It’s 1,050 miles from Muskegon, Michigan, to McKinney, Texas, the site of the 2022 Division II NCAA football title game.
But on Saturday, the two seemed a lot closer as Ferris State wide receivers Brady Rose and CJ Jefferson — who both starred for Muskegon high school teams — delivered big plays in the Bulldogs’ 41-14 mauling of Colorado School of Mines for FSU’s second straight national championship.
Ferris State became the fourth team to win back-to-back D-II titles this century, and the first since Northwest Missouri State did it in 2015-16. (Grand Valley State also won consecutive titles in 2002-03 and 2005-06.)
Rose, the former Mona Shores star, connected with Jefferson, the former Muskegon standout, for a 48-yard gain on a halfback pass early in the second quarter to set up a field goal, and Jefferson had a 19-yard run for a touchdown late in the quarter to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 20.
Meanwhile, Ferris State’s defense harassed Mines QB John Matocha and completely shut down the Orediggers’ offense. Mines entered Saturday’s game averaging more than 40 points a game; it managed just 21 yards in the first half. Matocha, who won the Harlon Hill Trophy (D-II’s version of the Heisman) on Friday night, had just two completions in the first half — and one to a Ferris State player; Matocha’s throw late in the second quarter popped off the hands of his receiver and into the arms of FSU defensive back Sidney McCloud, who took it 31 yards for a 27-point FSU lead.
The Bulldogs’ offense did just fine without a Harlon Hill finalist, as Mylik Mitchell completed 14 of 18 passes for 161 yards to keep FSU moving. Jefferson had seven catches for 95 yards and Rose added four catches for 50 yards and five rushes for 39 yards to his long pass. (He also had a tackle on defense.)
On defense, FSU’s Caleb Murphy, the Harlon Hill runner-up, went without a sack — he had 25½ entering the game — but still had three tackles (1½ for loss) and pressured Matocha all day. Jordan Jones had two sacks and 2½ tackles for loss for the Bulldogs as well. The dominance on defense for FSU was such that the Orediggers didn’t pick up their initial first down until there was 7:26 remaining in the second quarter; the Orediggers’ first third-down conversion didn’t come until there was just 16:27 remaining in the game, after nine straight failures.
Indeed, prior to the third-down conversion — a 6-yard pass from Matocha to T Smith on third-and-4 from FSU’s 16 — Mines’ biggest play had been a 25-yard punt that bounced off an FSU player and was recovered for a 50-yard gain. The Bulldogs’ defense recovered quickly, forcing two incompletions, a run for no gain and, finally, a sack by Jones on fourth-and-10. After the Orediggers got their first third-down conversion, they scored on the next play on a 10-yard pass from Matocha to Michael Zeman.
After another Ferris State touchdown and a swap of fruitless drives by each team, Mines scored its second TD as Matocha found Josh Johnston on a 14-yard pass.
But Ferris State wasn’t done, as Mitchell led the Bulldogs on another clock-killing drive before handing the reins at quarterback in the red zone to Carson Gulker. He scored his third TD of the game on a push by the offensive line that carried him about 6 yards. Gulker had eight carries for 17 yards but scored from 2, 1 and 6 yards out.
The Bulldogs finish the season at 14-1, with their lone loss coming Oct. 15 against Grand Valley State. This is FSU’s eighth straight 11-win season, the fourth-longest active streak in all divisions, behind only Ohio State (10, Alabama (10) and FCS-level North Dakota State (11).
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