DURHAM, N.C. – On Monday (Dec. 18), the Keiser University Seahawks claimed their first NAIA national title.
This matchup against Northwestern College (Iowa) was a rematch of last year’s national championship game, where the Raiders won by a margin of 10 points with the score being 35-25.
This year it was the Seahawks who came away victorious, also similarly winning by a margin of 10 points with the score being 31-21.
To start the game at Durham County Memorial Stadium, Seahawks running back Jaden Meizinger took the first play 75 yards to the house for the touchdown, which helped give them the lead 7-0 in the first quarter.
On the first possession for Northwestern, a Jalyn Gramstad sack aided Keiser in forcing a three-and-out.
On the next drive for the Seahawks, they got the ball in great field position and worked the field to get into field goal range. However they missed the field goal, keeping the score 7-0.
In the following drives from both teams, the defenses were able to come up with third down stops and force punts.
To start the second quarter, a promising drive from Northwestern ended with a field goal miss that was wide left. This kept the score 7-0 with Keiser still having the lead.
After the missed field goal attempt, Keiser got right back to work.
Meizinger had two nice chunk runs to propel the offense and put the Seahawks into field goal range. They would go on to convert the field goal kick into three points, increasing Keiser’s lead to 10-0.
The next drive for the Raiders (14-1 final record) was not a successful one. The Seahawks defense forced a fumble in just the second play of the possession, giving the ball right back to Keiser.
The Seahawks other running back Andrew Burnette was later able to run it in to help increase their lead to 17-0.
After an uneventful seven-play drive by Northwestern, Keiser got the ball back. However in just a few plays, they would throw a pick to Raiders linebacker Kylar Fritz.
This interception would turn into points as the Raiders star quarterback Jalyn Gramstad and receiver Austyn Gerard would connect for a short touchdown. After the converted point after attempt, the score was now 17-7.
With just under a minute left in the half, Keiser (12-2 final record) was able to make a few plays to get into field goal range. However they missed their second kick of the day.
The score at halftime was 17-7 with the Seahawks having a 10-point lead.
To kick off the second half, Northwestern had received the ball. However this quickly followed with a three-and-out.
As Keiser got the ball back, quarterback Justin Wake and Meizinger were both delivering on this drive with a mixture of runs and passes. But this drive came to an end after Wake’s pass was intercepted in the red zone on an end zone shot.
Although the Raiders were given a new set of downs, the Seahawks defense once again forced a punt.
The next drive for the Seahawks ended in a touchdown pass from Wake to receiver Maurico Porcha, making the score 24-7.
After a few missed opportunities by both teams, Northwestern started the fourth quarter with possession of the football.
This is when the Raiders started to heat up. Gramstad found his receiver Konner McQuilla for a massive 53-yard touchdown pass, helping to cut the lead to 24-14.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Raiders recovered a beautifully executed onside kick, giving Northwestern the ball right back.
The Raiders would go on to score with a 2-yard rushing touchdown from McQuilla to make it a one-possession game at 24-21.
The following kickoff was just as eventful as the last.
The Raiders attempted some sort of squib quick, which was returned 77 yards back by Seahawks defensive back Louis Lubin III, who had other plans. This made the score 31-21 in favor of Keiser.
Keiser would go on to hold off Northwestern College and win the NAIA National Championship Game, knocking off the undefeated and reigning champs.
The Keiser University Seahawks will bring back the first national title to West Palm Beach.
