CANTON, Ohio – The UW-River Falls Falcons are Division III national champions!

UW-River Falls knocked off the North Central Cardinals 24-14 in the Stagg Bowl on Jan. 4 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, denying North Central's second straight national title and securing the first national championship in program history for River Falls.

North Central arrived at the Stagg Bowl as the reigning NCAA Division III champions and winners of 29 straight games. UW-River Falls ended that run with a composed, physical performance that flipped the game after the first half.

The Falcons trailed 14-3 midway through the second quarter before scoring 21 unanswered points. The Falcon defense, behind senior defensive lineman Jack Olson and freshman safety Taylor Sussner combined for two interceptions while holding North Central scoreless in the final 30 minutes.

Quarterback Kaleb Blaha delivered a historic performance in the highest setting, finishing with 419 total yards and three total touchdowns. In the process, Blaha broke the all-time single-season total yards record, surpassing Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow's mark of 6,039 yards set in 2019 at LSU. Blaha finished the season with 6,189 total scrimmage yards.

North Central opened the game with a 48-yard rushing touchdown on its first drive and later added a one-yard score early in the second quarter to build a 14-3 lead. UW-River Falls would answer before halftime with a 'Tarnation Tandem' connection. Blake Rohrer snatched Blaha's back pylon throw for a 13-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 14-10 at the break.

The tone shifted at the end of the third quarter. The Falcons marched down the field and took their first lead on a seven-yard Blaha rushing touchdown. From that point forward, UW-River Falls controlled the game.

The Falcon defense repeatedly shut down Cardinal drives, with Gage Timm forcing a fumble and recording two sacks, Sussner and Olson's interceptions, and stopping North Central on multiple fourth-down conversions. The Cardinals, who entered the game averaging more than 40 points per contest, were held without a score in the second half by the Cobra Kai defense.

Blaha put the game away midway through the fourth quarter with a 12-yard rushing touchdown to extend the lead to 24-14. UW-River Falls closed out the final minutes by winning the line of scrimmage and preventing any Cardinal rally.

The Falcons finished with 436 total yards of offense compared to North Central's 363 and outscored the defending champions 21-0 after halftime.

The victory caps a historic 14-1 season and marks the program's first NCAA Division III national championship.