(STATS) -- Familiarity surrounds Saturdays opening-round playoff game between New Hampshire and Lehigh.Besides this being the teams fifth meeting in seven years, UNH is beginning the playoffs at home against the Patriot League champion for the fourth consecutive season.I figured thats probably where we would go as thats been the pattern lately, Lehigh coach Andy Coen said.Also just like last year, the winner will go on to play at James Madison. Thats a CAA Football rival for the 22nd-ranked Wildcats (7-4), but they know better than to look ahead.Their streak of 13 straight playoff appearances is the longest in the FCS. They reached the national semifinals in 2013 and 2014 -- those runs began with blowouts of Lafayette and Fordham, respectively -- before being stunned in the opening round last year by Colgate.Last year, we had the same situation, a Patriot League team coming to Durham, Wildcats leading rusher Dalton Crossan said. I think personally that we kind of wrote them off. Not like really we thought we were going to win 100 percent, but we were kind of looking towards JMU, thinking about going to JMU. We had already beaten (Colgate) earlier in the year.Us seniors are going to make sure that is not the mindset.While UNH is the perennial powerhouse from a conference which has four teams in the postseason, Lehigh (9-2) is the lone representative from an inferior league.That doesnt mean the little guy will be a pushover. In fact, the odds-makers made the Mountain Hawks a slight favorite.Theyre actually ranked higher in the STATS FCS Top 25 at No. 18, and deservedly so after closing the regular season with nine straight victories. Whereas Lehigh wrapped up the Patriot title a few weeks ago, the Wildcats had to wait with fingers crossed on Selection Sunday -- and their at-large hopes were nearly dashed a day earlier when they needed a late field goal to beat Maine.Weve been in some type of playoff mode probably since the middle of the season on, knowing that you win this one, you lose this one, you might not be going to the dance, New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell said.While McDonnells team hasnt missed the playoffs since 2003, Lehigh is in the field for the first time since 2011.What scares you is you have a team with the tradition of New Hampshire, and they know what its like to play winning football at the FCS level in the playoffs, Coen said, and we wont have one player thats stepped foot in the playoffs. Thats a little scary for us, but I like our football team.Theres a lot to like about the offense.Nick Shafnisky took home Patriot offensive player of the year honors despite missing 2 1/2 games with an ankle injury. Hes rushed for 10 touchdowns and thrown for 20 in just nine games, surpassing 230 yards passing in seven of them. His two favorite targets are the Patriots two leading receivers, with Troy Pelletier and Gatlin Casey each having topped 1,000 yards while combining for 25 touchdowns.What makes the Mountain Hawks offense even scarier is that they became more balanced as the season wore on. Sophomore Dominick Bragalone, whom McDonnell called something special, rushed for 570 yards over the last four games while averaging 8.4 per carry.Offensively, its great to see the air show. Shaf, Gat and Troy are just killing it, said All-Patriot placekicker Ed Mish. And then Dom running people over and being able to get some long scores. Its been really exciting.Bragalone hopes to tear up the New Hampshire defense just as CAA rushing leader Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks did two weeks ago, gaining 298 yards in Albanys 36-25 upset win at Wildcat Stadium.That game and a 42-39 loss to James Madison on Oct. 15 were the only blemishes in conference play for UNH, but theyre also proof of vulnerability for a defense which has generally been the teams strength.In fact, the most yards the Wildcats have allowed came to a Patriot team -- 498 in a 39-28 win over Holy Cross on Sept. 10. On that same day, Lehigh nearly upset CAA power Villanova on the road, losing 26-21 on a late touchdown.Furthering the idea that UNH wont take the opponent lightly is the memory of last years shocking 27-20 playoff loss to Colgate.We know what (the Patriot League) can do, they beat us last year in the playoffs, McDonnell said. Believe me, everybodys antennas are on high here in Durham.The Wildcats lead the all-time series 12-3, including a 45-27 win in 2014 as they shut down an inexperienced Shafnisky.This Lehigh team, though, is much more talented. Plus, Coen has surely mentioned to his players how the Mountain Hawks upset UNH not so long ago -- 34-27 in 2013 in Durham.Things change over time, Coen said, but we have an idea of what they like to do and how they like to do it. Xavier Cedeno Jersey . