Cortland stuffed a two-point conversion attempt with 1:20 remaining in the game, and the No. 11 Red Dragons held on to win the Stagg Bowl for the first time, defeating North Central 38-37 in Stagg Bowl 50, the closest Stagg Bowl ever.
It was a defensive game in the first half and a shootout as both teams wore out the end zones in the second.
With all the scoring in the second half, it was the two-point try with 1:20 left in the game that proved to be the difference. Earlier in the playoff round, Cortland used a late two-point conversion to win a game, and this time, the defense of another has given the Red Dragons the national title.
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Zac Boyes was named the Most Outstanding Player of the game. He was 26-for-34 with 349 yards passing and five touchdowns. Boyes added 123 yards on 16 attempts on the ground. He was the first the first Cortland player in more than two decades to top 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in a single game.
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| Joe Iadevio caught two second-half touchdowns to help Cortland keep pace, then win in an action-packed second half of football. d3photography.com photo |
The win ended North Central's 29-game winning streak, and was the first loss for the Cardinals under Brad Spencer (29-1). This was North Central's fourth straight appearance in the Stagg Bowl final, winning twice in 2019 and 2022.
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Cortland's road to the title Rankings entering playoffs. |
Earlier Friday evening, North Central's Luke Lehnen was named the 2023 winner of the Gagliardi Trophy, presented by Stearns Bank. A native of Chatham, Ill., Lehnen had a monstrous year. Heading into the title game against Cortland, he had completed 162 of 215 passes (75.3 percent) for 3,228 yards and 46 touchdowns with just two interceptions. The exercise science major has also rushed for 735 yards (7.4 yards per carry) and 11 touchdowns.
Cortland won the coin toss and opted to open with their defense. North Central had a 13-play drive that netted 73 yards to open the game only to turn the ball over on downs. Cortland could not do much their first time with the ball and was forced to punt from the 49 yard line after taking over on their own 18.
North Central and Cortland both engineered long drives with their second offensive series, with North Cental fumbling the ball on the Cortland 22 yard line and Cortland failing to convert a fourth and two on the Cardinal's 5 yard line.
North Central took the ball on their own 8 and methodically moved down the field for the the first score of the game, a 7-yard touchdown pass to Charles Coleman with less than a minute in the second half. The Cardinals overcame two penalties with their running game carrying the team on the drive, rushing for 68 of the 92 yard in the drive.
With 56 ticks left in the half, Cortland drove down the field for a 31-yard field goal to get on the board for the first time. The key play in the drive was when Boyes ran from the North Central 27 for nine yards and a hit out-of-bounds moved the ball to the NCC 14 for the successful field goal attempt. Both teams left the field with the North Central holding a 7-3 lead after 30 minutes of play.
North Central held a 263-146 edge on offensive yards with 215 yards on the ground. Joe Sacco accounted for 101 of those rushing yards for the Cardinals.
The second half was a different story than the first.
Cortland and North Central both scored twice in their first three drives in the second half as the game was knotted at 17-17 at the 3:19 mark in the third.
Cortland scored touchdowns on drives of 72 and 65 yards. The big play in the second drive was a 65-yard reception from Boyes to JJ Laap.
North Central scored their only touchdown on the ground on their second possession of the quarter. It took them five straight rushes, culminating with a four-yard touchdown run to the left side by Sacco. The Cardinals added a 24-yard field goal to finish the scoring in the third.
Cortland continued to pile up points as they mixed in the run and pass to move down the field. They finished the drive with a short pass to Joe Iadevaio for nine yards in the opening play of the fourth quarter.
North Central responded with a deep pass by Lehnen to DeAngelo Hardy for 59 yards. He would have carried the ball into the end zone if Cortland's Ryan Isom had not tripped him up. Lehnen took the ball himself to knot the score at 24 all.
Cortland retook the lead with a 10-play, 63-yard touchdown drive where they never faced a third down. Joe Iadevaio scored for the second time in the game with a 10-yard pass from Boyes.
It looked like it would be the last team with the ball who will give their supporters a Stagg Bowl victory as North Central scored quickly. Lehnen ran the ball twice, once for 12 yards and a rush up the middle for 64 yards, the second rushing touchdown for Lehnen in the game.
The final touchdown for Cortland was a short 21-yard pass to Cole Burgess and was matched by the Cardinals. Hardy took a short pass by Lehnen and scampered 60 yards for what was looking like a tying touchdown. North Central opted for the two-point conversion and when Lehnen was tackled well short of the goal line, the crowd in Salem knew a Cortland victory was in hand.