A quest for back-to-back national championships and a fourth Stagg Bowl victory fell short for North Central College football following a 24-14 defeat at the hands of UW-River Falls. The Cardinals entered the title game for a sixth consecutive season after a 41-21 semifinal victory over John Carroll, while the Falcons won a 48-41 thriller over Johns Hopkins.
The North Central rushing attack starts strong
The NCC offense got off to a blazing start, scoring on the opening drive behind a 48-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Donovan McNeal. The sophomore ran for 133 yards on the night.
After a three-and-out, the North Central offense got into the red zone after a pass from Garrett Wilson to Thomas Skokna. However, the drive ended after a fumbled exchange between Wilson and McNeal that was recovered by the Falcons. River Falls took advantage of the miscue, eventually getting on the board with a 25-yard field goal from Justin Scheberl.
In the second quarter, the two teams traded touchdowns, with North Central adding a one-yard plunge into the end zone from Donovan McNeal. The River Falls offense responded with a touchdown pass from Gagliardi Trophy winner Kaleb Blaha to Blake Rohrer to make the score 14-10 in favor of NCC.
The Cardinals looked to add to the lead just before halftime, driving inside the Falcon ten yard line. But Wilson’s pass to Grant McAtee in the end zone was intercepted by Taylor Sussner to end the half.
The Falcons take control in the second half
The North Central defense got a big stop early in the second after the Falcons went for it on fourth down inside the Cardinal ten yard line, but Brayden Garrigan broke up the pass from Blaha to end the drive.
However, the North Central offense was forced to punt on the ensuing drive, giving the ball back to Blaha and the Falcons. River Falls drove down the field, taking the lead for the first time on a seven-yard touchdown run up the middle from Blaha, putting the Falcons in front 17-14 heading to the fourth.
The River Falls defense takes over to win the national championship
After a North Central punt and another turnover on downs from River Falls, the Cardinals looked to regain the lead with under nine minutes to play. On second and ten from their own 37, Wilson threw a screen to Thomas Skokna that was intercepted by Jack Olson and returned to the NCC 12-yard line. On the ensuing play, Blaha used his legs to give the Falcons a two score lead on a 12-yard touchdown run.
North Central was unable to get any closer, as UW-River Falls, who had not qualified for the Division III playoffs since 1996, won the first national championship in program history by a 24-14 score. Kaleb Blaha broke Joe Burrow’s NCAA record for most yards in a single season with 6,189 total yards from scrimmage.
The Cardinals entered the game with the highest scoring offense in the country at 50.1 points per game. The 14 points scored by the North Central offense is the fewest ever scored by a Brad Spencer coached team and the fewest for NCC since a 31-14 second round loss to Wheaton in the 2016 playoffs.
North Central head coach Brad Spencer now holds a career record of 58-2 with the only two losses coming in Stagg Bowl 50 and Stagg Bowl 52.
