Filed under: Bowl Games
SALEM, Va. (AP) -- Levell Coppage ran for 299 yards and three touchdowns and Wisconsin-Whitewater forced five turnovers and shut out Mount Union in the second half to win its second consecutive NCAA Division III football national championship, 31-21 on Saturday.The Warhawks completed their second straight 15-0 season, and won their third national championship in four years. They are 57-3 in Lance Leipold's four seasons as coach.
The Purple Raiders (14-1), winners of 10 championships in 13 prior trips to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl under coach Larry Kehres, did all their scoring in a span of less than 4 minutes in the second quarter, but otherwise couldn't solve the Warhawks' defense.
Coppage did plenty, too, scoring on runs of 54, 11 and 75 yards, the latter with 2:34 to play on third-and-6. The Purple Raiders stacked the line, and once Coppage burst through, he sailed down the middle of the field for the clinching touchdown. The run also gave him a Stagg Bowl record for individual rushing yardage, accomplished on 39 carries.
The teams set a record by each appearing in the championship game for the sixth consecutive season. They had shared the mark with fellow Division III member Augustana College (Ill.), which played in five straight 1982 to 1986, winning the last four games.
After a high scoring first half, the defense tightened in the second half.
With both teams using backup quarterbacks because of injuries, three series ended on interceptions in the third quarter, and when Mount Union put quarterback-turned-receiver Cecil Shorts behind center for more mobility in the fourth quarter, he fumbled the ball away on one possession and got sacked for a 9-yard loss by Luke Hibner on another key play.
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