Marian wins NAIA title, beating Southern Oregon 31-14
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Southern Oregon wants a rematch of the rematch in the NAIA championship game.
A year after beating Marian for the title, Southern Oregon fell 31-14 on Saturday night to the Indiana school in the rematch.
''I don't have any doubt in my mind we'll be back next year,'' said wide receiver Jeremy Scottow, who threw a touchdown pass. ''We've turned the page at Southern Oregon. We're a championship program.''
Maurice Woodard and Krishawn Hogan scored two touchdowns each and Marian won its second national championship in four years, avenging a 55-31 loss to Southern Oregon in 2014.
''It's a tribute to them to be able to make it back. It's a tribute to us to be able to make it back,'' Marian coach Mark Henninger said. ''If we can make it back here again it'll be a dream come true for us, and it would be nice if they're back, too. We're kind of getting used to it.''
Southern Oregon (11-3) had averaged 499.9 yards per game in its first 13 games en route to its third championship appearance in four years. This time the Raiders gained only 208 yards, most of it in the fourth quarter.
It was 21-0 by the time Scottow took a lateral on a bounce and threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Matt Retzlaff for the Raiders' first touchdown with 11:28 remaining in the game.
Retzlaff caught eight passes for Southern Oregon, including another TD pass from Tanner Trosin with 51 seconds left.
Trosin completed 17 of 40 passes for 132 yards and an interception.
''We're not defined by a scoreboard,'' Southern Oregon coach Craig Howard said. ''I love these players, and when you love somebody you don't let a loss define you. One of the things I told them at halftime was to go out there and have some fun. We came out in the second half and had a little more fun, but it's never fun to lose.''
Hogan caught 11 passes for 147 yards for the Knights (12-2) and scored his 30th and 31st touchdowns of the season, one on a two-yard run and another on a 55-yard catch in the fourth quarter on which he dragged three Southern Oregon defenders into the end zone.
The Raiders gained only 44 yards on 22 rushing attempts in the rematch against a defense that had been yielding just 76 yards per game on the ground. No run by Southern Oregon went for more than 7 yards.