The No. 2-ranked North Dakota State College of Science reached the NJCAA Division III National Championship on Saturday for the first time since 2022, but ran into a buzzsaw College of DuPage program who ran away with a 36-13 win for its sixth straight national title.
NDSCS scored first on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Mattick to Tellise Clark Jr. Mattick was off to a 5-for-6 start with 47 yards passing before being forced from the game by an injury.
The NDSCS receiving corps was paced by Trevon Rodriguez (3 catches, 49 yards) and Ishmael Emmanuel-Holloway (2 catches, 35 yards).
Clark was the Wildcats’ leading rusher with 79 yards on 15 carries. Michael Douglas Jr. received 15 carries for 42 yards.
The Wildcats’ other touchdown came on the first drive of the second half when Kenyon Slaughter-Keen ran in from five yards out.
The rushing score made it a 22-13 game, but DuPage locked in from there behind three combined passing touchdowns from Justin Bland and Askia Bullie. The latter entered the game in the second half and completed all four of his passes including two scores.
Bland was 14 of 23 for 182 yards passing and also caught a TD before his departure.
AJ Moore and Bullie added touchdowns on the ground and the trio of Ty Carlson and Dontay Fort hauled in one receiving TD each.
Daemond Gibbons came down with an interception for NDSCS.
DuPage finishes its championship season with an 8-2 record, while NDSCS ends its runner-up campaign with a 10-2 mark.
