Grand Valley State wins 2nd straight D-II title

Cullen Finnerty ran for 115 yards and passed for 225 more to lead Grand Valley State to its second straight national title with a 17-14 win over Northwest Missouri State in the Division II championship game Saturday in Florence, Ala.

It was the Lakers’ fourth title in five years. They extended their winning streak to 28 games, the longest in all divisions of college football.

Grand Valley State (15-0) also defeated the Bearcats (14-1) to win the national championship in 2005.

The Lakers trailed 14-10 entering the fourth quarter, but took the lead for good with 13:06 to play on a swerving 4-yard run by Finnerty.

Division III

Greg Micheli came off the bench and threw three touchdown passes and ran for another, leading Mount Union to a 35-16 victory over Wisconsin-Whitewater in Salem, Va., and its ninth Division III national championship in 14 years.

The Purple Raiders (15-0) also beat the Warhawks (14-1) in last year’s Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for the national title.

NAIA

Trey Erickson returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and Mike Dvoracek scored from a yard out after a botched punt as Sioux Falls rallied for a 23-19 victory over St. Francis, Ind., in the NAIA national championship game in Savannah, Tenn.

It was the third straight title game loss for St. Francis (13-1), defeated the past two years by Carroll College. Sioux Falls (14-0) was in its first title game since 2001, when it lost to Georgetown, Ky.

SWAC

Ta’Mar Scott rushed for two touchdowns and Alabama A&M’s defense gave up just 122 yards in total offense as the Bulldogs (9-3) rallied for a 22-13 victory over Arkansas Pine-Bluff (8-4) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game in Birmingham, Ala.

The victory was the first in four tries for Alabama A&M in the SWAC title game and the loss snapped a seven-game winning streak by the Golden Lions.