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Rick Reuschel Cubs Jersey . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2610t-kyle-schwarber-jersey-cubs.html . 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The Chicago Cubs battered the three-time Cy Young Award winner on their way to a 5-0 victory Saturday night, making it 28 years and counting since the Dodgers last won the World Series.This day is never fun, the ending of a season, Kershaw said. You look back and think about the whole season as a whole. Its tough to swallow tonight, obviously, but Id rather be in this position and fail than not to get to be in this situation at all.Kershaw could have started Game 5 on three days rest, but manager Dave Roberts decided to save him for Saturday night at Wrigley Field. Roberts was hoping a couple more days would help Kershaw duplicate his performance from Game 2, when he pitched seven innings of two-hit ball in a 1-0 victory.The decision worked out quite well -- for the Cubs. After winning a pair of shutouts in Games 2 and 3, the Dodgers dropped the next two by a combined score of 18-6. Even the great Kershaw was unable to slow Chicagos momentum, and Roberts first season as Dodgers manager ended in disappointment.The left-hander allowed four earned runs and seven hits while dropping to 4-7 with a 4.55 ERA in 18 playoff games.I think that the first thing I saw is the Cubs hitters, they had a great game plan tonight, Roberts said. And there was a couple mistake sliders that they took advantage of. But they were running counts, they used the whole field, and there was traffic all night for Clayton. And he gave it everything he had, but when they did -- when he did make a mistake, they made him pay.Dexter Fowler hit a ground-rule double on Kershaws third pitch of the night, and the Cubs were off and running. Kris Bryant followed with an RBI single. Then left fielder Andrew Toles dropped Anthony Rizzos fly ball to the gap in left-center, setting up Ben Zobrists sacrifice fly.It was the first time Kershaw had given up two runs in the first inning all season. He was limited to 21 starts this year due to a back injury.You get out of that first inning and you give up two, you feel like you have a chance maybe, Kershaw said. They just kept tacking on runs. I gave up some two-out hits and some homers and some two-strike hits -- just a lot of things that you cant do in a game like this.Fowler added a two-outt RBI single in the second, rookie Willson Contreras hit a leadoff drive in the fourth and Anthony Rizzo connected in the fifth.dddddddddddd Rizzo became the first lefty batter to homer against Kershaw since Daniel Murphy for the New York Mets in Game 4 of their 2015 Division Series.It was the first time Kershaw had allowed two homers in a game since April 9 at San Francisco. That was it for Roberts, who hit for his star pitcher in the sixth.We have asked a lot of Clayton all year long, so, again, its just more of you got to give those hitters credit, Roberts said.While Kershaw struggled against the Cubs, the Dodgers were shut down by Kyle Hendricks and Aroldis Chapman. Los Angeles managed just two hits and four baserunners, with none of them advancing past first.Chicago became the first team to face the minimum in a postseason game since Don Larsens perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series.We had a 2-1 lead with two games at home and it didnt go the way we thought it would go, Los Angeles center fielder Joc Pederson said. We didnt take care of business. We made some mistakes, all of us.Roberts managed the Dodgers to their fourth straight NL West title after taking over for Don Mattingly. But injuries to Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson and Hyun-Jin Ryu hurt rotation depth.Kenta Maeda, who won 16 games during his rookie season, struggled in the playoffs, and 20-year-old Julio Urias was knocked out in the fourth inning of his first postseason start in Game 4 on Wednesday night.Los Angeles went with three starters in the Division Series against Washington and Kershaw pitched three times, including a two-out save in the clinching Game 5. When he stepped up again in his first start in the NLCS, it looked as if he might be on the verge of a postseason breakthrough.But his turnaround came to a screeching halt on a cool night in the Windy City. He dropped to 1/3 with a 6.28 ERA in five career starts with the Dodgers facing postseason elimination, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.Its only going to make him stronger for the years coming on, Pederson said. Hes had some trouble with his back and overcame it and came and helped us win the division and get past the NLDS. We wouldnt be here without him. Hell be stronger for next year.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '