WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A piece of home is coming to visit Nate Hartung.

The Butler graduate and Winston-Salem State senior guard will be in the starting lineup at noon Saturday when the Rams (9-1) host Slippery Rock (9-2) in the first round of the NCAA Division II football playoffs.

“I saw their tape against California and (Butler grad) Bobby Vernick started that game and played well,” Hartung said. “Bobby was in my wedding. I played in the Big 33 game with (SRU receiver LaQuinn) Stephens-Howling’s brother.

“A Slippery Rock kid (Tony Papley) is playing nose guard for them and having a great year. I have a lot of respect for that entire program. They’re a classy group and I’m excited to get a chance to play them.

“I just wish my health was better,” Hartung added.

A first team all-conference player last year as the Rams reached the national championship game, Hartung has missed plenty of action this season with a bad ankle.

“I’ve probably played in three or four full games and parts of two or three others,” he said. “I lost so much cartilage through surgery on my ankle that it’s pretty much bone on bone.

“There’s nothing that can be done to make it better. I’ve just had to play on a very tender ankle.”

When Winston-Salem State lost its season-opener — a 25-21 decision to South Region No. 2 seed UNC-Pembroke — Hartung was in the hospital with an infection in his ankle.

He missed his team’s first three games, but has played every down in the past three.

“Nate has played the past four or five games for us and he’s been fine,” Rams coach Connell Maynor said. “He’ll be starting on Saturday.”

The Rams won 14 straight games last year before suffering a 35-7 loss to Valdosta State in the Division II title game.

“I can’t say we’re the same as last year ... That’s the problem when you reach the title game, everyone wants to compare it to that,” Hartung said.

“We lost the best quarterback (Kameron Smith) to ever play here and we had 1,000 and 900-yard receivers. You can’t replace that. But we’re still pretty good. Our defense is very athletic.

“We’ve had to deal with a battered offensive line and I’m part of that. We were supposed to have four starting linemen back, but only one of us has been healthy all year.”

Hartung turns 27 this month. He was recruited heavily by Slippery Rock on a couple of occasions.

“They were on me hard when I got back from New Zealand (religious mission) and a couple of years after that,” Hartung said. “They treated me really good up there and I appreciated that.

“I would have played alongside the guy with Minnesota now (Brandon Fusco) and that would have been cool, but given their situation with scholarships, they couldn’t commit a full one to a guy who wasn’t 100 percent healthy and I understood that.”

Life hasn’t been so bad for Hartung in North Carolina. His teams have won 23 of 25 games over the past two years and he is carrying a 3.98 grade point average as a history major.

Hartung believes his team is capable of making another run at the title.

“We have to go game by game, play good football and rely on match-ups,” he said. “Slippery Rock plays physical and they are talented. Both of our quarterbacks are from California.

“This game should be interesting.”