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| The celebration was on for River Falls and its thousands of fans in Canton, Ohio. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com |
By Joe Sager
D3sports.com
CANTON, Ohio – In an age of offense, defense proved it still wins championships.
UW-River Falls used three turnovers to power past North Central, 24-14, in Stagg Bowl 52 Sunday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Falcons quarterback Kaleb Blaha, the Gagliardi Trophy winner and D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year. “I feel like I am dreaming right now. I am not able to put into words how good it feels, but I am just so happy I had the opportunity to come back for another year and play with my brothers. It feels really good.”
Blaha finished with 419 yards of total offense on the evening and as named the game’s Most Outstanding Player. He surpassed Joe Burrow for the NCAA all-divisions single-season offense record (6,051 yards).
“It feels really good. That’s pretty cool to add on to the list of things,” he said. “But, it’s definitely a team thing. I couldn’t do it without everybody making plays, the O-line blocking and the defense getting us so many opportunities.”
It’s the first Stagg Bowl crown for the Falcons (14-1). North Central (14-1), playing in its sixth straight Stagg Bowl, was trying to become the first back-to-back national champ since UW-Whitewater in 2013 and ’14.
“We had some great momentum going. We just kind of lost the momentum with the turnovers. That’s something you can’t do,” North Central coach Brad Spencer said. “The turnover battle is usually going to determine the winner. It’s very rare that you can’t lose that battle and win the game.”
UW-River Falls entered the game ranked first in total offense at 564.1 yards per game. However, it was the Falcons’ defense that proved to be the difference. The unit forced three Cardinals turnovers, including two in the red zone, on the evening.
“It definitely fires us up when they get a big stop or make a big hit or get a turnover,” Blaha said. “It makes us want to go out there and do our job because they did their job. They’ve been doing it all year.”
North Central got on the scoreboard first when Donovan McNeal exploded through a hole in the middle of the line and raced 48 yards for a score 1:57 into the game.
The Cardinals, who entered the game with the nation’s top-scoring offense (49.4 points per game), threatened to add to their lead on their next possession. However, they fumbled away the ball at the UW-River Falls 7, and Gage Timm pounced on it.
“That was huge,” North Central receiver Thomas Skokna said. “We fumbled the ball and the next play they get an explosive play.”
The Falcons went to work offensively, but were limited to Justin Scheberl’s 25-yard field goal with 5:48 left in the first. It cut the deficit to 7-3.
North Central pushed its lead to 14-3 with 11:07 left in the first half on McNeal’s 1-yard run. It capped a 15-play, 73-yard march that chewed up 9:38.
UW-River Falls struck for its first touchdown with 4:50 remaining in the first half when Blake Rohrer snagged a 13-yard laser from Blaha in the corner of the end zone. Scheberl’s PAT made it a 14-10 game.
“Blake is an unreal player,” Blaha said. “He went up and made a play got that touchdown . That was huge for us.”
The Cardinals appeared poised to add to their lead just before halftime when they drove to the Falcons’ 13. However, Taylor Sussner intercepted a pass in the end zone as time expired to preserve the 14-10 score. It was North Central’s second red zone turnover.
A long UW-River Falls drive to open the second half reached the North Central 4. However, Brayden Garrigan batted away Blaha’s pass in the end zone on fourth down with 10:49 on the clock.
After forcing a punt, the Falcons went ahead, 17-14, with 2:51 left in the third quarter. The team marched 59 yards on seven plays to grab their first lead hen Blaha scrambled up the middle for a 7-yard score.
Riding the momentum, UW-River Falls had a chance to add to its lead with 11:08 remaining. The Falcons drove to the North Central 14, but turned the ball over on downs.
They got a big break on the ensuing Falcons drive when Jack Olson deflected Garret Wilson’s attempted screen pass, grabbed it and returned it 15 yards to the North Central 12. One play later, Blaha ran up the middle for a score and a 24-14 lead with 8:44 to go.
The Falcons’ defense stifled the Cardinals on their next drive and forced a North Central turnover on downs at its own 38 with 5:55 to go.
UW-River Falls failed to convert on its opportunity, but its defense forced another Cardinals turnover on downs with 2:13 to play.
Blaha led the way for UW-River Falls. He completed 27 of 41 passes for 291 yards and a score. He rushed 19 times for 128 yards and two scores.
“I thought the game kind of was a reflection of this football team. It wasn’t going our way early. It wasn’t easy early. This group just hung in there,” UW-River Falls coach Matt Walker said. “This offense has gotten a lot of attention nationally – and it should – but, this defense never gets enough credit. When they were running the ball on us early, I am sure everyone in the crowd with a Falcon logo on were getting a little worried. But, all these guys did was get tough and nasty and made plays.
“I knew, if we could get the stops defensively and get the offense enough at-bats, we could do what we did today. We had just enough at-bats from the stops and turnovers late that we could score the football.”