FLORENCE- With an undefeated season and a Gulf South Conference championship in hand, there’s only one more thing North Alabama could ask for – a Division II National Championship.

UNA inched one step closer to playing for a National Championship Saturday by knocking off Newberry 38-20 in the second round of the DII Playoffs in front of a packed house at Braly Municipal Stadium.

Newberry came out scoring early in the first quarter when quarterback Josh Stepp hit Craig Jones on a five-yard touchdown pass. Todd Moon’s extra point was good, giving the Indians a 7-0 lead with 9:13 left in the first quarter.

“Newberry is every bit as good as I thought they were,” UNA coach Mark Hudspeth said. “Our defense did a good job of keeping them out of the red zone.”

The Lions responded with an 11-play drive resulting in a Yuta Fukuda field goal with 4:05 remaining in the first quarter to pull within four.

Early in the second quarter, quarterback A.J. Milwee rushed for a 15-yard touchdown. Fukuda’s extra point attempt was good giving the lions a 10-7 lead.

“They play the type of defense we like to see,” Hudspeth said. “Once our option started working we stayed with it.”

The Lions refused to stop there though.

After UNA’s defense stopped the Indian’s potent offense, Anthony Merritt completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jason Messing with 7:49 remaining in the half. Fukuda’s extra point was good.

A 19-yard touchdown pass from Milwee to Trey Gorman would give the Lions a comfortable 24- 7 lead just before halftime.

Newberry didn’t let the Lions get too comfortable though. Stepp completed a 16-yard pass to Tymere Zimmerman for a touchdown. The extra point by Moon was no good, leaving the score 24-13 at the half.

“We just couldn’t stop their offense,” Newberry coach Zak Willis said. “I give credit to UNA, they played a good football game.”

Newberry came out firing after the half by going on an 80-yard scoring drive, narrowing the score to 24-20 for most of the third quarter.

Moon attempted a 30-yard field goal with 1:37 left in the third, but missed it wide right.

Milwee scored on a 17-yard run early in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 31-20. A 5-yard touchdown run from Milwee with 2:28 left in the game added some insurance for UNA.

“Our guys played well,” Hudspeth said. “They do what it takes to win.”

UNA finished the game with 470 yards of total offense. Merritt’s 78 yards on special teams helped him break the NCAA DII record for career kick return yardage.

No. 3-ranked UNA will host Delta State Saturday in the DII quarterfinals. The Lions beat the Statesmen 17-10 earlier in the season.