Brungard wins Payton Award

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Youngstown State quarterback and Springfield Local graduate Beau Brungard won the Walter Payton Award as the Football Championship Subdivision offensive player of the year Saturday night at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show.

Brungard had 177 points, receiving 28 first-place votes from a national panel. Western Carolina quarterback Taron Dickens with 138 with 10 first-place votes, and North Dakota State quarterback Cole Payton had 94 with six first-place votes.

Brungard edged fellow Western Carolina quarterback Taron Dickens and North Dakota State quarterback Cole Payton in voting by a national panel.

The winner was announced two days before Montana State faces Illinois State in the FCS title game at Vanderbilt University. Former Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott won the award last year.

The first Youngstown State player to win the award that started in 1987, Brungard completed 277 of 403 passes for 3,230 yards and 26 touchdowns this season. The junior ran for 1,468 yards and 27 touchdowns on 242 carries. The Penguins finished 8-5, blowing a 35-7 halftime lead in a 43-42 first-round loss to Yale.

Mercer defensive tackle Andrew Zock won the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player. He’s in the transfer portal.

Two Rebels win at Jackson-Milton

NORTH JACKSON — Crestview’s Trevor McElhaney captured the 150-pound title on Saturday at the Jackson-Milton Ohio Sports and Spine Invitational.

Crestview’s Josh Smith also took first at 157 for the Rebels.

Bo Julian was second at 165.

Crestview finished third as a team in the tournament behind Girard and Conneaut.

Cline looks elsewhere

DAYTON — Beaver Local High School graduate and Dayton University football player Austin Cline entered the transfer protocol on Friday.

Cline, who had 9,140 offensive yards in his high school career playing quarterback, was a tight end at Dayton and only saw action in two games in his Flyer career. Cline stated in his portal post on social media that he is seeking an opportunity to play quarterback again.

He has three years of eligibility left and already received an offer from Wheeling University on Saturday.

Blaha, Wisconsin-River Falls wins title

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Kaleb Blaha threw a touchdown pass and added two rushing TDs to help Wisconsin-River Falls beat defending national champion North Central 24-14 to win the first Division III title in program history.

North Central, which has appeared in six consecutive Stagg Bowls and has won three titles in that span, had its 29-game win streak snapped. The Cardinals lost for the first time since a 38-37 loss to Cortland in the 2023 title game. Blaha was 27-of-41 passing for 291 yards and added 126 yards rushing. Blaha has 6,189 total yards this season, breaking Joe Burrow’s NCAA all-divisions single-season record of 6,039 yards in 2019 for LSU. UWRF, which advanced to the postseason for the first time since 1996, has won 11 games in a row.

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Kaleb Blaha threw a touchdown pass and added two second-half rushing TDs to help Wisconsin-River Falls beat defending national champion North Central 24-14 on Sunday night at Hall of Fame Stadium to win the first Division III title in program history.

North Central, which has appeared in six consecutive Stagg Bowls and has won three titles in that span, had its 29-game win streak snapped. The Cardinals, who have held the top spot in 44 consecutive Division III coaches polls, lost for the first time since a 38-37 loss to Cortland in the 2023 title game.

Blaha was 27-of-41 passing for 291 yards and added 126 yards rushing on 18 carries. Blaha has 6,189 total yards this season, breaking Joe Burrow’s NCAA all-divisions single-season record of 6,039 yards in 2019 for LSU.

UWRF, which advanced to the postseason for the first time since 1996, has won 11 games in a row.

Blaha, who threw a 13-yard TD pass to Blake Rohrer late in the first half, ran for touchdowns of 7 yards in the third quarter and 12 yards in the fourth to give the Falcons a 24-14 lead.

Donovan McNeal raced 48 yards for a touchdown that opened the scoring just more than two minutes into the game. Justin Scheberl kicked a 25-yard field goal for UWRF (13-1) with 5:48 left in the first quarter. McNeal answered with a 2-yard TD run that capped a 15-play, 73-yard drive that took more than 9 1/2 minutes off the clock made it 14-3 — the Falcons’ largest deficit this season — with 11:07 left in the first half.

Falcons freshman Taylor Sussner picked off a pass in the end zone, his seventh interception this year, on the last play of the first half.

McNeal finished with 133 yards rushing on 23 carries. Wilson was 18-of-28 passing for 194 yards passing but threw two interceptions and lost a fumble deep in Falcons territory.

The Cardinals went into the game leading D-III in scoring offense (49.4 per game) and scoring defense (10.1).

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