Cortland Football Wins First-Ever Div. III National Championship

The Cortland Red Dragons Football team has won the NCAA Division III National Championship. Cortland knocked off top seed North Central 38-37 in a wild Stagg Bowl at Salem Stadium in Salem, VA.

It was a high scoring affair, but it didn't start that way. The score was 0-0 after 29 minutes of play, and then both teams kicked their offense into gear.

Cortland was lead by quarterback Zac Boyce who threw for 349 yards, with five touchdowns and 123 yards on the ground. Coming into the game, Boyce completed 245-of-341 passes (71.8 percent) for 3,671 yards and 39 touchdowns with five interceptions. He's also run for 651 yards and eight touchdowns.

On the other side of the ball, North Central came into the game as the top ranked Division III team in the country with the #1 ranked quarterback, DeAngelo Hardy.

Scoring

North Central led at the half 7-3. After that, both teams went back and forth with successful scoring drives and with just under 2 minutes remaining, with the game tied 31-31 - Cortland scored with what looked to solidify the victory, a touchdown and extra point which put the Red Dragons up 38-31 with 1:20 left.

But it didn't end there.

On the first play of the drive, North Central QB DeAngelo Hardy broke free and threw a 60-yard pass for the TD, bringing the score to 38-37. North Central opted to go for the win with a 2-point conversion attempt, instead of tying the game with an extra-point kick. Cortland's defense would rise to the occasion, and stopped NC well short of the goal line. After North Central's unsuccessful on-sides kick. Cortland would run down the clock to clinch the victory, 38-37.

The win serves as Cortland's first-ever National Championship. North Central had won back-to-back national titles coming into the game, and hadn't lost a game since December of 2021, when they lost the national title game 3 years ago.

Cortland and North Central both end the season with a 14-1 record.