles scored midway through the second quarter with Trevae Cain’s 2-yard touchdown run ending a nineplay drive.

Reinhardt still battered away at the Saint Francis defense with its running game, reaching the Cougars 26 with little more than four minutes left in the first half. But Cain slipped while taking a handoff on a 4th-and-3 and didn’t convert.

The Eagles moved the ball 60 yards, completing a 26-yard pass on fourth-and-4 in the process, and pulled to within 24-13 with little more than five minutes left in the third following a 2-yard scoring run by Woodland-Cartersville’s Qua Stocks on fourth down. But the extra point went wide right, leaving Reinhardt an 11-point deficit.

Reinhardt’s last gasp came on a drive that reached the Saint Francis 11. But on fourthand-6, Blake Schumacher broke up a desperation pass in the end zone to hold off the Eagles.