Southern Oregon wins NAIA title

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Austin Dodge led Southern Oregon to its first NAIA football championship, throwing for 429 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-31 victory over turnover-prone Marian College.

Dodge, the NAIA Player of the Year, was 21 of 39 for the Raiders. Melvin Mason, Dylan Young and Ryan Retzlaff caught touchdown passes and Mason also ran for 56 yards and three scores.

The Raiders took a 24-7 lead in the first quarter and led 38-10 at halftime.

After Marian rallied with two third-quarter touchdowns, Dodge connected on a 9-yard touchdown pass to Retzlaff on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 45-24. Retzlaff had five catches for 117 yards.

Julius Rucker had two interceptions for Southern Oregon, returning one 54 yards for a touchdown to make it 10-0.

Hayden Northern threw for a school-record 495 yards for Marian, but had six interceptions. Anthony Jones Jr. had 17 catches for 234 yards and three touchdowns.